Interlaken Winter
 

We will be coming the week of January 10 and staying 1 week. We intend on buying the travel pass so that we can come and go as we like. The problem is neither of us are skiers (my husband just really wants to see snow) and I'm not really sure where we should go (most pages mention activities to do in warm weather). I see that the pass includes boat rides, but are there boats in the winter? I want to do things like sledgling (I think I can handle that as long as I don't have too climb too much) and site seeing. Please any suggestions?!?!?!?! Usually I am great at planning where I want to go, but for some reason with it being winter, I'm just not sure what is actually possible.

You need to start doing some work on google. In the lowlands some activities are either nonexistent or very limited - due to the fact that people are focusing on winter sports in the mountains.

You can google the lake steamers on Lakes Thun and brienz (the lakes Interlaken is between) to see if they are running at all. Also get a good guide book - Michelin green guide has a ton of info - and then google the various sights to see if they are open. I know we loved seeing the castle in Thun (a very cute town) but read that it is closed in winter - not sure if correct. (A quick look shows that the Lake Brienz steamers do not run in the winter - but you an get to the town by train - and boats on Lake Thun will be very restricted due to reconstruction work on several of the docks for which the water level will be lowered.)

Other towns you might look at are Brienz, Gruyere and Bern. Lucerne is much larger and will have alot to see/do - is about an hour away.

Not sure where to do sledging - but surely your hotel can tell you - assume part ay up in the mountains.

In January, there is just one (lunch) boat on Lake Thun, leaving Huenibach (Thun) at 11.51 and Neuhaus (Interlaken) at 13.30 for the way back to Huenibach ar 15.09.
But don't expect something to write home about. Most people stay just inside the heated boat and contemplate the landscape through the windows.

The famous Bussalp sledging pist above Grindelwald can be reached by bus. Tons of well prepared winter hiking trails can be reached by train, bus or gondola. All you need are warm clothes, sun glasses, walking boots and small crampons that you can buy in any sports wear shop.

Many sights like Beatus Caves, Ballenberg Village Museum, Oberhofen castle will of course be closed.

You might search this board for trip reports by melnq8, who reported on at least two winter vacations in Switzerland.

I second the recommendation for the Michelin Green Guide, but do be sure to supplement anything you learn there with your own on-line research!

With appropriate use of the advanced search option, you can get a surprising amount of information from the swiss rail web-site. For some reason, I can't get the link to post, so try googling "sbb" and "fahrplan" -- that should get you in the vicinity.

Enjoy!

Unlike many Fodorites I find Interlaken unfairly mailgned. We found it very convenient in off season and enjoyed our daily train rides into the alps. We had a wonderfful hotel on the pretty promenade of the River Aare, only a ten-fifteen minute walk to Interlaken Ost station. (it was October and foliage was colorful all over))

Also, we were next to the footbridge that led to town, short walk. Walking trails were all over the place and we stumbled on to several in the course of a week. No snow in the villages then, but close surrounding alps had plenty of snow vistas to enjoy and some of the trails were dusted. It was jacket/sweater weather, but Jungfrau was socked in almost every day.

I can heartily recommend <b>Hotel Goldey Swiss</b> with balcony offering great views of the alps from morning to twilight time. The front desk offered every discount available for train or bus.Service and buffet breakfasts were "legendary"...enjoy the Oberland.

https://picasaweb.google.com/stuartt...rOberland2009#

Kuwaitis...here are some Berner Oberland pix covering my post above.

Thanks for the suggestions and the pictures.

Hi American in Kuwait -

We too were Americans in Kuwait, between 2000-2004. We love to visit Switzerland in the winter! Here are a few trip reports I have here on Fodor's that might help in your planning:

Unfortunately, I've yet to finish this one, as 2015 has been an eventful year, involving an international move amongst other things:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...witzerland.cfm

This one is complete:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...r-oberland.cfm

We've also visited in the early spring, as we're very much off-season travelers, here's a report from an April trip:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-walkabout.cfm

Winter is a great time to visit - prices will be high in Alpine areas due to ski season, but there's plenty to do for non-skiers (such as myself). Days are short, so plan accordingly.

Happy to help as specific questions arise.

PS - sledging pretty much everywhere there's a mountain or a big hill