Iseltwald Village & Lake Brienz Cruise

Lake Brienz is that colour because of rock flour - glacial sediment ground so fine it never settles, scattering light back as turquoise. It is also among the deepest and coldest lakes in Switzerland, which keeps the water clear. You board at Interlaken Ost and cruise east along the wooded northern shore. The first stop is Iseltwald, a fishing village on a small peninsula with a private castle at its tip. It was almost unvisited until a Korean drama filmed a scene on its pier in 2019, and it has been on every itinerary since. From there the boat crosses to Giessbach, where fourteen cascades fall close to 500 metres through the trees. A funicular built in 1879, the oldest in Europe, lifts you from the landing stage to the grand hotel and the path that runs behind the water. The final leg reaches Brienz at the head of the lake, the woodcarving town where the craft has been taught since the 1830s and a steam railway still climbs the Rothorn. Return to Interlaken by rail along the shore. Bring a waterproof layer for the Giessbach path - the spray reaches it. Boats operate roughly April to October.