10 Favorite Photos from Switzerland: Interlaken, Grindelwald & Zürich
It’s been about two months since our big, summer European vacation came to a close. I still click through the video clips on my hard drive. I still am taken back to the distinct memories of our trip, especially when looking through the images I captured. I also have many other stories and photography I’d like to share on my blog, but I have to complete this “10 Photos” series of posts first. I will link my Atlanta Airport photography post (the one where the trip begins), my London photo post and my Paris photo post — as that was the order we visited the cities of our trip, which leads me now to the final installment — Interlaken, Switzerland.
Weeks before we were about to leave on our vacation, friends and family would ask, “Where are y’all going in Europe?”. It was easiest to say, London, Paris, and Switzerland — Interlaken was the city, but so few people had heard of the city “between the lakes”. We had four nights in country and loved every minute of it. The weather was beautiful, the sights were stunning, and I got to practice my German.
I could probably do a top 40 list of favorite photos I took, but the ones here have a distinct story behind them. If you’d like to see a few different ones, check my Switzerland Instagram post.
1. My Favorite European Flag | Old Town Zürich
Why I love this shot: We ended our eleven day whirlwind tour of Western Europe in Zürich. This was the last full day of our trip and four out of five of us were crossing the busy rush hour street, looking for an Apple Store. I love this photograph because it is of the Swiss flag, my favorite flag in Europe — it’s square-shaped, red and white and stands out so well in photographs. The Swiss people are proud of it as they should be — but come to think of it, you saw the Union Jack flag everywhere and you saw the French flag everywhere as well. Similar to how we fly our United States flag with pride, so do the people of England, France, and Switzerland. I respect that.
As far as the image itself, the center-weighted photograph of the flag juxtaposed between the old world buildings with that evening light shining through is fantastic as far as I’m concerned. Shadows and light in the same frame often make some of the best photos…now that it has been a while since I took this — looking back, the photo is also a little frenetic because that taxi driver sure does look like he had it out for me. However, I do not remember feeling rushed or that I was about to be run over when I took this photograph.
Camera Settings: ISO 125, f/2.8, 1/500 | Shot on Canon G7X Mark III | 24mm focal length — I’ve mentioned it before, but the power and convenience of having a robust, quality camera in your pocket for times like these are invaluable. Point & Shoot cameras are the way to go.
2. The Swiss Railway | Interlaken Ost Bahnhoff
Why I love this shot: Seated in our train, ready to head to Grindelwald from Interlaken. The morning sun hitting the mountains and the train, this photo opportunity was too good to pass up. I’m not a trigger happy photographer, but sometimes I know when I have an instantly good image right in front of me and this was definitely that scenario. I could, and some photographers might, crop in when editing so you don’t see the inside of the train — but I love how the horizontal window helps frame this vertical photo.
Camera Settings: ISO 320, f/4, 1/500 | Shot on Canon R5 Mark II | 24mm focal length.
3. Brown Swiss Cows | Grindelwald First
Why I love this shot: This might be one of the most quintessential Swiss photographs someone could take in summer. Snow capped mountains in the background, the famous Brown Swiss bell cows (nothing fancy, that’s what they’re called), a green meadow with a few alpenroses — I haven’t printed this one yet, but this photo will reside on paper either in a coffee table book or printed and framed on a wall. Travel tip, when visiting the Interlaken/Grindelwald area make time to head up to Grindelwald First. Take the gondola up to the top where you can ride the mountain carts and you’ll have the opportunity to take a photo very similar to this one.
Camera Settings: ISO 320, f/7.1, 1/1000 | Shot on Canon R5 Mark II | 24mm focal length — my 24-105mm lens is a constant f/4, but just to make sure I had a little more in focus I shot this at f/7.1 — I probably would have been fine shooting it at f/9 or f/11 and lowering my shutter speed because I would have had more focus breadth and that cow was not moving fast at all, a slower shutter and he’s still in focus for sure. But I’m very pleased with how this one came out.
