Interlaken, Switzerland: 3-Day Itinerary to the Most Beautiful Place I’ve Travelled
I’ve seen photos of Switzerland and knew it had to be a destination I visited while abroad, but nothing could have prepared me for just how breathtaking our visit was. Our stay was only 3 nights, but we were able to see and do so much in such a short amount of time. We visited in November, so it was off season in Interlaken, but this did not prevent us from finding things to do. From skydiving to walking through the base of the Swiss Alps, our trip was nothing short of extraordinary.
Day 1: Travel & Exploring
Zurich → Interlaken
After arriving in the Zurich airport, we debated the best options on getting to Interlaken. Our budgets were pretty tight as we were nearing the end of our abroad experience, so we were looking for the most cost-effective option. Train tickets were surprisingly more expensive than we anticipated, so we looked into renting a car instead. Once again I was shocked as renting a car for the weekend was cheaper than taking the train. The customer service associate at the airport was incredibly kind and could tell we had arrived without a concrete plan and walked us through the entire rental process.
We drove through the absolutely stunning Swiss countryside to get to Interlaken and certainly slowed down several times to take in the looming mountains all around us. Being from Massachusetts, there was just something magical about this place and how mountainous it was. It took us 2 hours to drive to Interlaken from the Zurich airport, but it felt a lot shorter as the views along the way distracted us the entire time.
Our Homestay
We drove straight to our Airbnb where we stayed in a quaint apartment right in the center of Interlaken. We were provided with a parking spot, and the host greeted us upon our arrival and gave us a tour of the apartment and how to use all of the amenities. He even left us some amazing Swiss Chocolate – Thank you Mario!
Exploring Interlaken
We were very hungry when we arrived, so our first mission was to find food. We stumbled upon an amazing burger place called Asllani’s Corner. Although pricey (as everything seemed to be in Switzerland), this burger was by far the best I have ever had. I ordered a Sweet Chili Burger, and I am honestly still thinking about it to this day. After fueling up, we walked around the town and stumbled upon some shops that were open (most were closed due to off-season), and got gelato, went to a random playground, and tired ourselves out pretty quickly.
Day 2: Adventuring/Winging it
Interlaken → Grindelwald
We woke up pretty early under the impression that we were skydiving/paragliding, but due to the heavy fog both activities were cancelled. With our main plans cancelled, we were free to venture out to Grindelwald where we were told we would have a better chance of paragliding as the weather was more sunny there. On our way over our hopes were higher as the fog slowly began to disappear. When we arrived in the town, the sun was shining and we parked in a garage located next to a ski resort. We grabbed pastries at a small cafe and wondered into the base of the resort where there were options to take a gondola ride to the top. Conditions were foggy at the peak so we decided to walk through the base of the Alps instead.
Exploring
This town was straight out of a movie, each house built with wood and pops of orange and red surrounded me. The earth tones were incredibly comforting, and as we hiked through the town we walked in between houses and weaved through people’s yards following a path leading to a nearby train station. Once we reached the station we sat and discussed what we should do next. Since the sun was peaking through the clouds, we looked into skydiving and paragliding in this town, but to our luck there was nothing available at that moment. We looked into taking the train to a neighboring town, but decided instead to hike back to the car.
(Almost) Skydiving
On our way back, we received a call from one of the skydiving places we had called earlier and they said that there would be a chance we could jump, except they were located in Interlaken! We immediately headed back to Interlaken hoping we wouldn’t miss the gap in the fog, and when we arrived at the skydiving place we started to fill out forms and get ready to go. Unfortunately, the instructor pulled us outside and told us that the pilot would not fly because the clouds were too low. He pointed at the sky and it was clear that we had missed our gap. We were stranded as half of our group had dropped us off and went off on their own, so the skydiving crew kindly offered to drop us off at our hotel. The company scheduled us for the following morning, but conditions once again looked dreary. We tried not to get our hopes up, but went back to our airbnb feeling very excited for the next day.
Burgers, Again.
While separated from the other half of our group we ate at Aslanni’s Corner again, this time sitting outside enjoying the views around us. The waitress offered us blankets, which we graciously accepted as it was still very chilly outside with a slight drizzle. Following lunch, we got gourmet gelato which consisted of Hazelnut, Vanilla, and another flavor which paired delightfully together (it better be good for $10!). I decided to buy some famous Swiss chocolate in the shop to save for later.
Cave Walk
We met up with the rest of our group and since we still had a lot of time before we hit the hay, we looked at some brochures on things to do in Interlaken. Closeby was a cave walk experience, which was a little bit of a letdown as it was dark out and could not even see the cave walls or waterfall. There were neon lights along the way and a spider web that you could crawl out on, but we ended up turning around before reaching the end of the tour due to how dark and creepy it became. The attendant was kind and offered for us to come back again the following day to experience it in the daylight.
Dinner
We had heard raving reviews about the fondue in Switzerland, so we set out to find some. After some frustration in searching and walking to places that were closed but open on google maps, we finally found a lovely fondue restaurant titled Hotel Krebs La Terrace. We got the cheese fondue with chorizo, one with bacon and garlic, and one with moitié moitié which was supposedly the most popular. For our dipping items, we got pickles, potatoes, pears, chili peppers, and bread.
