One of life’s great pleasures is to sit with a glass of wine and some fine cheese while drinking in views of the lake and the mountain peaks. The Holiday Region Interlaken has much to offer foodies, from speciality game dishes and Swiss chocolate to alpine herbs that grow wild. Your new favourite culinary venue could be a mountain restaurant, alpine cabin, grotto or inn with a lake view.
Alpine viniculture by Lake Thun
All varieties of cheese: spicy alpine cheese, goat’s cheese, fondue and raclette
Traditional game specialities in autumn
Alpine herbs to season the pleasure
Make and enjoy your own chocolate
Autumn is harvest time, when the fruits of the summer are reaped and the hunting season starts. Menus are particularly rich in this season. A typically Swiss autumn menu comprises game with a choice of mushroom sauce, spaetzli, red cabbage and sweet chestnuts. These specialities are served in numerous inns and restaurants across the Holiday Region Interlaken.
After a long hike or comfortable train ride, enjoying a local plate of speciality cheese and sausage snacks in a mountain restaurant is a true gourmet delight. The region around Stockhorn is a perfect place to combine hiking and culinary pleasure. Take the Stockhorn culinary trail to enjoy a three-course menu in three different mountain restaurants. Between courses, you walk down from Stockhorn to the midway station of Chrindi in two stages of around 40 minutes. This culinary experience includes an after-dinner walk and superbly panoramic views.
Grapes grow at approximate elevations of 600 metres above sea level around Lake Thun. Visitors can stroll through the vineyards of Oberhofen, Hilterfingen, Merligen-Stampbach, Thun, Steffisburg, Gunten, Wilderswil and Spiez. Find a bench, open a bottle of local wine and drink in views of the lake and the surrounding mountains from the vineyard. Discover alpine viniculture on an educational trail around the Spiez vineyard. To mark the grape harvest, Spiez also stages a wine festival known as "Läset-Sunntig". As well as a colourful parade through the village, visitors can sample the finest wines Spiez has to offer in the wine cellar.
Every autumn, the herdsmen come down from the mountains to the valley. Festive cattle drives and the "Chästeilet" (apportioning of the cheese) are especially joyous events. In a tradition stretching back almost 300 years, the "Chästeilet" takes place in the Justistal every September. Since 1739, alpine cheese – the product of an alpine summer – has been apportioned in the Justistal according to the centuries-old ritual of the farmers of Sigriswil. At this and other cattle drives, you can sample the local cheese from the alpine summer. The «Älpler-Märit» (farmers’ market) in the Suldtal, which coincides with the cattle drive, is especially attractive.
Diverse experiences of cheese
Whether at a cattle drive or the cheese festival in Thun, the Holiday Region Interlaken is the place to sample local alpine cheese, Mutschli, Ziger, goat’s cheese and much more, to your heart’s content. One especially wondrous cheese experience is raclette at the St. Beatus caves or the caves at Stockhorn. Those who prefer an outdoor fondue can opt for a fondue rucksack from Sigriswil or a fondue rucksack from Interlaken.
Different alpine herbs grow according to whether the season is spring, summer or autumn. In the autumn, tea and jam is made from rosehip, the fruit of the wild rose. An excursion based on wild roses and wild herbs teaches you a great deal about the alpine herbs of Diemtigtal Nature Park. After the wild herb excursion, you can even make your own herbal products.
When the weather is not as sunny as you’d like, warm your heart in Interlaken by making your own chocolate. What makes Swiss chocolate so famous? At the "Funky Chocolate Club", you find out all you need to know. You can then make your own favourite type of chocolate as a personal gift for loved ones back home.
Wine growing by Lake Thun at elevations of 600 metres
Wine has been produced by Lake Thun since the 16th century
"Chästeilet" (apportioning of cheese) in the Justistal since 1739