Top Tourist Attractions
Harder Kulm
The views over Interlaken and both lakes from the Harder are spectacular. Beyond the bridge over the Aare River, next to the Harder Alpine Wildlife Park, the Harder-Kulm funicular climbs at a 64-degree gradient up the Harder to an altitude of 1,322 meters. From the Art Nouveau-style Panorama Restaurant at its top are magnificent views of the Jungfrau area, Interlaken, and the lakes. You can return along forest paths via the Hardermannli lookout pavilion at 1,116 meters and the Hohbühl pavilion, where there is a memorial to the composers Mendelssohn, Wagner, and Weber.
ematte Park
An area of 14 hectares in the heart of Interlaken that belonged to the Augustinian convent was acquired in 1860 by a group of 37 hotel owners and private citizens to be left as an open space, a remarkable example of farseeing town planning. Through its length runs the Höheweg, a splendid avenue between the east and west rail stations that affords a magnificent view of the Jungfrau, surrounded by hotels and flower-beds. Alongside it is the Kursaal, with a theater and a café and beautiful gardens with a flower clock, as well as a number of hotels, including the 150-year-old Victoria Jungfrau Hotel, itself a local landmark.
Unterseen
The Marktgasse runs northwest from the Interlaken post office and across the Spielmatten islands and the river to the little hamlet of Unterseen, at the foot of Mt. Harder. This is one of several villages that form Interlaken, and in this old part of town is the 1471 parish church, with a Late Gothic tower. Here, you’ll find some beautiful wooden chalets of the kind you’d expect to see in tiny mountain villages, not in a busy resort center like Interlaken. Set in green gardens, these may even have farm animals grazing on the lawns. Small restaurants around the pretty Stadthausplatz serve traditional Swiss dishes.