Shopping
After dinner, we stopped at a local market to stock up on breakfast for the morning as well as some snacks, and then we stopped in a massive souvenir shop which had all types of gifts.
Day 3: Free-falling
Exploring Brienz Lake
We woke up once again with foggy weather getting us at our windows, so skydiving did not seem promising. We decided rather than waiting around we could visit a nearby lake. We drove to Lake Brienz and parked right at the dock. After walking around for a little we met the cutest cat who continued to follow us on our travels and we sat in awe of the clear blue water that reflected the mountains perfectly. We received a call from the skydiving company unexpectedly saying we had to go, now or never. Alli & I were the only two interested in skydiving, so we asked if there was any way they could come pick us up at the Lake. Luckily they said yes and grabbed us within 15 minutes. Christian was our instructor and he was amazing. On our way to base, we chatted about life and learned that he grew up in the mountains and skis a lot; he even jumped with the olympic ski team.
Skydiving
Once we got to the Interlaken Skydiving base, things got pretty rushed and shortly after getting geared up and briefed on what to do, we were on our way to the helicopter pad. We still hadn’t received full confirmation that we could go from the pilot as we were sitting outside the landing. It was probably for the best that everything went by quickly because I had literally did not have time to think about what I was about to do. Lorenzo was my skydiving guide and while we waited for the pilot’s confirmation we chatted about his past and how he had jumped over 5,000 tines, many of which being from when he was in the military. Lorenzo grew up in Florence which was where we were studying abroad, and he gave us a lot of insider scoop on where to go and what to see from a native’s perspective.
Christian walked out of the pilot’s office and let us know it was time to go. We did a quick “interview” prior to getting on the helicopter (for the video content of course), and then we were in the sky. The ride was absolutely stunning, but as we kept climbing higher and higher it started to hit me that I actually had to jump out. Lorenzo walked me through the process again, but at this point my nerves definitely had the best of me so all I could do was nod and say “okay.” He opened the door and the cold wind rushed into the helicopter. At this point I was internally freaking out as we inched over the ledge and hung off the side of the helicopter, and I just remember taking a deep breath, my stomach plummeting, and then suddenly free falling. It honestly didn’t even feel like falling with all of the wind resistance, and my memory kind of blacked out at this exact moment. 45 seconds went by and I was snapped out of whatever trance I was in by the parachute jolting our bodies upwards. I recall snow flurries surrounding us during the free fall, and my face felt wet from all of the moisture in the clouds. It was truly magical.
As we parachuted through the air, I felt at peace as I enjoyed one of the most incredible views (and adrenaline highs) of my life. Lorenzo let me steer the parachute and we glided through the air with ease. Eventually the ground seemed to be approaching us quickly and I remembered to lift my feet straight in front of me in preparation for the landing. The landing was very smooth (basically a butt scooch across the ground) and the relief flooded through me along with the leftover adrenaline causing me to be super giddy. I could not stop smiling.
We went back to the base and got to watch some of the video files from the GoPro footage. We decided to buy the raw files so that we could edit our own videos/ screenshot moments from the videos to keep as photos. Eva who drove us to and from the base as well as helped us select the best packages was incredibly helpful. The entire staff of Interlaken Skydiving made the entire experience as stress free as possible, and went out of their way to make this jump happen for us. There were a variety of options for content, but we paid around $700 total for the entire experience. It was definitely a financial commitment, but hey, now I can say that I am a part of the 1% of Americans have made at least one skydive in their lifetime.
Interlaken → Zurich
The rest of our travel group picked us up and we headed off to Zurich where we would be staying over before our flight the following day. On our way to Zurich, we stopped at the zoo. It was a pretty large zoo with an Australian sector that you could walk through while the animals were around you which was unique. We spent an hour at the zoo and then made it to the airbnb.
Our airbnb was a good size, 2 queen beds and one bathroom, and was close to the tram stations that would easily take us downtown. Two of the girls returned the car to the airport while the rest of us settled into the airbnb and found a place to eat dinner. We decided on a restaurant called Kitchen Republic where I got shrimp sushi and sweet potato fries that were insanely good, but it was very expensive ($15 for 4 rolls of sushi). Still hungry, we agreed to find a place with chocolate fondue for dinner and found Swiss Chuchi which was very busy. We luckily got the last table before close and got one chocolate fondue and two plates of fresh fruit. We slept well, stomachs full of delicious food.
Conclusion
Switzerland was a dream and I will visit again, hopefully next time during the busy season where I can truly experience all that it has to offer. Although our trip was mostly unplanned and spontaneous, there was something so special and educational about figuring things out along the way. The people were incredibly kind, especially those at Skydive Interlaken, and we would not have been able to accomplish our bucket dream goals without their help. The food was always scrumptious, the views always beautiful, and each corner we turned whether driving or walking offered an astonishing view. Nature and the outdoors is therapeutic to me, and Switzerland presented nature in some of the most beautiful ways. I would highly recommend visiting Switzerland to anyone who loves the outdoors and adventure.
