Interlaken boat tour: Lake Thun, Lake Brienz and the day pass

The town sits on a flat strip of land between Lake Thun and Lake Brienz — that is literally what its name records. The two lakes are close enough to see from the same hillside and different enough that choosing the wrong one costs you the day you wanted.

Lake Thun is the larger and more open of the two, stretching west from Interlaken with a shoreline of villages, castles and landing stages. It is the lake the scheduled boats work hardest, and it is the one the $51 day pass covers all year round. The listing describes the day as a full day of magnificent scenery with stops at popular attractions and picturesque sights around the lakes, taken at your own pace — and that is the point of it: you get on, you get off, you get on again.

Lake Brienz is the narrow one to the east, and it is the colour people photograph. Glacier melt gives it the turquoise that every listing on this page mentions, and the slopes drop straight into it, so the boats run close under cliffs and forest. The Giessbach Falls come down 500 metres to the southern shore. The catch is seasonal: the day pass includes Lake Brienz only from the beginning of April until mid-October, so a January boat day here is a Lake Thun day.

The third variable is speed, and it changes the lake more than the weather does. A scheduled boat is a bench, a deck and a timetable. A kayak at water level, on a lake this colour, is a different experience of the same square kilometre — the listing for $142 calls it an absolute must-do and sends you past towering cliffs and the 12th-century Ringgenberg Castle, drifting down the Lütschine to the north shore. And a jetboat is the opposite pole: 45 to 50 minutes of 360° turns with a captain who, as the listing puts it, turns up the speed and the humour, with waterproof gear handed out so you stay dry. Three speeds, two lakes, four bookings. That is the whole of the Interlaken boat tour question.

Four listings, and they solve four different problems. The table below has the fares, lengths, ratings and what an hour of each costs.

$51 — the day pass on both lakes. This is the one most people want and the one that answers the search most directly. It is marked a bestseller on GetYourGuide, it is wheelchair accessible, and it carries 208 reviews. The fare is a day boat pass on Lake Thun, plus a day pass on Lake Brienz from the beginning of April until mid-October. You board the scheduled boats, you ride as far as you like, you stop where the listing promises — villages, attractions and sights around both shores, with the mountain panorama in front of you. It is booked at least four hours ahead, and it is the cheapest full day on this entire site. Its 4.1 rating is the lowest of the four here, and it is worth understanding why: a day pass is a ticket to a public timetable, not a guided experience, so what people rate is partly the boat schedule. Read it as what it is and it is superb value for a whole day across two lakes.

$142 — three hours on the turquoise water. The highest-rated way onto the water here: 4.9 across 265 reviews. Suitable for all levels, run by an experienced coach at six guests to one, with top-quality equipment and neoprenes and jackets if needed. The route takes in the towering cliffs of Lake Brienz, the 12th-century Ringgenberg Castle — a Swiss heritage site — and a drift down the River Lütschine to the north shore, with a photo package of your time on the lake included. The listing also states that it runs in most conditions, rain and snow included, and that a tour which cannot go ahead can be rescheduled or refunded in full.

$147 — 45 to 50 minutes of speed. The shortest booking on the whole site and the easiest to fit around something else. The boat runs the length of Lake Brienz with 360° turns worked into it, passes the 500-metre Giessbach Falls cascading down the mountain, and the skipper narrates the history and culture of the town between manoeuvres. Life jacket and splash jacket are supplied as required, one photo is included, and the listing is marked wheelchair accessible. 403 reviews at 4.7, bookable an hour ahead.

$172 — the same lake, in silence. Three hours on Lake Brienz in a fully sealed expedition drysuit, with neoprene boots and thick warm socks provided, in a small group, suitable for non-swimmers and beginners. The listing sells the thing it is actually selling: the breathtaking silence and atmosphere of the lake in winter. A digital photo and video package is in the fare. 281 reviews at 4.9, and it is the only booking here that gets you onto the water between November and March.

Reading the cost-per-hour column. The day pass is written as 24 hours because it is valid for the day, so it reads as a fraction of the others per hour. The jetboat reads high per hour because it is under an hour long in total. Neither number is telling you which to book — the question is whether you want a timetable, a paddle or a throttle.

If you want the most water for the money, book $51. One pass, boats on Lake Thun all year and on Lake Brienz from April to mid-October, hopping on and off at villages and castles around both shores. It is the bestseller of the four, it is wheelchair accessible, and no other booking on this site shows you both lakes in a day.

If you want the turquoise up close, book $142. Three hours at water level with six guests to a coach, past the cliffs and Ringgenberg Castle, with a photo package included. 4.9 across 265 reviews makes it the best-rated way onto Lake Brienz, and being in the water rather than above it is the entire difference.

If you have less than an hour, book $147. Forty-five to fifty minutes, 360° turns, the Giessbach Falls from the water and waterproof gear supplied. 403 reviews at 4.7. It is also the only fast boat here and the only one that suits people who would rather laugh than drift.

If you are here in winter, book $172. The day pass shrinks to Lake Thun, the summer kayak and the jetboat are summer products, and the drysuit tour is the one thing that puts you on Lake Brienz in the cold. 281 reviews at 4.9, small group, everything you need to stay warm included.

If you are combining a boat with the rest of the day: the jetboat at 45 to 50 minutes leaves an entire afternoon free, and the day pass runs on its own clock, so either pairs with a mountain ticket like $89 without a clash. The two kayak tours are three hours and want a half-day of their own.