The Brienz-Rothorn trail remains one of my favorite hiking experiences. Offering breathtaking ridge views and quintessential Swiss scenery, this hike delivers incredible views, yet isn’t overly challenging. A faint ringing of cowbells creates an idyllic ambience. If I had only one day for hiking in the Interlaken area, this would be my trail of choice.
I can’t seem to stay away from Switzerland. When the Euro travel bug returns (as it always does), its quaint Alpine towns and epic waterfalls on my mind. If you’re headed to the Interlaken area, the Brienz-Rothorn trail is the perfect day-hike to make the most out of your stay. It requires some logistical planning that I’ll discuss below, but be assured it is well worth it to pull this hike off.
Note: this is a point-to-point hike. It is a wonderful tour of the area and I encourage you not to be deterred by the logistics! At completion, you will take the cable car from Turren to Lungern, then walk to the Lungern train station (~20 min through town) to catch a train back to your starting point.
| Start | Brienz Train Station (train every hour from ~7:30am) |
| End | Lungern Cable Car (closes 6pm) |
| Length | 7.1 miles / 11.3 km |
| Elevation gain: | ~1,500 ft / 460m |
| Highest elevation: | 7,700 ft / 2346m |
| Difficulty | Moderate hike but advanced trail (lots of exposure) |
| Total time | 5-6 hrs |
| Cost | ~92 CHF / 100 USD |
this trail may not be suitable for everyone
I took this iPhone photo of one of the narrow sections of trail. Make the right decision for yourself based on your comfort level. If the weather is forecasted to be anything more than a drizzle, I would consider tackling this hike on a different day.
1. Transportation
Before setting off on your hike, review the necessary transportation and timetables for the day. Links to these are below.
- Swiss rail: Every ~30 min from Interlaken Ost
- Brienz-Rothorn Train: Every hour from ~7:30am
- Turren Cable Car: 8:20am – 5pm (weekdays) or 6pm (weekends & holidays)
Marked on the map below are:
- Interlaken Ost station — possible starting point
- Brienz station
- Brienz-Rothorn Bahn — train that takes you up the mountain
- Turren: cable car that takes you down to Lungern
- Lungern: where you will catch the train back to your starting point
Wherever your starting point, you’ll need to get to Brienz. Thankfully, public transportation in Switzerland is fantastic and relatively easy to navigate. If starting in Interlaken, you’ll take the train from Interlaken Ost to Brienz, which runs every ~30 minutes and takes 17-20 minutes depending on the line.
Proceed to the steam train (Brienz BRB on the map) — just across the street from the regular train station. This scenic cogwheel train takes you up the mountain to Rothorn Kulm. It is recommended that you reserve a ticket online in advance. The price is 62 CHF, with discounted prices available for those with a Swiss rail card.
We were in a pretty dense fog most of the ride up, but when we broke through, the views were incredible.
2. The Route
Once you arrive at the top of Brienzer Rothern, you can enjoy the view from the restaurant or proceed to the trail to start your hike! The route you’ll find on Swiss tourism sites is on AllTrails here, however, I followed a slightly different route that extends your time on the ridges. Rather than beginning your descent at Höch Gumme, you’ll hike on to Mändli before heading down to the cable car.
3. The Hike
There’s not much else to say — this hike was stunning for its entire duration. Here are some favorite photos from along the way.
Towards the end of the trail, we reached the source of the ambient cowbells that had accompanied most of the way.
4. Returning from the trail
You’ll take an unexciting gravel road from the trail to the cable car. Upon arrival, there should be an attendant there to take your payment or ticket.
If there is no attendant, use the call box to phone down to the station in Lungern, and they will send someone up. This was the case for us, as it was a low-traffic day due to the weather.
The train back to Interlaken from Lungern leaves every hour and takes ~1 hour. There are plenty of places to eat or grab a pint once in town. Unfortunately, the place I ate is permanently closed, so I can’t provide a recommendation.
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