Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Interlaken
Lake of Thun Cruise
Depart from Bern
Distance by Train: 37 miles (59 km)
Average Train Time: 50 minutes
City Dialing Code: 33
Tourist Information Office: Interlaken Tourismus, P.O. Box 369, Höheweg 37,
CH-3800 Interlaken
Tel: (033) 826 53 00; Fax: (033) 826 53 75
www.interlaken.ch
E-mail: mail@interlakentourism.ch
Hours: July-August: 0800-1700 Monday-Saturday, 1000-1600 Sunday; Septem-
ber: 0800-1800 Monday-Friday, 0800-1600 Saturday; October-April: 0800-1200
and 1330-1800 Monday-Friday, Saturday 0900-1200; May-June: 0800-1800
Monday-Friday, 0800-1600 Saturday
Notes: Interlaken Tourism Office is about a five-minute walk down the Höheweg
(the grand promenade), which starts at the West Station and ends at Ost (East)
Station. It's on the left-hand side next to the Hotel Metropole.
Interlaken can best be described as the cultural and social focal point of Switzer-
land's Alpine areas. The English poet Lord Byron is said to have exclaimed, “It's a
dream!” at his first sighting of Interlaken and its surroundings. Nestled between the
Lake of Thun and the Lake of Brienz, Interlaken (Latin for “between the lakes”)
began in the 12th century as a small cluster of buildings surrounding a monastery,
traces of which can still be seen today.
The town's main thoroughfare, Höheweg, is lined with great hotels, shops, and
even a grand casino that is set back from the main promenade and banked with
such beautiful flowers that one might think it is a retirement home.
For Interlaken, the Höheweg plays the same part as does the Champs-Elysées
for Paris or the Via Veneto for Rome—it is the boulevard, with the ambience for
which the Swiss are famous. Just as in its larger counterparts, you'll find people on
foot or aboard horse-drawn carriages taking in the sights along with those relaxing
over coffee and pastries at the sidewalk cafes. Towering over this entire scene is
the Jungfrau ( www.jungfraubahn.ch ) , a massive mountain that tops out at 13,642
feet above sea level, a mere 11 miles south of Interlaken. On a clear day, the view
is dazzling.
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