Brienzer Rothorn: Steam Train from Brienz or Cable Car from Sörenberg?

The Brienzer Rothorn is the 2,350-metre summit above Lake Brienz, and it is one of the few mountains in Switzerland you can reach from two completely different sides: by a historic steam cog railway from Brienz or by a modern cable car from Sörenberg. From the top you look straight down on the turquoise lake, across to the snow-capped Bernese Alps, and on a clear day over hundreds of peaks. We went up on July 8, 2026, from the Sörenberg side with our dog Miley, watched the red steam trains arrive from above, walked to the summit cross and stumbled into a crowd of alphorn players. This guide compares both ways up, with 2026 prices, and tells you which one we would choose next time.

Is the Brienzer Rothorn worth it?

Yes. On a clear day the Brienzer Rothorn gives you the best view of Lake Brienz there is, plus the Bernese Alps on the horizon and a ride on a steam cog railway that has been running since 1892. From Sörenberg it is also one of the cheaper big viewpoints in the region.

What makes the Rothorn special is the angle. Most viewpoints around Lake Brienz look along the lake from its shore. Up here you stand 1,800 metres above the water and see the whole lake from Brienz to Interlaken as one turquoise strip, with the village of Brienz at your feet and the glaciers of the Jungfrau region behind. The Lucerne tourist board says that in perfect visibility you can count 693 peaks. We did not count, but in the morning the snow-covered chain of the Bernese Alps was sharp against a blue sky.

The second reason is the railway. Even if you come up by cable car, as we did, you can watch the steam trains puff up the last bends below the summit, and that alone was worth the trip for us.

It is not worth it on a day with low cloud. The summit has restaurants and a short tunnel walk, but nothing indoors that justifies the ticket on its own. Check the live webcam on brienz-rothorn-bahn.ch before you go.

Steam train from Brienz or cable car from Sörenberg?

Take the steam train from Brienz if the ride itself is the experience you want and you have a full day. Take the cable car from Sörenberg if you mainly want the summit and the view, travel with a dog, or want to save money and time. The steam train costs CHF 98 return and takes an hour each way; the cable car costs CHF 59 and takes about 7 minutes.

There is a third option: go up one side and down the other. Many visitors ride the cable car up from Sörenberg and take the steam train down to Brienz, or the other way round. One way on each costs CHF 95 in total. This works best without a car, because Brienz and Sörenberg are on opposite sides of the mountain and getting back to a parked car takes a long detour. We drove and had our car in Sörenberg, so we went up and down by cable car and watched the steam trains from above.

Our verdict: if you are staying in Brienz and have never ridden a steam cog railway, do the train at least one way. Otherwise the cable car from Sörenberg is the smarter choice: the same view for 40 percent less, and more time on the mountain.

The Brienz Rothorn Railway

The Brienz Rothorn Railway is a steam cog railway that climbs 1,678 metres over 7.6 kilometres from Brienz to Rothorn Kulm. The ride takes about an hour, with a five-minute stop at the Planalp middle station, where the locomotive takes on water. It opened on June 16, 1892, and was never electrified.

Its history is a story of near misses. In 1914 the First World War stopped all traffic, and the line stood still until 1931. In 1958 the shareholders voted to tear it down and replace it with a cable car; local protest saved it. In August 2024 a storm damaged about 2.2 kilometres of track and the season ended early; the repairs cost around CHF 5 million. When we were there in July 2026, trains were running at full capacity again.

The trains are short: a small locomotive pushes one or two open red carriages with large panorama windows up a gradient of up to 25 percent, through six tunnels and two galleries. The railway says most trains are pulled by steam, and diesel locomotives are used when demand is high or a steam engine is out of service. At the summit we saw both types at the platform.

Practical details from the railway:

• The turnstile opens 30 minutes before departure. Seats are not numbered.
• A seat guarantee costs CHF 8 per person and also covers the return. It is included automatically when you buy online. In peak season the trains fill up, so book it.
• For the trip down, be at Rothorn Kulm station at least 10 minutes before departure.
• Sit away from the locomotive with small children or a dog; smoke and noise are not for everyone.

The cable car from Sörenberg

The cable car from Sörenberg is the fast way up: a large aerial tram that takes you from the Schönenboden valley station to the summit in about 7 minutes. It opened in December 2023, its cabins hold up to 80 people, and it climbs 1,040 metres. In summer 2026 it runs every 20 minutes from 8:30 to 17:50.

