Hello from the Brienzer Rothorn! This magnificent mountain overlooks the milky teal waters of Lake Brienz, the snow-capped peaks of the Berner Oberland, the Harder Ridge, and even all the way to Lucerne.
But most travelers come up here not just to enjoy the views, but also for a ride on a historic steam train.
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How to reach the Brienzer Rothorn
The village of Brienz sits on one end of Lake Brienz — just 20 minutes from Interlaken or 1.5 hours from Lucerne by train. You can also get here by boat from Interlaken Ost, which takes around 1 hour and 20 minutes. If you’re coming by car, there’s plenty of parking available near the Brienz train station. And the Brienz Rothorn railway station is conveniently located just across the street from there.
As you can tell right away, there’s a beautiful historic train parked in the station dating back to 1892. The Brienz Rothorn Railway owns 11 steam locomotives and 3 diesel ones, and each can carry anywhere from 50 to 112 passengers at a time. So part of the fun is showing up and being surprised by which train you get to board!
Brienz Rothorn Seat Reservations
Speaking of boarding, we highly recommend making seat reservations in advance. If you’ve seen any of our other videos, you know that we rarely (if ever) make seat reservations. But the Brienz Rothorn Railway is a big exception. It runs once an hour with only 8 or 9 journeys per day, and has limited seating, so it’s not unusual for it to sell-out, especially when the weather is nice.
Seat reservations can be purchased online from the Brienz Rothorn website for 8 CHF per person. And if you also need to buy a ticket, you can do that at the same time. The turnstile opens 30 minutes before departure so we got here early to snag a window seat.
Even though we made a seat reservation, it’s actually not for a specific seat, it just guarantees a ride at that specific departure time. But you can board and sit anywhere you’d like. So choose wisely! Here are a few tips to help:
- Sit on the left side for the best views on the way up. And of course it’s better to have a window seat.
- Find a spot near the front or back end of the train. This lets you get more pictures of the train as it curves along the track!
- Our favorite spot is in the front of the train, looking back toward the locomotive. This gives you great views of the train and the lake. And it’s also less smelly and noisy than if you’re sitting right near the locomotive.
- Of course, if you’re fascinated by trains and want to watch how the engine works, then pick a spot in the back by the locomotive.
Riding the Brienz Rothorn Steam Train
Our journey begins by slowly chugging through the village of Brienz, past charming Swiss chalets and grassy green fields. Soon you’ll get your first glimpse of the bright blue Lake Brienz.
The Brienz Rothorn train runs from early June through mid-October. It travels 7.6 kilometers in one hour, climbing an impressive 1678 meters at an average 22.5% gradient. Along the route you’re greeted by darkness 6 separate times as you pass through tunnels, the longest of which is 290 meters long.
Halfway through the journey you reach Planalp, the middle station, for a quick 5-minute stop next to the mountain hotel and restaurant. Crane your neck out the window to watch the steam locomotives be refueled with a fresh supply of water. As you wait, see if you can glimpse the Mühlebach Waterfall in the distance too.
Then you continue along the second half of the panoramic journey, winding past cow pastures, beside trickling streams, and through a few more tunnels. The final sweep is a broad curve through a grassy meadow to reach the impressive summit at 2350 meters.
Things To Do at the Brienzer Rothorn Summit
As soon as you hop off the train, you’re greeted by this view. Apparently on a clear day like today, we can see up to 693 peaks in Central Switzerland, the Jungfrau Region, and all the way to the Jura mountains.
It’s hard to take my eyes off all of this beauty. And good thing I don’t have to! There are just a few things to do up here at the Brienzer Rothorn, and all of them revolve around the panoramic vistas.
The Mountain Hotel Rothorn Kulm is just 100 meters uphill from the station. It offers a self-service buffet of tasty regional cuisine, and every single one of their hotel rooms comes with a view.
Just a bit farther up the path is the Rothorn Summit Restaurant, another option to dine on classic Swiss food with an epic view. And don’t skip heading up to their upper terrace to snap a picture on the ibex swing!
Speaking of ibex, you might spot some of them — especially if you’re here early in the morning — because a colony lives near here with more than 150 members! These animals were nearly extinct in the 19th century, but have been repopulated and now there are almost 20,000 alpine ibex in Switzerland. They live in the rocky terrain above the tree line, like here at the Brienzer Rothorn, and survive on alpine herbs and grasses.
This is the Brienzer Rothorn summit, and it’s the highest peak in Canton Lucerne. Now, you might be surprised to hear that we’re actually standing in the canton of Lucerne, but as is often the case, the mountain ridge forms the border between here and Canton Bern where we started our day. And actually — according to Google Maps — you can straddle three cantons at once!
