Stories of Interlaken: Mountains, Monks, and Monarchs

Interlaken sits on a glacial plain between two lakes of different colours, framed by some of the most dramatic peaks in the Alps. On this walking tour, you'll follow the area's history from a medieval monastery that once controlled 24 mountain valley churches to a grand boulevard that turned a quiet Swiss town into a 19th-century tourist destination. You'll also cross into neighbouring Unterseen, a fortified market town with a story of its own.

The tour starts near Interlaken West Station and crosses the Aare River into Unterseen's medieval old town. Along the Untergasse and through the Marktplatz, you'll hear how rivalries between two Catholic dioceses sparked centuries of disputes over river tolls, fishing rights, and market access. You'll also find out how Napoleon's arrival in 1798 and a catastrophic fire in 1470 each reshaped the towns in ways you can still see today.

Back in Interlaken, the route follows the Höheweg, where a working meadow doubles as a paragliding landing strip, and the Victoria Jungfrau Grand Hotel still recalls the era when Queen Victoria's 1868 Swiss holiday inspired a generation of wealthy British travelers. You'll pass the former grounds of the Inter Lacus monastery – the institution that gave Interlaken its name – before finishing at the Japanese Garden, a gift from sister city Ōtsu. The tour ends here, beside the Hotel Interlaken.

On this 40-minute tour, you'll have a chance to:

• Visit the Unterseen Stadthaus, once a merchant hall where goods arrived by land and water to be weighed, measured, and sold
• Explore the grounds of the former Augustinian monastery, whose nuns once owned the land surrounding the Jungfrau
• Hear how Bollywood director Yash Chopra made Interlaken a destination for millions of Indian travelers
• Learn why the Reformed Church Unterseen's late-Gothic tower survived when nearly everything else in town burned in 1470
• Discover how Louis Callier used water power in 1819 to make chocolate affordable for people beyond the wealthy
• Stop at the Congress Kursaal casino, which once offered guests whey cures alongside small-stakes gambling

This tour packs centuries of Alpine history into a single walk – bring good shoes, a curiosity for unexpected stories, and perhaps an appetite for chocolate.