Brienzer Rothorn or Schynige Platte for experience and views (not so much hikes)

The actual train ride on Brienzer Rothorn is better with more dramatic views throughout, but the train is much smaller and more work to deal with reservations. It sells out in high season and you don’t want to go up in bad weather so planning ahead is a bit difficult.

The view at the top of Brienzer Rothorn is directly of the lakes and mountains, while Schynige Platte is mountains unless you hike to the lake view, so in terms of a top view directly from the viewing platform BR is slightly more dramatic because of the water.

At the top of BR there is hardly anywhere to wander around except to eat at the crappy restaurant, so you go solely for the ride and quick photos at the top.

Schynige Platte has tons of space to meander and amazing hiking at the top. They also have the alphorns, a bigger full restaurant, shop & alpengarten.

I prefer SP for the hiking aspect, the more expansive areas to walk around & a bit easier to get to when staying in Wengen/Lauterbrunnen/Murren. However, if you’re staying in Interlaken and are closer over to BR and only care about the ride + view at the top, BR is lovely.

Ultimately, you can’t really go wrong with either. They will both be incredible experiences.

We've enjoyed the Brienz Rothorn Bahn. Just want to add that if you are in Interlaken, you can get to Brienz by train, bus, or boat. All three arrive at the same place in Brienz, just across the street from the Rothorn Bahh. The boat is very nice, but will take much longer. For a nice meal in Brienz, I'd suggest the Steinbock, just up the street from the Rothorn Bahn.

I went up to Schynige Platte in 2024 and it’s now one of my favorites. From the videos I had watched, I wasn’t expecting much, but the views were incredible! And as mentioned, they have the alphorn players up there, a nice café/restaurant, and lots of places to walk around and admire the views without any serious hiking.

I haven’t taken the train to Brienzer Rothorn yet, so I can’t compare the two. It just hasn’t really appealed to me. I do enjoy the boat ride on lake Brienz.

If you want lake views without the time commitment, you could go up to Harder Kulm. I wasn’t a huge fan, but if you can get up early before the crowds, you will have some nice views.

I’m not sure what else you have planned, but Mannlichen and Allmendhubel are my favorites for the area.

As Carrie memtioned, Harder Kulm was a nice mountain top view. The cable car up wasn't that scenic, but the view looking down toward Interlaken and the lakes was beautiful. And there is a nice restaurant on top with a lot of outdoor seating. We had a very enjoyable meal there, although I got my head pretty sunburned.... Harder Kulm cable car was a short walk from the Interlaken West train station, past a lot of beautiful flower gardens.

The only similarities to Harder Kulm and Brienzer Rothorn is that they both look at the lakes, but there the similarities end.

I’m just not a fan of Harder Kulm, unless as mentioned you go way early. It’s not a cable car, it’s an enclosed funicular packed with people (quite smelly because of this) and when you get to the top you’re all crammed on to a tiny viewing platform fighting for photo space. Then when you want to come back down you wait in a line. When we were there one summer the line was atleast 200 people long. The funicular holds 65, so we had to wait multiple rounds to get back down. It’s a “quick” option for day trippers to Interlaken who don’t spend the time to go into the mountains and a very different experience than Brienzer Rothorn or Schynige Platte.

I spend my summers living in Mürren and have done pretty much everything in the area multiple times. 3 things I avoid unless we have guests visiting who really want to see them - Harder Kulm, Jungfraujoch & Grindelwald First. Ironically all run by the same company and marketed heavily internationally, which means they are packed with international crowds who often have very different ideas of what public courtesy is in crowded areas (shoving, poor sanitation, littering, etc).

it’s an enclosed funicular packed with people (quite smelly because of this) and when you get to the top you’re all crammed on to a tiny viewing platform fighting for photo space. Then when you want to come back down you wait in a line. When we were there one summer the line was atleast 200 people long.

Wow, quite a negative experience you have had!

1. Go early and avoid the crowds. I have done this repeatedly. Even if it is crowded (and I have to say from over 8 years now of lots of mountain excursions, every mountain lift can be crowded at times!! That is the nature of this kind of travel, it is unrealistic to expect anything else). It is a 20 minute ride. As far as being smelly?? Have never had any issues with that :-)

2. At the top you will actually walk for a while to get to the viewing platform/restaurant area. You can stop along the way, look at the fun wood carvings they have, take photos, allow all others who were on the funicular to go ahead of you, or, what I usually do, walk quickly, ignore the views at this point and go straight to the viewing platform where you will have the best views anyway (a good strategy for any mountain viewing area). It will be a while before all the others will catch up with you. Those who were on the previous funicular are basically done with their photos and you can enjoy the platform at its least busy time.

