Interlaken, Lauterbrunnen, Unterseen, or Winderswil?

Lauterbrunnen is most central and beautiful. It is a jumping off point for lifts and hikes on both sides of the valley. Interlaken not is not actually in the mountains and has little charm.

The hostel in lauterbrunnen is well run and a great location to begin your days hikes in the beautiful berner oberland . Skip interlaken.

Thank you! This is very helpful! I'm a solo female traveler. Any hiking tips/trails I should check out? Thank you!

Thank you, JS!

JS: Is the Lauterbrunnen Hostel safe for a female solo traveler?

One more question: how would I get from the Interlaken train station to Lauterbrunnen?

One more question: how would I get from the Interlaken train station to Lauterbrunnen?

You take a train!
Interlaken has two stations, Interlaken West and Interlaken Ost, Interlaken Ost is the main one, where all three lines to Interlaken meet. You just take a train from there to Lauterbrunnen. Two trains per hour.

Look at this map: http://www.berneroberlandtaxi.ch/images/map_2015.jpg
Red are rail lines, yellow is buses, black is cable cars. Interlaken is in the centre. You can see the line to Lauterbrunnen

Do you have Rick Steves' Switzerland guide? He has great info on this area that will help you. We were very confused until we visited the area, but Rick's book helped -- and continues to help us each trip.

Thank you so much for the helpful information! Forgive me for all the questions, but I'm a total newbie on the travel front.

CHRIS F: I'll be taking a train from Paris - somewhere - Interlaken West. The transfers are only 10 minutes or so. Is that doable/realistic for a newbie traveler, or a nightmare? Thank you!

LAUREL: Thanks for the fabulous tips! I'll grab that book. Many thanks!

I'll be taking a train from Paris - somewhere - Interlaken West

Interlaken West is a nice station, and convenient for the McDonalds, but it won't help you get up to Lauterbrunnen. For that you need to stay on the last 4 minutes to the final station, Interlaken Ost. That's where you change for the little trains up the hill.

Hiking tips:
I'll assume you follow the above advice and stay in Lauterbrunnen (or Murren).

Take the trails which follow the 3 great ridges.
The first goes from Grutschalp to Murren. If in Murren, you want to hike Toward the mountains, so you should take the train to Grutschalp and hike back. Either way, you should end up in Murren.
From Murren, you can go down to Gimmelwald or you
can hike uphill on a diagonal from the Murren cablecar station, and eventually end up at the restaurant at
Spielbodalp. There you can get a drink and sit at a picnic table and watch the
cows. You can also get to Spielbodenalp via the Sprutz Falls route. About a third of the way up the trail branches near a hut. Take the upper one, you go to Spielbodenalp. The lower one goes fairly level into the woods and eventually to Sprutz Falls, which you cross under, climb up the trail on the opposite side, and end up in Spielbodenalp. You can see that trail and others here:
https://terrelledwards.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/hikingmap1-3-2.jpg

The second goes from Mannlichen to Kleine Scheidegg. The walk itself is
about 2 hours, and we save this for the sunniest day, because of the panoramic
views. (Leave in the morning--most afternoons the peaks cloud up!) Take the
train from Lauterbrunnen to Wengen, then a 5 min walk to the cable car
station, where you take the cable car up to Mannlichen. Once up, you can look
left at a 30 min up and back trail to a lookout point. If you look right
there is the main tra?il that leads toward the Jungfrau mounta?in, which takes
1.5 hrs and you end up in Kleine Scheidegg, where you can catch a train down
to Wengen and finally Lauterbrunnen. Great panoramic views all along the
route. This trail is so easy you could do it in a wheelchair.
It takes about 20 min train from Lauterbrunnen to Wengen, another 20 min cable car to Mannlichen, 1 and 1/2 hr hike to Kleine Scheidegg, 40 min train down to Lauterbrunnen.

The 3rd classic trail is from First to Bachalpsee. Take the Lauterbrunnen
train down to Zweilutschinen. Get off to switch to the train going up to
Grindelwald. Once in Grindelwald, walk about 20 min further into town to get
to the cablecar station, where you take it all the way up to First. From there
walk to Bachalpsee. There are trail signs, and it is about 45 min each
way. On a sunny day, you can get great pictures of the mountains reflected in
Bachalpsee, which is a small lake. Just Google image "Bachalpsee" and you'll
see what I mean.
A good map of the entire region is here:
http://ontheworldmap.com/switzerland/ski/jungfrau/jungfrau-summer-map.jpg
If all these city names and trains confuse you, just ask at a train station! They speak great English and can easily help you.

Safety: THe whole area is extremely safe. The Lauterbrunnen Hostel (Valley Hostel) gets excellent reviews. But before you settle on a hostel consider the Chalet Fontana in Murren (just 20 minutes UP into the alps from Lauterbrunnen).

SHOE: Thank you for the excellent hiking information and map link. This is amazing and super helpful. I did book an air b&b in Lauterbrunnen. With your first hike reference beginning in Murren, should I take a train from Lauterbrunnen to Murren? Also, for these small trip trains (from Interlaken East train station, from Lauterbrunnen to Murren), do I buy those tickets at the train stations, or do I need to get a special pass? Thank you so much!

Also, thank you NIGEL and TIM!

Hi, SHOE: for your first hike, how do I get from Lauterbrunnen to Grutschalp? (I'm a newbie traveler, so please bear with me!) Thank you!

Chris,
Since you already picked Lauterbrunnen as your base (good choice), you can forget my line that starts "If in Murren..."
So, here's what you do:
You arrive in Laut. by train. Behind the train station is a road, and across that road is a Coop store, a bank, and an entrance with a large blue sign that says "Bergbahn, Lauterbrunnen-Murren". That's the start of the cable car that will get you up to the Grutschalp-Murren hike. (You can see for yourself!--Just use Google Maps street view.)
Now I'm sure you won't take that immediately upon arrival. You'll find your AirBnB, drop off your heavy luggage, and take what you'd want for a 2 hr hike. Walk back to the station and find what I mentioned above, maybe even buying some hiking snacks/drinks at the Coop store. (Try 'Rivella' soft drink for something unique to Switz.) There is another Coop store in the middle of Murren.
Go in the Bergbahn entrance and pay for a "Grutschalp and return" ticket. I think it's around 16 Swiss Francs. They take credit cards. Don't get Murren and return, because you'll be walking to Murren and NOT taking the Grutschalp to Murren train. (If you don't want to walk back to Grutschalp from Murren, you can later buy that train ticket in Murren.)
In short, Laut. to Grutschalp is a cable car. Grutschalp to Murren is a train (or trail).
Once you take the cable car up to Grutschalp (see map) don't enter the train like 90% of the people do. Cross the train tracks and take the trail that pretty much follows the train tracks. Enjoy the views! If it rains or you want to find a restaurant, half way is "Winteregg", which is a small train station and restaurant.
As for tickets, I usually buy them as I need them (giving me flexibility for weather changes or tiredness or whatever). You can buy any ticket to anywhere in Switz. in any train station. They speak good English and are very helpful.
Also, since you will be in Laut., you can walk down the valley (away from the train station) and after about 45 min go left and find "Trummelbach Falls". Worth the price. When you see parked tour buses, you are very near.