Interlaken

Interlaken's name is literally descriptive — "between lakes" — and that geography is close to the whole point of visiting. The town sits on a narrow strip of land separating Lake Thun and Lake Brienz, directly in the shadow of the Jungfrau region's peaks, and it has built its entire identity around funneling visitors toward the mountains rather than holding their attention itself. There isn't much of a historic old town or a marquee landmark within Interlaken proper, and that's a fair trade for what surrounds it.

The signature trip is Jungfraujoch, reached by a cogwheel railway that climbs through tunnels blasted into the mountain itself to reach the highest railway station in Europe, marketed as the "Top of Europe." The journey up is as much the experience as the summit — viewing platforms, an ice palace carved into the glacier, and, on clear days, panoramas stretching across the Alps make it one of the more genuinely spectacular train trips available anywhere, though the cost and crowds are real enough that booking the first departure of the day meaningfully improves the experience.

Interlaken has also built a strong claim to being one of Europe's adventure-sports capitals. Paragliding is the most visible example — tandem flights launch regularly from nearby peaks, drifting down over both lakes with the town laid out below — alongside canyoning through nearby gorges, skydiving, and via ferrata climbing routes, all concentrated here more densely than almost anywhere else in the Alps.

Harder Kulm, reached by funicular directly from the town center, gives a more accessible panoramic viewpoint for visitors not doing Jungfraujoch or an adventure activity, looking back down over Interlaken's position between its two lakes.

Nearby valley villages — Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen chief among them, both a short train ride away — extend the trip naturally, each with their own access points to different parts of the Jungfrau region and often quieter than Interlaken itself during peak season.