Sörenberg is a holiday village in the Entlebuch, on the Lucerne side of the mountain. From the Lake Brienz area most people drive over the Brünig Pass to Giswil and then take the Panorama road over the Glaubenbielen Pass (1,611 m) to Sörenberg. The road is narrow in places, closed in winter, and wonderful on a clear morning: meadows, spruce forest, alpine huts. In 2026 the winter closure was lifted on May 13 and is expected to return in November. From our holiday flat in Brienz, the drive took us about an hour, with photo stops.

At the valley station you buy your ticket at the counter or the machine. The price board inside lists all fares, including the dog tickets. The ride is short and steep, past a single tall pylon. At the top you step out directly onto the summit ridge, next to the Gipfel-Restaurant Rothorn. Departures from the top are shown on a screen in the station: in July 2026 at 10, 30 and 50 minutes past the hour, with the last descent at 17:50.

Brienzer Rothorn prices 2026

A round trip costs CHF 98 for adults on the steam train from Brienz (about US$119) and CHF 59 on the cable car from Sörenberg (about US$71). Half Fare Card holders pay half. On the train children from 6 to 15 pay a flat CHF 10 return; on the cable car children from 8 to 15 pay CHF 29.50.

More details: on the train, children under 6 ride free, and children with the Swiss Junior Card travel free. On the cable car, children under 8 ride free, and the dog fare applies to dogs from 30 cm in height. Guests with the Brienz guest card get 20 percent off the train’s regular fare. Dog tickets for the train are only sold at the counter in Brienz, not online.

Where to buy: For the cable car, simply buy at the valley station in Sörenberg; we never saw a queue at the counter. For the steam train, buy online in the railway’s webshop, which includes the seat guarantee, especially for weekends and sunny days in July and August. Tours from Interlaken or Lucerne are only worth it if you do not want to deal with connections; you will find a few options at the end of this guide.

Swiss Travel Pass, Berner Oberland Pass and Half Fare Card

With a Swiss Travel Pass you get 50 percent off both the steam train and the cable car. With the Berner Oberland Pass both are free, though the seat guarantee on the train still costs CHF 8. The Half Fare Card and the GA travelcard halve the price on both sides.

The Berner Oberland Pass is the best deal if the Rothorn is one of several mountain trips. It also covers the Schilthorn and many lake boats, and the Rothorn is one of the few places where it covers two different ways up. Our comparison of the Berner Oberland Pass shows when the pass pays off. Holders of the Lucerne Travel Pass also ride free on both lines. We had none of these passes, drove to Sörenberg and paid CHF 59 each for the cable car.

Season, opening hours and the best time to go

The steam train runs from June 6 to October 25, 2026, and the cable car from June 4 to November 1, 2026. The first train leaves Brienz at 8:36 (at 7:36 on summer weekends in July, August and September), and the last train up leaves at 16:36. The cable car runs every 20 minutes from 8:30 to 17:50.

• Last train down: 17:40 from Rothorn Kulm, arriving in Brienz at 18:40.
• Last cable car down: 17:50 from the summit.
• Morning: clearest air and the sharpest view of the glaciers. When we arrived at 10:40, the sky was deep blue.
• Afternoon: in summer, clouds often build up over the Alps after midday. On our day they rolled in around 14:00, and the glaciers disappeared behind them for a while.
• Weekends: the steam trains are busiest on summer weekends.

Sörenberg also offers sunrise trips on Sundays from July 5 to September 27, 2026, and sunset trips on weekends in October, weather permitting.

Parking and public transport

In Sörenberg you park at the Schönenboden car park right next to the valley station; the pay machine charged CHF 2 per hour or CHF 5 for the whole day when we were there. In Brienz, signposted parking near the valley station costs CHF 8 per day. Both valley stations are easy to reach by public transport.

• Sörenberg navigation: “Parkplatz Schönenboden, 6174 Sörenberg”. You enter your licence plate at the machine; it does not print a ticket. Overnight parking is not allowed.
• Brienz navigation: “Brienz Rothorn Bahn, Hauptstrasse 149, 3855 Brienz”. The valley station is directly opposite Brienz railway station.
• By train to Brienz: from Interlaken Ost or from Lucerne over the Brünig line. The boat from Interlaken stops about three minutes’ walk away.
• By public transport to Sörenberg: train from Bern or Lucerne to Schüpfheim, then the bus to the stop “Sörenberg, Rothornbahn”.

When we arrived at about 10:15 on a Wednesday, the car park was well filled, but there was plenty of space left.

What to do at the top

At the top you have the summit with its stone viewing platform and panorama tables, two restaurants and a mountain hotel, the steam railway station, a rock tunnel, the view down to the Eisee lake and a ridge path to the summit cross. Plan at least two to three hours.

