No Snow in Interlaken? Here Is What to Do Instead

Interlaken sits at 570 metres. That is valley floor, not ski resort. So if you arrive in January and find green fields instead of a white postcard, nothing has gone wrong. That is a normal winter here.

The confusion is understandable. Every photo of Interlaken in winter shows deep snow, and most of those photos were taken 1'500 metres higher up. Down in town, snow is the exception. When it does fall all the way to the valley, it is usually 5 to 10 centimetres, and because temperatures swing around freezing, it often melts within a few days.

This winter is expected to be warm with little snow at lower altitudes. So here is an honest answer to the question people actually type into Google: what can you do in Interlaken when there is no snow?

Sometimes, briefly, and not reliably.

In January, daytime highs sit around 2 °C and nights drop to about -4 °C. February is usually a touch warmer and statistically the driest month of the year, which means more clear days than most visitors expect. Neither month guarantees snow in town.

What is reliable is the snow above you. The ski areas of the Jungfrau Region sit between roughly 1'600 and 2'970 metres, and they are 20 to 60 minutes away by train and cable car. On a green day in Interlaken you can still look straight up at white peaks. You just cannot walk out of your hotel and into them.

So the real question is not whether there is snow. It is whether the things you booked depend on it. Sledging, snowshoeing and beginner ski packages do. Plenty of other things do not.

Five of these run on the valley floor or in the air, one runs entirely indoors. None of them require a single centimetre of snow.

You get a splash jacket, waterproof gloves, a warm hat and a life jacket, so the cold is handled. A digital souvenir photo is included and available to download within 24 hours.

A raft, a pot of melted Swiss cheese, and Lake Brienz at dusk. Your guide paddles while you eat. The fondue is prepared and served on board, with bread, sides, white wine, tea and mineral water included. You stay dry the whole time, wrapped in a warm blanket.

The chocolate comes from the Funky Chocolate Club in Interlaken, served with marshmallows, fruit, cookies and pretzels, plus hot tea and a glass of white wine. Blankets are provided. It is the most relaxed thing on this list and the easiest one to do with children or grandparents.

Along the route you stop at a farm to taste fresh local cheese and hear how alpine dairy culture works, and later at a chocolate manufacturer for a tasting. Your guide plans photo stops and breaks. E-bike, helmet, gloves and the tastings are all included.

You fly for about 15 minutes over the peaks, then step out for roughly 45 seconds of free fall at up to 180 km/h before the canopy opens and you glide down over the valley. Up to eight tandems go up per flight, so a whole group can jump together.

Courses run from easy to genuinely demanding, so you can start slow and work up. It is about 35 minutes by train from Interlaken, which gets you the ride up into the Eiger valley plus a guaranteed activity at the end of it.

One honest caveat. Snow-independent is not the same as weather-independent.

The boat tours can be postponed or cancelled by strong wind or heavy rain. The skydive needs a clear enough sky. We check conditions continuously, but a reliable call is often only possible on the day itself, and bad weather alone does not automatically stop a tour.

Two things help. Leave us a phone number we can actually reach you on, and keep a spare slot in your itinerary. If we have to cancel, you can rebook, switch to another activity, or get a full refund.