Swiss Mountain Restaurants with a View

If you just want to admire the views and don’t feel like hiking this time, you can simply ride to the top of a mountain and have a meal with view. Many Swiss mountain resorts have restaurants with panorama terraces and as well as indoor seating for colder days, so you can enjoy the Swiss alps without any hiking. Families will appreciate the playgrounds accompanying many of these restaurants, making it so much easier for you to relax, especially if you bring some friends as playmates for your children.

Here are a few of the mountain restaurants I’d recommend for the views. Most serve classic hearty Swiss standards, usually with a kids menu or they offer half-portions. Of course, there are tons of mountain restaurants I haven’t tried yet. So let us know if there’s a good one you’d recommend.

Lenzerheide Rothorn

We’ve had some of our favorite Swiss meals at this restaurant at the top of the Lenzerheide Rothorn cable car. We first went there when I was 9 months pregnant and couldn’t do much hiking. So we just wanted a nice meal with a view and we got it. I loved this fall dish of vension with chestnuts, figs, pears, grapes, brussel sprouts, etc. So yum!

For summer season, It’s usually open late June through mid October. See menu here.

Get details for Lenzerheide Rothorn

This is the indoor restaurant with panorama windows.

There is some outdoor seating with wind screens, you need it!

No playground here but wandering around the rocky landscape at the top is pretty fun.

Ebenalp Berggasthaus Aescher-Wildkirchli

This might be the most famous restaurant in Switzerland, oft photographed and posted on social media. In 2019, the ownership of the restaurant has changed but I’ve heard good reports and the new menu looks interesting and has lots of Swiss classics.

It’s easy to access with a cable car ride and short walk along the cliff. There is limited seating at the outdoor terrace, so go early just in case. If you arrive before 11:00, you can often get a table even on busy weekends. You can also walk down to the Seealpsee from here where there is another restaurant by the lake and a playground.

Open May through 1.Nov. No reservations. Cash preferred, cards for over CHF 50.
Breakfast 7.30 until 10.00, lunch from 11.00
aescher.ch

Get more info about Ebenalp Wildkirchli

Niesen

The views from Niesen are some of the best you can get overlooking Interlaken because you can get a full 360 panorama, full of lakes, valleys, and hundreds of mountain peaks. We’ve eaten there and the food was slightly above average. The restaurant was packed the day we were there and we were lucky to get a table. There’s both table service and self-service. There is a playground and a nice observation deck just above the restaurant where you can picnic. This would be a top pick for visitors that want views without hiking.

Open daily late April through mid November. See menu here.
Weekend brunch and weekday breakfast buffet from 8:30 to 11:30.
Lunch from 11:00 to 16:30. Reservations recommended on weekends.

Get details for Niesen.

Giessbach Waterfalls

The Grandhotel Giessbach hotel has a lovely patio with views either of the spectacular waterfalls or of super blue Lake Brienz below. To reach the hotel and falls, you take a short ferry boat from Brienz or Interlaken, then a short funicular up to the Grandhotel Giessbach, where you have a full view of the falls. You can hike up the falls as far as your little ones’ legs will carry them, with some sections taking you underneath the roaring falls. Then back to the restaurant for a delicious meal with a view.

There are three restaurants at the hotel and a kiosk for snacks. We ate at the terrace restaurant with outdoor seating. The prices were typical Swiss but the food was tastier and much prettier than at most mountain restaurants.

I’d like to tell you exactly when the restaurant and funicular are open, but I can’t make any sense of their website. We’ve been there as early as mid-April, so let’s assume it’s open then.

Get details for Giessbach…

Stoos Fronalpstock

First you take the steepest funicular train in the world to the alpine village of Stoos. Then two chair lifts to the panorama overlook at Fronalpstock. The restaurant at the top has a self-service cafe, which is nothing special. But the table service restaurant is pretty good, has a delightful atmosphere inside and amazing views. See menu here.

Near the restaurant, there is a small playground overlooking the lakes, enclosed by a safety fence, necessary since it’s so close to the cliffs. You can picnic there if you prefer. There is also a very short panorama loop walk at the top, where you can walk off your meal.

The lift and restaurant are typically open late May through October. Check website for current schedule. Open daily 9:00 to 16:00 Uhr, until 17:30 in summer. Lunch served 11:00 to 15:00.

Get details on how to get to Stoos

Felsenegg

This cosy chalet restaurant is local to Zurich and a fun “almost-alps” outing for locals and visitors alike. They usually have some seasonal, regional specialties on offer, like the capuns shown below. They also have fondue nights and other special dining events, especially around the holidays. See menu here.

There is a nice playground next to the restaurant and plenty of room to safe run around outside while you enjoy the view. You reach this restaurant with a cable car from Adliswil and a short 5 min walk.

The restaurant is open for summer season from May through October, Monday – Saturday 11:00am – 10:00pm and Sunday 10:00 am – 8:00 pm. The Adliswil-Felsenegg cable car runs year round.

Get details for Felsenegg

Brienzer Rothorn

This restaurant terrace might have the best view of the bunch. To reach it, you can either take an old-tyme mountain train from the lake or a cable car up the other side of the mountain. The hikes from here are pretty intense, so most visitors simply enjoy the views from these tables or the panorama lookout a short walk above. The food was pretty average, but the view makes up for it. No playground here. The train is open for summer season from early June through mid October.

Get details for Brienzer Rothorn

Late night mountain restaurants

There are a few mountain restaurants that are open for dinner, with the mountain transport running late so you can get down after your meal. I haven’t eaten at these but I think they are worth checking out.

• Stanserhorn – a rotating restaurant with candlelight 4 course dinners
• Harder Kulm – they run the funicular up to this restaurant late so you can have dinner watching sunset over the Jungfrau alps
• Hoher Kasten – a rotating restaurant at the top, reservations required. Open late on full moon.
• Chäserrugg – the summit full-service restaurant with quite pretty food. They do dinner on Saturday nights and full moons, sunrise breakfasts and other food events.