We are interested in visiting these falls on a boat trip on Lake Brienz. If we take the boat tour from Interlaken to Brienz and then a train back to Interlaken, what is the intermediate stop for visiting the falls? Since my husband has chronic back issues, I am looking for the easiest way to see the falls. Can anyone share specific recommendations about where to get off the boat, how to get to the falls and back, and then how to get to Brienz after visiting the falls. Thank you very much!
Posted by
Green Bay
21142 posts
Giessbach See is the name of the stop. There is a funicular there to take you up to the waterfall.
Again, use www.sbb.ch/en and put in from Interlaken Ost to Brienz with a 1 hour stopover in Giessbach See with the "advanced Search" function. Deselect everything except "ship". From Brienz there is a train back to Interlaken Ost every half hour.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17422 posts
There is more information on the waterfall, the funicular, and the hotel here:
Posted by
Chicago
3125 posts
I just did this trip last month, although I took the boat from Brienz as I was coming from the ballard open air museum. As Sam mentioned, you will take the boat to the Giessbach See stop. From the boat dock, it is a short walk up a ramp to get to the funicular. It is 5CHF (10CHF roundtrip) for the funicular ride which you pay in cash before you get on it. The funicular is not covered by any of the travel passes. Once at the end of the funicular ride, you can see some of the walls without climbing. You have the option to walk up to see more. It’s also a short uphill walk to the hotel.
To get to Brienz after the falls, the easiest is by boat. Just check the boat schedule ahead of time. And the funicular is timed to take you down to the boat dock before the boat arrives. You can take a bus to Brienz, but I think it’s a bit of a walk to get to the bus stop. I didn’t take the bus, so not sure on this. If you get to Brienz by boat, the train station is about a 30 second walk just across the street. The area around the lake is nice, so you might want to walk around a bit. From the Brienz train station, you can get the train back to Interlaken. Or you could do the reverse. Train to Brienz, boat to the falls. Then boat to Interlaken. Or boat both ways as it really is a great way to travel and the color of the water is really unbelievable.
It's important to check the boat schedule ahead of time as they don't run as often as the trains. Depending on the time of year you'll be there, the boats might run every hour or 2 hours. Just be aware ahead of time so you know when to start heading to the dock.