Best Hotels in Interlaken: Jungfraujoch, Paragliding & the Bernese Oberland (2026)
Victoria-Jungfrau Grand Hotel & Spa's 1865 grande dame facing the Jungfrau across the Höhematte, Hotel Interlaken's roots reaching back to the 14th century, and Hotel Metropole's high-rise Top o'Met terrace — Interlaken's best hotels in 2026.
Interlaken: The Gateway Between Two Lakes
Interlaken’s name says it plainly — “between the lakes” — and the town sits on a flat alluvial strip between Lake Thun to the west and the glacier-fed, strikingly turquoise Lake Brienz to the east, with the trio of Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau closing the view to the south. It has been a resort since British alpinists arrived in the 19th century, and its centerpiece remains the Höhematte, a 14-hectare meadow in the middle of town kept deliberately unbuilt since 1864 so hotel guests could see the Jungfrau — today it doubles as the landing field for the tandem paragliders that launch from Beatenberg all day long, making Interlaken one of Europe’s busiest paragliding hubs. The other headline act is the Jungfraubahn: opened in 1912 after 16 years of construction, it climbs through a 9-kilometer tunnel bored inside the Eiger and Mönch to Jungfraujoch, at 3,454 meters the highest railway station in Europe. Since 2020 the Eiger Express tri-cable gondola from Grindelwald has cut the trip to the top to well under two hours from Interlaken.
The Höhweg — Interlaken’s Classic Hotels
Victoria-Jungfrau Grand Hotel & Spa — The 1865 Grande Dame
Price: €450–1,500/night | Location: Höheweg 41, facing the Höhematte
The Victoria-Jungfrau is the Bernese Oberland’s definitive grand hotel, formed when the Victoria (opened 1865) merged with the neighboring Jungfrau in 1895 and crowned with the domed Belle Époque facade that still dominates the Höheweg. South-facing rooms look straight across the Höhematte meadow to the Jungfrau’s 4,158-meter summit — the exact view the town’s planners protected 160 years ago.
The Spa Nescens covers roughly 5,500 m² with indoor and outdoor pools, and the hotel’s restaurants range from Italian to a formal gastronomic room. It is the address for doing Interlaken the 19th-century way: mountain excursion by day, long dinner and terrace by night.
Lindner Grand Hotel Beau Rivage — Riverside Belle Époque
Price: €250–600/night | Location: Höheweg 211, near Interlaken Ost
Opened in 1874 at the quieter eastern end of the Höheweg, the Beau Rivage backs onto the Aare river as it flows out of Lake Brienz, and its garden and pool enjoy Jungfrau views without the center-of-town foot traffic. Its practical advantage is real: Interlaken Ost station — departure point for the trains to Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen, and the Jungfraujoch, as well as the Lake Brienz boats — is about five minutes away on foot, which matters when you are catching an early train to beat the crowds to the top.
Hotel Royal St Georges Interlaken MGallery — Art Nouveau Time Capsule
Price: €200–450/night | Location: Höheweg 139
The Royal St Georges is Interlaken’s best-preserved slice of the Belle Époque: an 1870s-era hotel whose public rooms and many bedrooms retain Art Nouveau detailing, high ceilings, and period furniture rather than a modern gut renovation. Now under Accor’s MGallery flag, it offers four-star comfort at prices well below the Victoria-Jungfrau, mid-Höheweg between the two train stations. Light sleepers should request rooms away from the street; romantics should request the tower-side rooms.
Hotel Interlaken — The Town’s Oldest House
Price: €150–350/night | Location: Höheweg 74, near Interlaken Ost
Documented as a guesthouse as far back as the 14th century — it began as lodging attached to the town’s Augustinian monastery — Hotel Interlaken is the settlement’s oldest hotel and counts Felix Mendelssohn and Lord Byron among its recorded 19th-century guests. Today it is a comfortable, unpretentious four-star with a Japanese garden behind it, and its restaurant Taverne serves solid Swiss cooking. For history per franc, nothing in town touches it.
Hotel Metropole — The High-Rise with the View
Price: €140–320/night | Location: Höheweg 37
The Metropole is the building every Interlaken postcard has to work around: an 18-story tower from the 1970s, by far the tallest hotel in the Bernese Oberland. What it lacks in period charm it repays from the upper floors, where rooms and the Top o’Met café-restaurant on the 15th floor deliver the region’s best over-the-rooftops panorama of the Jungfrau massif and both lakes. Rates are among the gentlest of the Höheweg addresses, and the central location is identical to hotels charging double.
The Excursions That Justify the Trip
Jungfraujoch is the headline: budget a half to full day, check the summit webcams before committing (the view is the product), and consider the combined route up via the Eiger Express and down through Kleine Scheidegg for variety. But the Oberland’s best-value outings are cheaper. The Harder Kulm funicular climbs from the edge of town to Interlaken’s own 1,322-meter balcony in ten minutes. Lauterbrunnen, twenty minutes away by train, is a glacial valley with 72 waterfalls, including the roughly 300-meter free-falling Staubbach Falls that impressed Goethe and Byron. And the Lake Brienz boat to Giessbach delivers you below a 14-cascade waterfall next to a storybook 19th-century grand hotel.
FAQ
Is Jungfraujoch worth the ticket price? At well over CHF 200 return in high season, only in clear weather — in cloud you will see the inside of a tunnel and a fogged-out terrace. Buy a flexible ticket or decide the same morning based on the webcams. The Swiss Travel Pass gives a discount but not free passage above Eigergletscher. If the budget stings, Harder Kulm, Schynige Platte, or First above Grindelwald deliver comparable drama for a fraction of the cost.
Where should I stay — Interlaken or up in the villages? Interlaken wins for transport connections, restaurants, rainy-day options, and lake access; car-free Wengen and Mürren or busy Grindelwald win for waking up inside the mountain scenery. A practical pattern for first-timers: two or three nights in Interlaken for the lakes and excursions, then one or two up the Lauterbrunnen valley if your trip allows.
When is the best time to visit? June to September for hiking, boats, and paragliding, with July–August the busiest and priciest. Late September brings quieter trails and first snow on the peaks. Winter turns Interlaken into a base for the Jungfrau ski region (Grindelwald-Wengen and Mürren-Schilthorn), though the town itself sits at only 570 meters and rarely holds snow.