The summit and the view of Lake Brienz

The highest point is a stone platform a few minutes’ walk from the cable car station, with engraved panorama tables that name the peaks. It is a special spot for another reason: the summit is shared by the cantons of Bern, Lucerne and Obwalden, and it is the highest point of the canton of Lucerne. To the south you look down on Lake Brienz and the Bernese Alps; to the north the view opens over the soft green hills of the Entlebuch, a UNESCO biosphere reserve.

Look for Brienz directly below, with its railway station and boat landing. Further west the lake narrows towards Iseltwald, the little peninsula village on the south shore, and on a clear day you can follow the water all the way to Interlaken.

Restaurants and the Berghaus Rothorn Kulm

There are two places to eat at the top. The Gipfel-Restaurant Rothorn sits right at the cable car station and is open daily from 8:30 to 17:00 during the 2026 season, with a large terrace facing the Entlebuch. The Berghaus Rothorn Kulm is the red and white hotel next to the railway station, open daily from 8:00 to 21:00 in the season. It has up to 100 beds in rooms from doubles to dormitories, and dogs stay free. The railway sells a “Rothorn night” package for CHF 150 per adult, including the train ride, for arrivals from Sunday to Thursday. Staying overnight is the easiest way to see sunset and sunrise from the summit.

The tunnel, the wooden cow and the railway station

Near the summit a lit rock tunnel with a metal grating floor leads through the rock. We walked through it on our way from the cable car side over to the railway station. It is cool and echoing inside, a nice break on a hot day. Outside, at the viewing platform near the railway station, a big wooden cow with “Brienzer Rothorn” on its side is everybody’s photo prop. From there you can watch the trains arrive, unload and fill up again for the trip down.

The Eisee

Below the summit on the Lucerne side lies the Eisee, a small mountain lake in a green bowl, with the Berghaus Eisee next to it. A chairlift runs from the summit area down to the lake from June 13 to October 25, 2026, and a combined ticket with the cable car costs CHF 64 return. We only looked down on it this time; from above, with the alpine huts and grazing cows around it, it is one of the prettiest sights on the mountain.

Hiking on the Brienzer Rothorn

The easiest walk is the summit path from Rothorn Kulm station up to the summit, which takes about 15 minutes. Our favourite was the ridge path to the summit cross, about half an hour with photo stops. Hiking all the way up from Brienz takes 5 to 6 hours, from Sörenberg about 6 hours.

• Rothorn Kulm station to the summit: 15 minutes, a wide path that the railway calls manageable for less trained hikers. If you come up by train, do not skip it: the view from the summit is better than from the station.
• Ridge path to the summit cross: from the railway station we followed the grassy ridge to a modern black steel cross on a rocky outcrop. It took us about 30 minutes at a slow pace. On the way you look down on the railway line and can watch the trains climbing below you. The path is narrow in places.
• Rothorn to Planalp: 2.5 hours down to the middle station, where you can catch the train for the rest of the way.
• Brienz to the Rothorn: 5 to 6 hours with almost 1,700 metres of ascent. Most hikers take the train back.
• Sörenberg to the Rothorn via Schönbüel: the Lucerne tourist board lists about 6 hours, 13.8 km and 1,350 metres of ascent, rated difficult.

We did not hike up ourselves; the times come from the railway and the Lucerne tourist board. One trail between Planalp and Brienz is still closed after the 2024 storm damage, so check conditions first.

Just before the cross, a wooden bench from the Sörenberg mountain railways stands right on the edge, carved with “Glöcklech si”, Swiss German for “being happy”. With Lake Brienz below it, the name fits.

On the way back from the cross, stop on the slope above the railway line. From here you look down on the last bends of the track, an alpine hut and cows grazing next to the rails. When a train comes up, you see the steam long before you hear the locomotive.

Alphorns on the Rothorn

On our visit, a large group of alphorn players performed on the path below the summit at 16:07, around 40 players in a long line with the lake behind them. It was not an official event we could find in any 2026 listing, so you cannot plan for it. We just happened to be there.

The horns pointed out over the valley, a conductor stood on the slope, and for ten minutes everyone on the summit stopped and listened. We found no official “alphorn meeting” on the Brienzer Rothorn with a fixed date in 2026. In the same week, from July 6 to 10, 2026, an alphorn course was held in Sörenberg; whether the group belonged to it, we do not know. If you want to hear alphorns for sure, look at the event calendars of Sörenberg and Brienz before your trip.

