Visiting The Giessbach Waterfall on Lake Brienz

When we visited Interlaken, Switzerland and we had one day to explore. After doing our research we came to the conclusion that we wanted to spend our day on Lake Brienz and visiting the Giessbach Waterfall! We were not disappointed. Read on to see how to visit the Giessbach Waterfall on your trip to Europe.

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Getting To Giessbach Falls

We had an unlimited Eurail pass so we could ride the boat to the Giessbach Waterfall for free. Score! It took us a minute to find the boat dock – we stopped at the train station to ask and found it from there.

Once there we found the kiosk where they sell tickets and confirmed that we could in fact get free tickets for the boat ride. We picked our time and waited for them to let us onto the boat.

We had 2nd class Eurail tickets which meant we got 2nd class seats on the boat. The 1st class seats were pretty sweet so something to keep in mind!

You can also drive to the Giessbach hotel. They have a car park. Since we were only doing public transportation we got on the boat!

Do You Have To Hike To The Giessbach Waterfall

If you aren’t up for a hike you can see the waterfall from the hotel and it is beautiful! That means you can either drive your car here or take the boat and the Funicular up and down from the water. So if hiking isn’t your thing you can definitely still see the waterfall!

Boat Ride

Carson and Cannon on the boat on Lake Brienz

The boat ride is gorgeous and definitely a top activity to do in Interlaken!! Look at the color of this water. It is unbelievable. We sat outside so we could take in all the beauty of the lake and the surrounding area.

Carson looking out at a castle from a boat on Lake Brienz

Be on the look out for epic views from the boat. Like this one with Carson looking out at a castle on the banks of the lake.

Giessbach Grand Hotel

Our stop was the Giessbach Grand Hotel. The boat drops you off and you have to get tickets to go up the funicular to get to the Grand Hotel and the base of the waterfall. I believe it was 10 Francs a person. Be sure to have some with you just in case or else you will find yourself walking!

The Funicular runs from April – October but always check if you are in April or October as it may not be running due to weather.

There is a hiking trail if you would rather hike up. We would normally do this. But with limited time we decided to take the funicular up. The kids were happy about that!

Picture of the funicular coming up from the lake to the Grand Hotel Giessbach

After we got to the top we checked out the hotel and the eating area and had an awesome view of the waterfall.

Giessbach Waterfall Hike

Cannon on the hike up to the Giessbach Waterfall.

Now it was time to hike to the top of the Giessbach Falls. The kids weren’t happy with us and we weren’t in hiking shape but we went for it and it was well worth it!

At one point of the hike you can walk behind the waterfall!! It was an awesome view and the water was so powerful.

When we got to the top I turned around and the view down to the hotel and the lake with the mountains in the background and the waterfall under my feet was one of the most beautiful landscape views I have ever seen.

View of Giessbach Grand Hotel from the top of the waterfall.

It made the hike totally worth it for me! When you are at the top you walk across the waterfall on a bridge. It was all a bit scary!

The hike was 1.5 miles and was switch backs and uphill the whole way. We made our way back down and stopped to grab a snack at the hotel restaurant before making the decision to walk down to Iseltwald to catch the boat back to Interlaken.

We could have waited and gotten the boat here to go back but figure it was a good day for hiking and these views were amazing.

Walking to Iseltwald

It was about a 3.5 mile hike from Giessbach to Iseltwald. It was a pretty flat trail along the lake but also some spots in the woods with a lot of roots and things to look out for.

We knew we had to be to Iseltwald in time to catch the boat so we did the hike very quickly!

Iseltwald

Iseltwald was a cute town that I wish we had more time to spend in!

We got a couple drinks from the Strandhotel hotel restaurant by the boat stop and waited about 20 minutes for the boat to come. The restaurant had an awesome outdoor seating area.

Boat From Iseltwald Back To Interlaken

View of the boat coming to get us at Iseltwald

We got on the boat – it was a different boat than the one we took on the way there. It had cool seating on the 2nd story at the front of the boat so we went up there to sit. But didn’t realize it was the 1st class seats so we quickly got kicked out! Oops!

1st class seats we got kicked out of on our way back to Interlaken.

When we got back to Interlaken we went and got some dinner and called it a night. It was a fun day with amazing views and awesome hiking! We headed to Lauterbrunnen the next day. I LOVE Switzerland!

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