3. Hike up a bit more to the new picnic and play area, there are several benches to sit on along the path, same strategy - go before or after the rest of the people on your funicular for the smallest crowds. But again - in going up early in the morning I have repeatedly been able to sit on free benches and enjoy the view.

4. When you go up early you are also able to go down without many crowds. When you feel ready to go down, look at the next departure time, make you way to the funicular a little early, you can start to walk down and enjoy the wood carvings at this time (again, without the crowds) and stand in line. I have always been able to get on the funicular this way.

5. I do the exact same thing with Grindelwald First. Go up when they open! You can hike to Bachalpsee this way with very few people on the trail. Often I don't hit the mass of tourists until my return hike, when almost finished - this is now the time when most tourists are starting out and when it is busy. I would use the same strategy on any mountain.

6. I would add too that the only completely enclosed funicular that I have taken to date is Sunnegga in Zermatt, many funiculars have a tunnel that they go through, this is not unusual.

The benefit of the Brienzer Rothorn is the fact that you can reserve a spot. Schynige Platte can also be extremely busy and they will fill your train car to capacity when it is busy - so you can not avoid being squished together if you choose to travel at the most busy times. Again, this is the general nature of mountain travel. So - if you choose this amazing route, go as early as you can.

I experienced both attractions last September. Both are now covered in the BO pass. Brienzer Rothorn was on my list my previous 2 trips. We really enjoyed the train ride up and the views along the way Slyvia Michel has a video with some special photo locations shared. We stopped at Coop a block from the train station and packed our lunch. The return trip we took the boat. It was a great day. I agree with Wanderweg there isn't much space on top. Online reservations was not difficult but need to be made days in advance and hope the weather is good. There is also a cable car from Sorenberg going to the peak.

Schynige Platte I also visited in 2022 and was so impressed it has been the only thing I visited more than once. The new viewing platform was a let down and not seeing all the wild flowers like in July (expected) took away some of the charm. There are more hiking options from an short walk through the flowers to a much longer one to the viewing rock top. I also liked this train ride and the view when arriving is one of my favorites. It may be closer to where you are staying and become a half day attraction.

Both were busy even the last half of the September. A full train car both ways just like in July. It is Switzerland so there is no wrong decision. If the flowers are in season, I would lean to Schynige Platte.

Harder Kulm is not in the same league. I enjoyed an early evening Fondue looking over Interlaken and the mountains. It is more of a added attraction to fill in the end of the day.

I really appreciate all the comments and feedback. Yes, the fact that Schynige Platte is now covered by the BO pass is the only reason this has become an issue for me, lol.

Is there a world where I do both on the same trip to Switzerland? Are the experiences different enough that it would make sense in your opinions?
Staying in Wengen for 7 days and want to take full advantage of the BO pass but I also don’t want to overdo rides up to peaks. Already doing Schilthorn, Murren, almenhubel, Mannlichen, etc.

Thanks for all the help and comments - y’all are the best.

This is something you can decide when you are there. Make a list of what you’d like to do ahead of time. Once there, depending on weather and how you’re feeling, that can dictate what you do.

On one of my trips, we had a perfect weather day. So, after heading up to Schilthorn we went over to Mannlichen.

Taking full advantage of what the Pass covers is smart. But you don’t want to exhaust yourself running around trying to do everything.

You can be flexible and no need to have everything planned out ahead of time. See what you feel like doing once you are there.

I'd suggest downloading some Swiss weather apps, and getting familiar with them. I have Meteo Swiss which shows 12 mountain webcams, and Swiss Weather, which shows webcams but mostly lower elevations. See if you can find other apps with webcams for each peak. Each morning, you might check weather, and view the webcams on the peaks you haven't seen yet, and then decide. Morning could be socked in, and afternoon clear, or vice-versa.

Make a list of what you’d like to do ahead of time. Once there, depending on weather and how you’re feeling, that can dictate what you do

This is the plan for my trip this fall. There are so many things to do and see! I've also been reminding myself that even if I don't see every beautiful view or do every lovely hike, I'll do plenty and have lots of amazing experiences as well as many wonderful memories of my trip.

From my experiences (and interests), Schilthorn is not in the same league as the Brienzer Rothorn and Schynige Platte.

Another option - the Niederhorn! You can take a bus to the start of the cable car or a boat from Interlaken West to the start of the funicular. It's a fun transit pairing, and when you get to the top, there are stunning views of Lake Thun and the other side of that mountain into a quiet valley. Nice ridge top trails, a good restaurant, and a playground. Much higher than Harder Kulm - you'll be amazed at how far down HK is when you're at the top of the Niederhorn.