Brienzer Rothorn with a dog

The Brienzer Rothorn works well with a dog, especially from Sörenberg. The cable car charges CHF 6 one way or CHF 12 return for dogs from 30 cm in height, the ride is only 7 minutes, and dogs stay free at the Berghaus Rothorn Kulm. On the steam train dogs cost CHF 10, but the railway itself warns that smoke and noise can stress them.

• Miley came with us all day. The cable car was relaxed, with enough room to stand at the window.
• The rock tunnel and some station areas have metal grating floors. Miley walked over them without a problem, but some dogs refuse.
• On the ridge path to the cross there are steep drops on both sides. Keep your dog on a short leash, and watch out for the cows grazing near the railway line.
• Bring water. We found no water source along the ridge, and on a sunny July afternoon it gets warm despite the altitude.
• If you take the steam train, sit as far from the locomotive as possible. Dog tickets are only sold at the Brienz counter.

More dog-friendly mountain trips are in our guide to the Bernese Oberland with a dog.

Our day on the Rothorn, hour by hour

This is how our day went on Wednesday, July 8, 2026. We came by car from our holiday flat in Brienz and went up and down by cable car.

• About 9:15: left Brienz, over the Brünig Pass to Giswil and on the Panorama road over the Glaubenbielen Pass.
• 10:18: car park Schönenboden in Sörenberg, already well filled. Tickets at the counter, no queue.
• 10:40: at the top. Blue sky, sharp view of the glaciers and Lake Brienz.
• 10:45 to 11:45: summit platform with the panorama tables, views of Brienz, the Eisee and the Entlebuch. Miley rested in the shade under a stone table.
• 11:28: the first steam train of our day puffs up below the summit.
• 13:50: the rock tunnel with Miley, then over to the railway side.
• 14:15 to 14:30: wooden cow, Rothorn Kulm station with several trains at the platform and a long queue for the descent. Clouds start to build up.
• 14:35 to 15:20: ridge path to the summit cross, trains and cows below us, the “Glöcklech si” bench.
• 16:07: back near the summit, the alphorn players start to play.
• 16:32: cable car down to Sörenberg, parking fee paid at the machine, drive back over the pass.

If you want to add the steam train, take the cable car up early from Sörenberg, ride the train down to Brienz around midday,, and plan how you get back to Sörenberg before you start.

Tips from our visit

• Check the webcam first. If the summit is in cloud, choose another day.
• Go in the morning. On our day the sky was clear until about 14:00, then clouds built up over the Alps.
• Book the seat guarantee for the train. At 14:20 we saw a long queue at Rothorn Kulm. Without a reservation you may have to wait for a later train.
• Bring a jacket. It is about 10 degrees colder than in Brienz, and the wind on the ridge is strong.
• Walk to the cross. Most visitors stay around the stations. Half an hour along the ridge and you have the view, the trains below and the benches almost to yourself.

Tours and tickets

For the cable car from Sörenberg, the simplest option is to buy at the valley station. For the steam train, book online with the seat guarantee. If you prefer a fixed ticket in advance or plan several mountain trips, these are the options we would look at:

FAQ: Brienzer Rothorn

How long does the Brienz Rothorn Railway take?

About one hour from Brienz to Rothorn Kulm, including a five-minute water stop at Planalp. The trip down takes a little longer. The cable car from Sörenberg takes about 7 minutes.

How much does the Brienzer Rothorn cost in 2026?

A round trip costs CHF 98 on the steam train from Brienz and CHF 59 on the cable car from Sörenberg. With a Swiss Travel Pass you get 50 percent off both, with the Berner Oberland Pass both are free.

Is the steam train or the cable car better?

The steam train is the experience, the cable car is the shortcut. If you have time and love railways, take the train at least one way. If you drive, travel with a dog or want to save money, the cable car from Sörenberg gets you the same view.

When is the Brienz Rothorn Railway open?

From June 6 to October 25, 2026. The cable car from Sörenberg runs a little longer, from June 4 to November 1, 2026.

Can you hike up the Brienzer Rothorn?

Yes. From Brienz it takes 5 to 6 hours, from Sörenberg about 6 hours. Most hikers take the train or cable car back down. From the railway station to the summit it is only a 15-minute walk.

Are dogs allowed on the Brienzer Rothorn?

Yes. Dogs pay CHF 10 on the steam train and CHF 6 one way or CHF 12 return on the cable car. For a dog the cable car is the calmer choice.

Check Brienzer Rothorn tickets →

The Rothorn is one of the highlights around Lake Brienz and its villages, and it pairs perfectly with a day in Brienz itself. For more trips in the region, start on our Switzerland travel home page or browse our guide to the Bernese Oberland.