Interlaken in winter: skiing, night sledding and the winter kayak

Interlaken in winter keeps the same geography it has all year — a town on flat ground between Lake Thun and Lake Brienz, with Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen and Mürren behind it — but the list of things to do with that geography changes. Snow closes the summer gorge days and opens two mountain ones, and the lake, which is the thing that does not freeze, turns into the quietest experience on this site.

Up the mountain on skis: $172. This is the listing to book if you have never skied and want to find out whether you like it, and it is deliberately built for exactly that. It runs five hours from Interlaken, of which 2.5 hours are ski instruction with a bilingual instructor, and it uses the Bodmi beginner slopes at Grindelwald with drag lifts and magic carpets rather than anything steeper. Ski, boot and helmet rental and the Bodmi magic carpet lift ticket are all named in the fare, so there is nothing to hire in town beforehand. The Eiger north face stands in the view while you are learning, which is a strange thing to have over your shoulder on a first afternoon on snow. It carries 156 reviews at 4.7.

Down the mountain after dark: $122. The night sledding listing is three hours and the cheapest winter day here. You travel from Interlaken high into the mountains, and the fare names the sled, hiking boots, transportation, the gondola ticket and a guide — which is the whole reason it works as an evening out: you are not organising transport, a lift pass or equipment, you are just turning up. Then you come down a moonlit sled run behind an experienced instructor, with the winter panorama around you and the lights of the valley below. At 4.8 from 147 reviews it is the listing people remember from a winter week here, and it is the one that fits an evening rather than a whole day.

Out on the water: $172. This is the quiet one, and the best reviewed of the three at 4.9 from 281 reviews. Three hours, small group, on Lake Brienz in the season when almost nobody is on it. The listing is explicit about what keeps you comfortable: a fully sealed expedition drysuit, neoprene boots, thick warm socks, all the kayak equipment and an experienced guide, plus a digital photo and video package. It also states that the tour suits beginners and non-swimmers, which surprises people. What you get for it is the thing summer cannot give you on that lake — silence, still water and the winter light on the mountains around it.

How the three fit together. They are different lengths and different times of day, which is why a winter week here can take all three without repeating itself: the ski afternoon fills a day, the kayak fills a morning, and the sledding fills an evening. And when the snow goes, the other ten listings on this site come back — the gondola to Mount First with the Cliff Walk, the glacier canyon walkways at $26, the turquoise kayak, the jetboat, the canyoning and the boat day pass across both lakes from $51.

These three do not compete with each other so much as cover different parts of a winter week, but if you are only picking one, here is how they stand.

$172, the beginner ski afternoon. The one that teaches you something. Five hours from Interlaken, 2.5 hours of instruction, gentle Bodmi slopes at Grindelwald, and skis, boots and a helmet in the fare. 4.7 from 156 reviews. It is the most expensive of the three and it is also the longest, and if you have never skied it is the only one of the three you will still be talking about in a year.

$122, night sledding. The one that costs least and asks least. Three hours in the evening, the sled and hiking boots handed to you, transport and the gondola ticket included, a guide in front of you on the run. 4.8 from 147 reviews. It leaves your daytime untouched, which is why it pairs with anything else on this list.

$172, the winter kayak. The best reviewed of the three at 4.9 from 281 reviews, and the one nobody expects to be available in winter. Small group, three hours, a sealed expedition drysuit, neoprene boots and warm socks, and a photo and video package at the end. Suitable for beginners and non-swimmers by the operator’s own wording.

The verdict. If it is your first winter trip to Interlaken and you have one day, book $172: the instruction, the equipment and the lift are all in one fare, and learning to ski under the Eiger is the reason to be in the Bernese Oberland in the cold months at all. If you already ski, or if you want the day that no other season can give you, take $172 instead — 4.9 across 281 reviews, an empty lake and a drysuit that makes the whole thing comfortable. And whichever of the two you choose, add $122 in the evening: it is the cheapest winter listing here and it does not take a day away from anything.

1. Assuming Interlaken shuts down in winter. It does not. Three listings are built for the cold months, and the ski and sledding days both include the transport from town.
2. Hiring skis in advance. There is no need. $172 names ski, boot and helmet rental plus the Bodmi magic carpet lift ticket inside the fare.
3. Ruling out the lake because it is winter. $172 is the highest rated of the three at 4.9, it runs in a small group, and the drysuit, neoprene boots and thick socks come with it.
4. Reading the ski listing as five hours of skiing. It is a five-hour booking from Interlaken with 2.5 hours of instruction inside it; the rest is getting to Grindelwald and being fitted out.
5. Expecting the boat day pass to cover both lakes. In winter it does not. The listing for $51 states that the Lake Brienz half runs from the beginning of April until mid-October.
6. Booking the sledding for your last evening. It is the cheapest winter listing here and the easiest to fit twice; leaving it to the final night means no room to move it.