The launch is the part people worry about most and the part they remember least afterward. Your pilot has done this thousands of times. You run six steps down a grassy slope, the canopy fills with air behind you, and then the ground simply stops being where your feet are.
What happens next is not what most first-time fliers expect. No violent sensation. No roar of engines, no sudden drop, nothing like the adrenaline spike of bungee jumping or skydiving. Paragliding is quiet in a way that consistently surprises people, with the only sound being wind over the canopy and the occasional instruction from your pilot. The transition from running to soaring is so smooth that your body takes a few seconds to process it. Then you look down.
Below Beatenberg, the launch site above Interlaken, the land falls away to both lakes simultaneously: Thunersee to the west and Brienzersee to the east, both a shade of turquoise that seems too saturated to be real, connected by the thin line of the town between them. To the south, the wall of the Bernese Alps rises in sequence: the dark north faces of the Eiger, the broader mass of the Monch, and the white crown of the Jungfrau catching afternoon light. The entire frame is too large for any single photograph to contain.
Your pilot works the thermals, rising columns of warm air that form over south-facing slopes, to extend the flight time and occasionally demonstrate what the glider can do. Mild turns bank the world sideways in a sensation that is equal parts disorienting and thrilling. If you want to take the controls yourself, your pilot will guide your hands to the brakes and let you feel how the glider responds to gentle pressure, a remarkably intuitive experience.
The flight typically lasts 20-30 minutes and ends on a flat landing zone in central Interlaken, where the pilot touches down with metronomic precision and you are standing on solid ground wondering how it ended so quickly.
Best time to visit: Paragliding in Interlaken operates year-round on weather-appropriate days. Summer (June-September) offers the most consistent thermal activity and longest days. Spring brings dramatic light and snow covered peaks. Winter flights are quiet and strikingly beautiful when the valleys are under cloud and the peaks rise above it. Always book with operators who are willing to reschedule on genuine weather grounds, a cancelled flight is far safer than a marginal one.
Who it’s for: Almost anyone between 16 and 100 kilograms in good general health. No experience is required for tandem flights. Those with heart conditions, epilepsy, or severe vertigo should consult a doctor before booking. The experience is genuinely suitable for nervous first-timers, the pilots are exceptionally good at managing anxiety.
