Lake Thun with Regional Pass Bernese Oberland
A traveler named Turgon is planning a trip to Mürren in mid-June and has purchased a Regional Bernese-Oberland Pass. They are curious about choosing between boat rides on Lake Thun and Lake Brienz, looking for advice on which lake offers a better experience and how to manage transportation back from their chosen lake.
- Both Lake Thun and Lake Brienz have beautiful views, but Lake Thun offers more varied scenery and options for side trips.
- With the Regional Bernese-Oberland Pass, you can hop on and off boats, trains, and buses without extra charges, providing flexibility in your journey.
- Take the boat to Beatenbucht, visit the St Beatus' Caves, and then either continue by boat or take a bus to Thun, which is a great way to explore the attractions along the shore.
AI-generated summary-
Hello! We will be staying in Murren in mid-June, and I’ve purchased a Regional Bernese-Oberland Pass. I know that boat rides on Lake Thun and Brienze are included free with the pass. And according to the SBB app, it takes approximately an hour to get to either Interlaken Ost or Interlaken West, so either lake is easily accessible.
So the question is … which lake boat ride do we do? 🙂 I realize both will be beautiful, and each take approximately a couple hours. I doubt we’d be disappointed by either, but is there anything to distinguish one from the other?
I see the train schedule – http://www.myswissalps.com/timetable – (and have it, in the app), but I don’t see a schedule for the boats themselves. I found this site – http://www.bls.ch/-/media/bls/pdf/fahrplaene/schiff/fahrplan-schifffahrt.pdf?la=en&vs=1
but it doesn’t seem to be very clear for me. If I am reading that right, the boats leave Interlaken at 11AM, 12PM, 2PM, 3PM and 6PM (in summer), to travel to Thun. Is that right? And how do we get back from Thun – train? It’s not a round trip, like a cruise, I guess.
Thanks. Sorry if they seem like silly questions.
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Hi Turgon,
Yes, boat trips on Lake Thun and Lake Brienz are free with the Regional Pass Bernese Oberland.
I’ve attached a screenshot and highlighted the starts from Interlaken with yellow and the arrives at Thun with green for you.
From Thun to Interlaken you can take a train or a boat again, depending on your wish and time you have. (If you take the last boat to Thun there might be no other boats to travel back to Interlaken. In this case you should take the train.)
Yes, you are right, both lakes are beautiful, you cannot go wrong 🙂
I, personally would choose Lake Thun and have a short walk in Thun also.
I hope this helps,
Ildiko
Ps.: You can search for the boats also in the SBB timetable. Use the advanced timetable, and filter down just to the boats: see “Further options (advanced timetable)” at https://www.myswissalps.com/timetable.
More about boat travels on Lake Thun and Lake Brienz: http://www.myswissalps.com/boatlakethun and http://www.myswissalps.com/boatlakebrienz
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The Thunersee is a much bigger lake, so I think you would enjoy that more as the boat journey has more varied views. It is also very easy to fit in to a day’s excursion as you can also go along the lake on the north shore (Bus) or the south shore (inter city train or local bus)
Hi Turgon,
Boat rides on Lake Brienz or Lake Thun is a great way to explore the Jungfrau region and can be easily combined with visits to various attractions along the lakeshore.
As suggested by 1960man, Lake Thun is bigger and offers more options. For instance you can take the boat from Interlaken to Beatenbucht and make side trips to the St Beatus’ Caves and Niederhorn. Then continue with the boat or bus to Thun, then train back to Interlaken.
A boat trip on Lake Brienz can be combined with an excursion to Brienzer Rothorn or a visit to the waterfalls in Giessbach and a hike to Iseltwald.
Regards,
Anna
OK, so you’re saying I could get off the boat at say Beatenbucht, wander around and see those sights, then wait for the next boat, and continue on to Thun? Since I’ll have the BO Pass, it will be free for me to get back on, but is that included in the regular price of a boat ride? (meaning: 1 ticket is good for all day, no matter how many side trips I make from the boat)? I find that fascinating. A bit of a long day, as the boat only runs every couple of hours .. unless there’s an easy way (train or bus) to continue on, or back, from each boat stop …
Hi Turgon,
That’s right. The Regional Pass Bernese Oberland is valid for unlimited rides within its validity area. So you can basically hop on and hop off as you wish, not just on boats but buses and trains as well. So yes, the boat trip to Beatenbucht is free. From Beatenbucht to Niederhorn by funicular and cable car is also free with the RPBO. For the return journey you can either take the boat again and continue to Thun, or you can take the bus from Beatenbucht to Thun, then a train back to Interlaken. Buses and trains run more regularly than boats.
Regards,
Anna
The BO Pass is a ‘ride at will’ ticket for unlimited travel.
The vast majority of lake boats on the major Swiss lakes operate like bus services, providing point to point schedules for locals, commuters and tourists
Hi Turgon,
Buses run the whole length of the north side of Lake Thun and the most dramatic section is between Beatenbucht and Interlaken. You may like to take the boat journey back as there are then good views of the road’s contortions.