4. Cliff Walk | Grindelwald First
Why I love this shot: This is one of the many attractions you can participate in when visiting Grindelwald First. I don’t think you need tickets for the Cliff Walk, but you do need patience and some nerve. The line was so long the five of us were not about to stand in it. I’m sure in non-peak season, it would be worth getting a photo from that angle. Nevertheless, it goes back to my philosophy at times, which is, “Take the photo no one else is taking.” And, everyone in this line was about to take the same photo, so I took this one!
Camera Settings: ISO 320, f/4.5, 1/6400 | Shot on Canon R5 Mark II | 85mm focal length — In no world would anyone need a 1/6400 shutter speed for this image. But I can guarantee you I had previously had that set, I saw this photo opportunity and without thinking or changing a setting, I took the shot and moved on.
5. Our 2026 Christmas Card Photo | The Top of Europe
Why I love this shot: I’m a guy. I don’t ask for directions and I don’t (typically) ask strangers to take our family photos. Not because I’m worried they’re going to steal it or break it — but really the explanation of how to take the photo, and the process is something I want to avoid. I don’t have the time for all of that. If I do hand my camera over, I put it into auto and just tell them to press the button. That usually works pretty well and the images are not bad. But, I’ve mentioned this before, the Canon Connect app for my iPhone is fantastic. Look at my left hand, I’m taking the photo via the app. This is by far a better way of getting all five of us in a photo — the hard part is finding a solid spot to place my camera on. Lucky for me for this photo, there was a fence post sitting there at the perfect height.
Yeah, so we were on top of the world, some 7,000 feet above sea level and exploring the area of Grindelwald First. Not too high to where altitude sickness sets in, but definitely high enough to where the temperature dropped by about 8 degrees from the main city of Grindelwald. And what a view! This is already a strong candidate for our 2026 Christmas card. Stay tuned.
Camera Settings: ISO 100, f/5, 1/800 | Shot on Canon R5 Mark II | 35mm focal length — 35mm is such an underrated focal length if you ask me. Not too wide, but close enough to see the facial features for a group photo just like this.
6. Swiss Peaks and Valleys | The Town of Grindelwald
Why I love this shot: The sheer vertical rise in all of these mountains can only be appreciated in person. The camera does not do it justice, it is absolutely gorgeous. The variety of colors in this photo are insane. From the reds and yellows of the hotel to the blues and greens of the mountains. And now for a travel tip: Many people stay in Grindelwald, which would not be a bad idea — there are plenty of restaurants and hotels. But Switzerland is expensive, Grindelwald is even more expensive. We chose to stay in Interlaken and that was the best choice because it is much bigger, you can spread out, there are two lakes, you get the picture. Grindelwald has the mountainous views, but you’re at the mercy of thousands of tourists, like us, during the summer months. Great place to visit and spend the day, but take a pass on the hotel reservations for this town.
Camera Settings: ISO 100, f/4, 1/1000 | Shot on Canon R5 Mark II | 50mm focal length — Probably could have gone f/8 or f/9 to get more in focus, but I’m happy with how this shot came out.
7. Busy in the Summertime | Interlaken, Switzerland
Why I love this shot: There is nothing particularly memorable or stunning about this shot I took of myself in Interlaken. But I would be able to pick that spot out, should I have the luck of returning one day. My wife and kids were shopping and I, like many dads, was kind of over the shopping part of the trip. So I escaped with my camera, found a great place to sit, and did some people watching — and there is plenty of that to be had in Interlaken. The summer months are pretty crowded, so this slow shutter photo helps depict the rushing around people are doing on the streets. You think Paris and London are slammed with tourists? They are, but those world capitals have so much more space for people to disperse and spread out. Interlaken is relatively small and is bordered by two lakes, which sort of concentrates the tourists.