Because we’re so high up in the mountains, you can expect the temperature to be about 18°F/10°C cooler than down in Brienz. Which means you may want to bring up a light jacket! Although, if it’s sunny, you’ll be soaking up those UV rays the entire time, so remember your sunscreen too!
Hiking at Brienzer Rothorn
And those suggestions are even more important if you plan to do a little hiking.
- There’s the Summit Trail, which is a 15 minute walk uphill from the station to the Brienzer Rothorn Summit.
- But you can also hike downhill from the Brienzer Rothorn to Planalp, the middle station, in about 2.5 hours. But if we were going to hike down to Planalp, we would much rather follow the ridge first to the Chruterenpass and then down, which takes about 2 hours and 45 minutes.
- Now many of you have probably heard about the famous Hardergrat Trail that starts here and goes along the ridge to Harder Kulm. But some important disclaimers — once you reach the Chruterenpass, there’s technically no official hiking trail until you’re much further toward Harder Kulm. In fact, the Brienz Rothorn Railway website discourages people from taking this route because it can be very dangerous and people literally die on it every year. We can’t comment on it personally because we haven’t attempted it. But if you’d like a similar hiking experience on a much safer part of the ridge, check out this blog we wrote a few years ago.
- But a more approachable hike with absolutely stellar views is the Brienzer Rothorn High Altitude Hike to Turren. First you hike 2 hours to Lungern Schönbühl. There’s a restaurant here if you need a little break. Then continue on for another hour to Turren, where you can ride the Lungern-Turren cable car down to Lungern, saving your knees from an extra 850 meters of downhill hiking! From here, hop on a train back to Brienz, or wherever you’re staying nearby. Depending on your timing, you might also catch a ride on the Luzern-Interlaken Express panoramic train!
- You might also notice that there’s a cable car station up here. You could ride this down to Sörenberg, but we don’t recommend that unless you’re traveling with a car because it’s just tricky to get anywhere from Sörenberg by public transportation or on foot.
Eating at Brienzer Rothorn
It’s worth knowing that — because of the train timetables — you’ll usually have about 30-45 minutes at the top if you want to catch the very next departure. This is enough time if all you want to do is take in the views, but consider staying longer if you’d like to eat, linger, or enjoy one of the hikes we mentioned.
Once you factor in the 1-hour train ride in each direction, expect this to be a minimum 2.5-3-hour experience.
But before we head down the mountain, we’re going to have a little picnic!
Brienz Rothorn Tickets
Now it’s time to head back to Brienz. Which means we get to enjoy another delightful hour of views, trying not to leave our mouths open the entire time. And stick with us because we’re going to explain tickets, passes, and special offers while we make the journey back down.
In 2024, a standard adult round trip ticket costs 96 CHF, or 48 CHF with the Half Fare Card or Swiss Travel Pass. It’s completely free with the Berner Oberland Pass and the Tell-Pass. And it’s also free with the Giessbach Nostalgia Pass if you’re traveling after 10:45am. More info on that in our 16 Things to Do in Brienz blog!
If you’re staying in Brienz and have the Brienz Guest Card, you get 20% off the full price, or an additional 10% off the Half Fare price.
Unfortunately there are no discounts with the Eurail or Interrail Pass. But you can ride for completely free on your birthday!
A roundtrip ticket for kids ages 6-15 costs just 10 CHF. But they can ride with you for free with the Swiss Family Card. Kids under 6 are always free throughout the entire country.
And one dog per person can travel for free, while each additional dog costs 10 CHF.
If you’d like to hike part of the route, there are discounted rates for one-way or partial journeys as well.
Keep in mind that all of these prices are just for the cost of tickets and do not include seat reservations, which, as we mentioned earlier, cost 8 CHF per passenger.
Tickets can be purchased online, at the Brienzer Rothorn station in Brienz, or on the SBB Mobile App. If you buy on the SBB app or SBB website, you’ll need to exchange your ticket at the station in order to go through the turnstile.
The first ride up is daily at 8:36am, or 7:36am on Saturdays and Sundays in July, August, and September. And the last departure from Brienzer Rothorn is at 5:40 pm.
Beyond standard rides, there are also a few special offers available, such as riding with the conductor, a sausage lunch at Planap — where the sausages are cooked in the locomotive’s boiler, an 11-course meal in a Belle Époque carriage, an overnight in the mountain hotel, or even a breakfast buffet.
More things to do in Brienz, Switzerland
But the fun doesn’t have to end once you’re back in Brienz! You can hop on a boat to ride across Lake Brienz to Interlaken, or read this next to see more things to do in Brienz. And we’ll see you in Switzerland!
Do you want to see more trains, boats, and cable car rides that we think are worth your time and money? Check out our Top 21 rides that we think should be on your Swiss transportation Bucket List!
