Summary: Interlaken is a mountain resort town nestled between two blue-water lakes, Lake Thun and Lake Brienz. On this day, we rented mountain bikes from Flying Wheels and attempted the 23-mile loop around Lake Brienz. For us, a few wrong turns added another 4 miles and 2,000 feet of elevation gain for a total of ~4,500 feet of gain in less than 30 miles. Despite the unexpected challenges, this ride offered a great snapshot of everything the region has to offer, from blue lake views, an impressive water fall, bell-ringing farm animals, and quaint Swiss villages. This beautiful day was one of the best days of this trip.
[This blog is part of a 10-days in Switzerland Trip].
Bike Rental. Our first stop was to pick up our pre-booked bike rentals at Flying Wheels bike shop. We also rented helmets and a bike lock for the day. Electric bikes are available and we saw many tourists out on the path with them as there's definitely a fair amount of hill climbing in this mountain region. From here, we started our Lake Brienz bike tour.
Lake Brienz. This mountain lake sits at 1,850 feet above sea level and is 8.7 miles in length. Several charming Swiss villages are situated on its shores, including Ringgenberg, Niederried and Oberried. Between towns are several homesteads with livestock wearing the traditional Swiss bell.
Giessbach Falls. A highlight of the day is a stop at Giessbach Falls, which can also be accessed by car (then foot), if you want to skip the two-wheel adventure. [The Falls are alsso featured in our longer video below].
Taking photos while riding is a bit difficult so much of our day is captured instead in this video instead. We captured some drone footage of the Lake and Falls, which are both featured here:
Harder Klum. After returning our bikes, and a shower (ha ha), we headed out again to go up the Harder Klum funicular which departs right in central Interlaken. Unfortunately the clouds and fog rolled in just as we were leaving so the visibility was quite poor. Tickets to the top are pretty pricey, fair warning, and so in hindsight, we probably would have skipped it had we known the weather would turn so quickly.
Still, we made the best of it by enjoying a dinner at the restaurant at the top. On a better day, you would be able to see both Lake Brienz or Lake Thun from the look out point.
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