Suggested stops + can I and how to hop on/off a Lake Thun boat cruise?
A traveler named Sonogirl is planning a trip on Lake Thun with her husband in mid-June. They want to hop on and off the boat at various villages like St. Beatus-Hohlen, Oberhofen, Spiez, and Thun, enjoy lunch, and do some sightseeing, but are unsure about the boat schedule and how to manage their stops.
- The boats on Lake Thun don't operate hourly, so plan around the two-hour intervals between services.
- Use the Swiss Travel Pass or Berner Oberland Pass for free travel on local buses that connect the villages along Lake Thun.
- For a more convenient trip, consider catching the boat in the morning to maximize your stops and enjoy leisurely sightseeing.
AI-generated summary-
Is the boat cruise on Lake Thun truly a hop on, hop off and hop on again. My husband and I are in our 70’s and fairly fit. We’d like to get off at several stops on the lake and eat lunch at a cafe and do an hour of sightseeing. However, how do you get back on the boat to journey to another port?
Do ferries come by every hour? What ports are a must see? We love quaint towns. St. Beatus-Hohlen, Oberhofen, Spiez and Thun look interesting. We will be staying in Wengen for 4 nights in mid June. Many thanks for your input.
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Hello Sonogirl
Welcome to MySwissAlps
Lake Thun is lovely, as are the villages along its shores. I can readily understand why you want to use public transport on ‘a hop-on hop-off’ basis
Unfortunately the boats on Lake Thun are NOT hourly. Even in summer there are some two-hour gaps in the service. It is therefore not hop-on hop-off.
(The boats do have restaurants, but I am guessing that you prefer to eat on dry land!)
Buses Along the Shores of Lake Thun.
The Route 21 goes from Thun station to Interlaken along the north shore, passing through all the villages including Oberhofen and the Beatus caves. This service is hourly; every 30 minutes on Mondays-to-Fridays in summer.
Route 60 runs hourly from Spiez station to Interlaken along the south shore, passing through Faulensee and Leissingen.
The Swiss Travel Pass (https://www.myswissalps.com/travel-ticket/swiss-travel-pass/) and the Berner Oberland Pass (https://www.myswissalps.com/travel-ticket/berner-oberland-pass/) give free travel on these bus services. However Eurail, Interrail, and the Jungfrau Travel Pass are not valid on these bus services.
Best wishes
Roger
(A fairly fit man in his seventies!)
Hi Sonogirl,
I agree with Roger, Lake Thun is very picturesque. In addition to Roger’s helpful reply, you can read all about the boat trips on Lake Thun in the link attached, there is lots of useful information including the boat schedules etc :
You can also research boat schedules and the bus routes that Roger describes by using the Swiss timetable. Here’s the link to the Swiss timetable:
Have fun.
Kind regards,
Yolanda
Thank you Roger. Very helpful reply! Your advice is valuable since we are in the same fairly fit category 😆!
Patricia
Thank you Yolanda. I’m saving these links you and Roger have provided.
Cheers,
Patricia
Hello Sonogirl,
If you have the Swiss Travel Pass, or the Berner Oberland Pass (https://www.myswissalps.com/travel-ticket/berner-oberland-pass/) you can stop at any of the ports, and the two hour intervals mentioned by Roger can afford you time to have lunch and walk around and then catch the next boat. The boat from Interlaken to Thun is a bit over two hours, as you probably read in the links provided. You can also stop at any of the ports along the way and take a bus (all along the north shore and south shore from Spiez) or train (south shore) and / or any combo thereof. That’s the beauty of these passes. Hopefully, the weather will behave for you, as it’s a beautiful journey across the lake. Have a great trip.
Regards,
Danielsan
Typically we find that we can do 2 stops leisurely in a day, unless you leave Wengen super early in the morning and really commit to maximizing every possible minute. We usually train to Thun, catch the boat in the morning there, stop at Oberhofen for a couple hours (walking around the castle grounds & along the park/water), get back on, stop at Spiez for their local ice cream at the dock, walk around the castle grounds there and then end up back in Interlaken West before continuing home (we spend our summers living in Murren). Alternatively, sometimes we start at Interlaken West, stop at Spiez, then Oberhofen and then end in Thun to explore the riverfront there before heading home. Either way works, just depends on if you want to spend time in Thun at the end of the day.
There is a possibility you could fit in 3 stops, but you’d need to leave on a very early train out of Wengen and time everything perfectly. The BLS website will show you all the boat schedules for your travel dates.
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