The shops and streets are nice, but it’s just a smaller area to cram more people in. I’m fine with it, I was one of those tourists. I didn’t spend my entire time in this spot taking photos, I put the camera down and watched traffic, enjoyed watching people jaywalk because crossing the street anywhere is a thing in this town, and eventually my ten minutes of travel bliss was broken when my family came back and said they wanted to go to McDonalds for lunch. Big surprise, Americans wanting to eat at McDonalds, but it is a beautiful building and matches the Interlaken town architecture perfectly.
Camera Settings: ISO 100, f/22, 1/5 | Shot on Canon R5 Mark II | 105mm focal length.
8. Who Wants to Paraglide? Not Me | Interlaken, Switzerland
Why I love this shot: Paragliders in Interlaken are about as common as birds, Swiss flags, and watch shops. You look up in the sky and you don’t see just one floating down. You see all of the paragliders coming down. On a clear weather day like we had, there were seven, eight, nine at a time. It’s beautiful to watch and obviously I took plenty of photos of the paragliders. This one in particular was a favorite. I like how they were even with the spire on the building in the distance. Paragliding is not for me, I’m not brave enough for that, but my goodness, can you imagine the scenes gliding down into the city. God touched Interlaken, Switzerland for sure.
Camera Settings: ISO 320, f/8, 1/1000 | Shot on Canon R5 Mark II | 105mm focal length — zoomed in at 105mm to get as much compression in the shot as I could.
9. Eventually You Have to Leave | Lake Thun
Why I love this shot: The Swiss train system has to be the most efficiently run in the world. The trains run (mostly) on time, they’re clean and new, and have fantastic windows so as to take in the beautiful scenery you’re passing by. This was us leaving, you can see my wife, Jennifer and my oldest son, Jack in the frame as they were across the aisle. I also love how Switzerland trains have seats facing each other with a small, expandable table in between — just don’t ask me to face backwards. Lake Thun is to the western side of the city and is the one you see coming and going into Interlaken. I think if we ever are blessed enough to come back, I’ll want to stay in an Airbnb in Speiz, a city located just west of Interlaken. The homes dotting the landscape of the lake just look like something out of a storybook.
Camera Settings: ISO 800, f/4, 1/4000 | Shot on Canon R5 Mark II | 24mm focal length
10. SBB CFF FFS | Zürich, Switzerland
Why I love this shot: And our trip ended where this blog post began, in Zürich. We arrived late afternoon, checked into our airport hotel and took the train to the old town. It was around 5pm on a Thursday summer evening and the place was busy with office workers walking to dinner or to the train for their commute home. There were buskers on the street playing music, and Mother Nature delivered a beautiful, warm, and dry evening for us to quickly explore the city. Jennifer and I agreed that Zürich felt like a smaller Paris. The architecture was similar and the upscale, glamorous feel of the city was very Parisian. It is definitely a place I would like to visit again. Look at the train station, it’s spectacular — this is the older facade and it leads to all of the tracks, most of which are on the outside of it — there’s a ton of tracks heading to all cities big and small throughout the country. Zürich to me feels like a lesser known, or under appreciated European city that is not yet a destination city, but should be. You hear about it more so as a connector, not a place to plan your trip around. The beauty alone sold me on it. Switzerland felt like home; it was a wonderful country to end our trip in.
Camera Settings: ISO 125, f/2.8, 1/500 | Shot on Canon G7X Mark III | 24mm focal length — I’ll say it again, the G7X is the perfect travel camera that is always ready for a quick photo. Some would argue that so is your iPhone, but the image quality and dynamic range cannot be compared. The PowerShot G7X Mark III reigns superior even to an iPhone 17 ProMax, which is what I carry.
Scott Duvall is the owner of Jawavi Films, a photographer and videographer based in Oconee County, GA. He works with clients across a range of industries, helping companies create standout social media content, and is a proud graduate of the University of Georgia. You can find Jawavi Films on Instagram.