Ballenberg Open-air Living Museum

Ballenberg is an open-air living museum dedicated to traditional Swiss rural life.

Old buildings from all over Switzerland have been transported and rebuilt at Ballenberg, open to explore with traditional artifacts setting the scene. They also have some trade on display including a guy making cheese, a lady weaving on a loom, a blacksmith, etc.

The whole park is stunning, with gorgeous meadows overlooking the Bernese Alps. We like bringing visiting grandparents there because they really appreciate all the history and crafts.

Location

Ballenberg is located in the Berner Oberland, about a 20 min drive east of Interlaken.

Getting There

By car: Drive to Museumsstrasse 9, 3856 Brienzwiler, following signs to Freilichtmuseum Ballenberg. There is parking directly at the entrance to the park. From Interlaken, it’s about a 20 mins drive. From Luzern, it’s about a 45 mins drive.

By public transport: 

• From Luzern (or Zürich), take a train to Brünig-Hasliberg, then bus 151 to Ballenberg Ost, Museum. From Luzern, it’s about 1hr10. From Zürich, about 2hr35.
• From Interlaken Ost, take a train to Brienz, Bahnhof, then bus 151 to Ballenberg West, Museum. This journey takes about 45 mins.

The Tell Pass and Regionalpass Berner Oberland include transportation to the museum and a 25% discount on the entrance fees. 

SBB Railaway sometimes has a combo offer giving a discount on both the train travel and entrance fee.

One time, we took the train there from Zurich so we could relax and enjoy the scenery together. It’s a beautiful ride. The trains we took had a special car for bikes etc, where I easily parked my stroller with my sleeping baby instead of having to pull him out and break down the stroller. In Luzern there’s a quick train change (like 5mins) so move with purpose.

Park Overview

This park is enormous, about 2 km from one end to the other. Below is just a small part of the map to give you an idea of how it’s organized, lots of criss-crossing paths. You will get a map of the park when you visit and you can download a PDF on their website.

Obviously, you’ll be doing a lot of walking and your kiddies will get tired. Don’t plan on seeing the whole park in one visit. Just pick a few of the “cantons” and enjoy them instead of rushing around.

A lot of the buildings are very similar so you won’t be missing something critical if you don’t walk into every building. My kids particularly enjoyed the saw mill and the nearby “village” which is a good sample of the park.

It’s similar to Colonial Williamsburg in the US, only in the US, the cheese guy would be hamming it up, speaking jovially in an olde tyme accent, giving colorful commentary on his work, getting the kids to help out in the task. At Ballenberg, the “cast” acted a little like we were getting in their way, not talking to us, just doing their work. 

There’s a nice playground (with carousel) in the middle of the very large park, next to the restaurant (small and usually packed since it’s one of the only places to eat). I’d recommend picnicking as there are several very nice picnic spots in the park, some with fire pits and wood. Near the playground is some sort of kids maze in one of the barns. A couple of the kids I was with got lost in there and started screaming and we had a hard time crawling through it because the whole thing is kids size.

At the entrance/exit, there is a small chocolate “factory” where you can see someone making chocolate, aka pouring it into the molds. I thought the chocolate was only ok, but they have lots of interesting flavors. The gift shop has lots of ice cream for the trip home.

Now for some pics…

ballenberg fields overlooking the bernese alps

great outing for the grandparents

small parade with people in traditional swiss costume

loom lady

saw mill running on water power

some of the traditional buildings

house staged with all the props as if someone were really living there

view of Bernese Alps from Ballenberg