These beautiful falls in the Bernese Oberland are famous as the setting for Sherlock Holmes’ apparent death in Sir Arthur Canon Doyle’s stories. You can take a funicular up to a lookout over the falls, then optionally hike up about 30 mins along the falls to see more up close.
At the top, there’s a restaurant with a nice view of the valley. You can optionally rent mountain scooter to ride down instead of the funicular.
It’s a short outing so you’ll want to combine this with other activities, like a visit to the nearby Aare Gorge. Then go get the traditional meringue and cream dessert in the nearby village Meiringen.
Contents
| Location: | Bernese Oberland Switzerland |
| Address: | Reichenbach, 3860 Schattenhalb |
| Car: | GPS Parking: 46°43’12.3″N 8°11’13.4″E 25 mins from Interlaken, 1hr25 from Zurich |
| Train: | 2hr15 from Zürich HB to Meiringen, then 1.4k walk |
| Trail: | 600m from viewing platform to top of falls |
| Condition: | lumpy dirt path and stairs |
| Skill: | moderate |
| Open: | May through October, 9.00–17.30 |
| Prices 2023: | Return on funicular: Adult CHF 12, Child CHF 8 |
| Services: | restaurant, playground |
| More info: | www.grimselwelt.ch |
Location
These falls are east of Interlaken, near the Meiringen village.
Overview
To see the falls, you ride a funicular from the valley to a viewpoint.
Hiking map
From the viewpoint, you can optionally hike up about 30 mins to the top of the falls, passing a couple more viewpoints on your way.
At the top, you’ll find a restaurant with a view of the valley, but not the falls. Here you can rent a mountain scooter to ride back down to the valley (best to pay for that as a combi ticket with your one-way funicular ride). Or you can walk back the way you came to the funicular and ride down.
This is a short outing, about an hour. So plan to combine this with other activities in the area, like the nearby Aare Gorge.
How to get there
By car: The Reichenbach Falls funicular does not have a street address. It is located near Meiringen, but not in the village center. You can use 46°43’12.3″N 8°11’13.4″E in your GPS Navi.
There is free parking near the station but not many spaces. If this parking is full, go to the larger parking lot across the river at Alpbachsäge 10, 6072 Sachseln. It’s a short walk back to the funicular station.
By public transport: Take a train to Meiringen, Bahnhof. This train runss about every 30 mins from Interlaken Ost. From Meiringen, you can take bus 174 to Willigen, Klinik Reichenbach, which drops directly at the Reichenbach funicular.
However, this bus runs so infrequently (see schedule here) that it may be more convenient to walk 1.4 km walk to the funicular station as shown below.
Opening times
The Reichenbach Falls are open for visitors from May to October. The funicular runs daily from 9:00 to 17:15. The funicular can fit 42 people, so usually you don’t have to wait long.
Ticket prices
In 2022, a round trip ticket costs CHF 12/adult and CHF 8/child 6-15, under 6 free. Large dogs pay the child fare.
You can purchase tickets onsite, but only with cash. You can purchase tickets with a credit card online, but these tickets are not a reservation for specific day or time.
Combination Tickets
If you want to do other activities in the area, there are a variety of combo tickets that give a slight discount from purchasing tickets separately. If you want to ride the Monster scooter down instead of the funicular, buy this combo ticket instead of a round trip on the funicular. There are also combo tickets with Aare Gorge and Sherlock Holmes Museum. See all combo tickets.
Discounts
If you have the Bernese Oberland Regional Pass, you get free train/bus travel to the Reichenbach Falls and a slight discount on the funicular ticket. SBB Railaway often has “combi offers” that give you a discount on both the train travel and entrance ticket.
Photo story
Riding up to the falls
Here is the funicular station near the parking and bus stop. You can buy your tickets here.
The vintage funicular car takes you up to the viewing platform near the falls.
Waterfall lookout
At the top of the funicular, you can admire the falls from this viewing platform.
View of Meiringen from top of funicular.
Trail to upper falls
To see the upper falls, follow the trail up lots of steps into the forest. No strollers here for sure.
The bumpy trail through the forest to get to the top of the falls
At the top of the falls, there is a restaurant with a great view of the valley, but not of the falls. When you are done admiring the view, walk back down the same path to the funicular and ride that back down to the parking.
Monster scooter
If you want to ride monster scooters down the mountain, you can rent them at the restaurant. If you purchase a combo ticket with the funicular, just show that ticket at the restaurant counter. Otherwise, you’ll need to buy your ticket here.
The scooter path starts on the paved road, then heads into the woods on a dirt road. It was a fun way to get down the mountain.
Where to eat
If you don’t eat the restaurant near the falls, go in the Meiringen village. We have enjoyed Leopold in the center of the village next to the Sherlock Holmes Museum – Bahnhofstrasse 28, 3860 Meiringen. It has lots of outdoor seating that spills out onto a little playground and grassy area in front of the museum.
Ice cream sundaes with meiringue is the specialty.
Don’t forget to take a pic with the Sherlock Holmes statue.
4 Responses
You site is very helpful to me who I’m planning a Switzerland trip in October, and I want to thank you for having such useful information on your site, not only about this waterfall, but many other places in the area. I have a question about this waterfall though. My family and I will be visiting in October 2019, potentially after October 6 when the last ride of the funicular seems to be offered. So my question is: Is the waterfall still accessible beyond the closure of the funicular? If so, what is the best way to hike to it? We would like a close up trail to the waterfall and streams as possible, maybe something that goes parallel to the funicular route. Is there some trail (stairs, etc) that goes up on the right side to reach the top station of the funicular? I understand that coming down from the restaurant will be on the left side of the waterfall, I can see some roads on google maps, but going up to reach the top station of the funicular is what I wonder about mostly. I understood that the viewing platform from the top station offers the best views of the waterfall. Can that platform be reached by hiking from the bottom? Any hiking trail map that you know about? I would very much appreciate your reply and any information that you could give me. Thank you so, so much, and keep posting this wonderful posts. Maria
I don’t know of a hiking trail that reaches the falls instead of taking the funicular. I would recommend visiting other falls in this area that are open when you are traveling. For example, the Trummelbach falls are open until early November and are much more impressive than Reichenbach. Hope this helps.
We were there last weekend. Thank you for your advice!
This restaurant in Meiringen is called “Leopold Steakhouse”. =)
Thank you! Glad you had a good time.