The journey up to Niederhorn from Beatenbucht is in two sections: the bottom part is by funicular and the upper part by cable car. There is also a service bus from the top of the funicular section down to Interlaken which offers excellent views. It’s worth carrying on to the top though as, on a clear day, there are amazing views of almost all of the Bernese Oberland including the big mountains and up the valleys towards Kandersteg (Kandertal) and Zweisimmen (Simmental). You may have heard of Simmental cattle.
When you take the cable car section, note that it pauses at a halfway station. Stay on board to ascend to the top. I can almost guarantee that someone will get out, realise their mistake and reboard.
The two lakes have very different characteristics. Lake Thun is long and broad with lovely vistas. Lake Brienz is shorter and more confined by the mountains on either side, but it’s no less enjoyable. It’s worth taking a break at Geissbach to admire the hotel and especially the falls as the water tumbles down the mountainside. At one point you can walk behind the water where it falls clear of the cliff.
If you wish to visit St Beatus’ Caves from the boat, still get off at Beatenbucht and take the Interlaken bound bus. Of course you may do do it, but it’s quite a trek uphill from the boat station below the caves (Sundlauenen) but much shorter from the Beatushöhlen bus stop. Announcements are made on both boat and bus.
Andrew
Andrew- we are planning a trip from Interlaken to Niederhorn then to Thun. It sounds like using the bus from Interlaken (where we are staying) to Beatenberg is the best route (as opposed to train) then going up the Niederhorn to hike around for a couple hours. My question is for the next leg of our trip to Thun, should we catch the boat or take the train (or bus). Which would you recommend or does it not really matter? I figure it may depend on which is available closest to our schedule but don’t know how much we should plan this in advance. We will explore Thun then plan to take the boat back to Interlaken. If we have enough time, may also go to Spiez, walk to Faulensee then take the train or bus back. Any other tips for a Thun boat trip? Thanks in advance!
Hi seru,
Sounds like a great day trip! If you plan to take the boat from Thun back to Interlaken, you’ll see the entire lake by boat. So for a varied day trip I recommend to take the funicular from Beatenberg down to Beatenbucht, then a bus to Thun along the northern lake shore. Of course there are lots of other options. Will you be having a pass that allows free traveling in this region? In that case there’s no need to plan ahead in detail. You can just hop on and off trains, buses and boats however it suits you that day.
If you have further questions about your trip that aren’t closely related to Turgon’s original question in this thread, you can best continue in one of your own threads or open a new one.
Hi Turgon & Seru,
This was written just before Arno posted so sorry for any duplication. I second everything he wrote.
“We are planning a trip from Interlaken to Niederhorn … It sounds like using the bus from Interlaken to Beatenberg is the best route”
The direct bus to Niederhorn is fine with good views but you’ll miss the ride alongside the lake and the ingeniously constructed road which you can also see from the boat.
“the next leg of our trip to Thun, should we catch the boat or take the train (or bus)”
From the top of Niederhorn I would take the cable car (it’s actually gondolas that run in four groups of three) to Beatenburg; then the funicular to Beatenbucht and the boat from there to Thun. The funicular runs at 20 minute intervals at 14, 34 and 54 minutes past the hour or sometimes more often if it’s really busy, so it’s as well to do some back timing when boarding the cable car in order not to miss your intended boat. It’s a one-minute walk between the funicular and the boat.
Note that there are no trains on the north side of the lake – many years ago there was a tram. Now buses run varying distances along the lakeside from and to Thun. They can be busy. Trains run only on the south (Spiez) side of the lake.
“we may also go to Spiez, walk to Faulensee”
The lakeside walk either way between Faulensee and Spiez Bucht (the lower, lakeside part of Spiez) is very pleasant and easy and can be done in 25 minutes without rushing but it’s nice to take your time. Note that trains no longer call at Faulensee station but there is an hourly bus service between Spiez and Interlaken which calls at Faulensee am See with occasional extra buses on the opposite half hour.
If you have time, you could get off the boat at Faulensee, have a snack or meal, walk to Spiez, wander around the area (more snack or meal opportunities) and catch the next boat on to Thun or back to Interlaken. Note that the small town of Spiez, including the railway station, is an uphill 10 to 20 minutes’ walk or, again, there is a bus from the ship station at 5 minutes to the hour. Thankfully the service once runs again morning and afternoon after a few years being in the afternoon only. Unfortunately, it no longer fits in quite so well with the boat timetable.
The nice problem with Switzerland, and perhaps the Berner Oberland in particular, is that there are so many ways of getting about and doing things. Of course, that’s where the passes are so rewarding. You can get on and off transport and change plans as you go along without having to buy tickets every time. The SBB app is very useful indeed for planning ‘on the hoof’.
One final tip. If your pass is second class, it’s worth upgrading to first class on the boat which allows you access to the upper deck(s). To upgrade, just go to the on-board ticket office which is usually obvious as soon as you board, or you can pay the ticket inspector when he comes round to ‘advise’ you that second class is down the stairs.
Enjoy your holiday.
Andrew
Thanks Arno and Andrew! We will have the Bernese Oberland Pass so we’ll be able to use any transportation which is nice. I agree the boat ride should be very nice, and we will plan to take the boat from Thun at least to Spiez or Faulensee, then walk around, and maybe take the bus or boat back depending on our mood. We will definitely plan to upgrade our tickets to first class if the views are nicer! Thanks again for the suggestions!
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