A week in Thun, Bernese Oberland in September

It’s gone a bit quiet on the trip report front so here are some photos around Thun I took in September. flickr.com/photos/6400 7154@N00/sets/72157711 928011093

There are more Bernese Oberland things to come.

Lovely photos Rockoyster. Thanks for your trip reports as well, very interesting read and helpful hints. Thun certainly is a beautiful town.

Mageo

Hi Rockoyster

Yes very nice photos. Thun looks very Swiss. By the way is that you walking the red tightrope across the water? It looks like you without the ski jacket!

mark.

Hi Mark,

I wish. 😎

A day trip from Thun to the Jungfrau Region. See flic.kr/s/aHsmJBWiZe

We left Thun in mist and low cloud and drizzle. Not an auspicious start. As we pulled into the Grindelwald the skies cleared. After going up to Männlichen in clear skies the clouds rolled in again as we descended back to Wengen. The only disappointment was the fabulous Lauterbrunnen Valley was very hazy.

Lots of construction work at Grindelwald and on the way up to KS for the new V-bahn cableway.

With the Bernese Oberland Pass (which can be had with 25% off with Swiss Half-fare Card) we did not need to spend a cent for transport on this round trip from Thun to Grindelwald, First, Kleine Scheidegg, Wengen, Männlichen and Lauterbrunnen.

Wengen was dead as a door nail at lunch-time. Even the bakery was closed for lunch! The only shop we found open was the Coop!

I’m enjoying the photos 😃. After all these years I should be resigned to the Coca Cola teepee at KS but I still find myself wishing some mountain elves will destroy it one night. Mark

Next day involved a round trip from Thun commencing with a bus ride along the northern shore of Lake Thun to Interlaken. We stopped an Beatenbucht and took the funicular/cableway to Niederhorn and then went on to visit Beatenberg Caves. From Interlaken we returned to Thun on the paddle steamer.

For pictures see flic.kr/s/aHsmJDmrnd.

Hi Rockoyster,

thank you for the photos. It is always so good to see them.

Take care

👍🤠🆒

Loved you photos. Thanks for sharing.

Next day we made a round trip to Brienzer Rothorn by a somewhat circuitous but super interesting route.

Thun- Konolfingen - Langnau i Em. - Schüpfheim by train. By bus from Schüpfheim to Sörenberg, Rothornbahn with great bus driver playing high volume Alpenhorn hooter through the bendy bits. Cableway to Rothorn, steam train to Brienz and back to Thun. Quick wander about the town and picked up a Migros salad and a bottle of Rioja for dinner. It's a tough life but someone has to do it.

Weather gods very favourable so far.

Pictures at flic.kr/s/aHsmJEvZyy (sorry about the ads).

Thanks for your report Rockoyster on another route to the Rothorn. We've done the trip before from the Brienz side, but were considering going from Giswil to Sorenberg next time, leaving from Lucerne. However, we like the sound of your trip from Thun. What time did you need to leave Thun to do the route comfortably in the day? We'll also be based in Grindelwald for nine days (in September). Thanks.

Mageo

From memory I think we caught a train from Thun just after 9.00am. There was about a 20 minute connection in Konolfingen but short connections elsewhere. We got to Rothorn before midday.

You’d need to check the timetables to make sure my recollection is sound. We weren’t in any hurry. Just enjoying the countryside.

If you have a sweet tooth you could break the journey at Trubschachen (near Langkah) and visit the Kambly factory which is right next to the station.

Thanks for the info Rockoyster - sounds interesting! We were also interested in visiting Trubschachen, as it was mentioned on this forum a while back. Was reading about the Kambly factory a couple of days ago, so we'll try and fit it all in and with a brief stopover at Langnau, if we have time. Will need an early start from Grindelwald, which will be fine. Thanks for all your helpful input on the forum.

Mageo

Hi there Rockoyster

Great photos - brought back some happy memories of our holidays in Thun! Interested to read you took our preferred route to Brienzer Rothorn - it avoids the scrum in Brienz on the way up! Also the photos of Thun itself give good idea of how nice the place is and why we like it so much as a place to stay. I see the piano is still in place on the platform at the railway station! I assume you found that travel connections from Thun to places in the region were easy?

Looking forward to further posts!

Best wishes from a nostalgic Maggie

Hi Maggie,

We have you and your trip reports to thank for ending up based in Thun. It was a perfect location transport-wise - the 6 day Regional Pass Bernese Oberland worked a treat.

Our original plan was 4 nights in Bern and 3 nights in Zermatt. 7 nights in Thun was a last minute substitution and having done a day trip to Bern we were very glad we changed.

Still haven’t made it to Zermatt but you have to leave something on the bucket list for next time. 😎

So the next day we set off to visit Niessen (funicular and cableway) but we changed our mind along the way. Departing Thun that morning was the first time we were unable to get a seat on a Swiss train. The train we boarded was choc-a-bloc full of weekend hikers. They thinned out at Spiez - presumably heading to Kandersteg or Niessen.

Anyway it was still misty so we made an on-the-spot decision to stay on the train to Interlaken go do a boat ride on Lake Brienz. By the time we got to Interlaken Ost the sun was out and we enjoyed the Brienz trip better that the Lake Thun one. Perhaps because it wan't so long and was less crowded and more relaxing.

On arrival at Brienz we decided to go for a wander into the town and along the waterfront. We had lunch at a bakery and found Brienz to be totally charming. Who knew?

On the way back to Thun we made another snap decision and from Interlaken Ost went up to Harder Kulm. The funicular was packed and so was the restaurant up top. It was a lovely sunny autumn afternoon on a weekend so I guess that was to be expected. There's a small "zoo" at the base of the funicular. We saw ibex and marmots but no cows as one group of tourists were searching for!

Pictures at flic.kr/s/aHsmJECcpW. Sorry about the ads.

Thanks for the photos and report.

Never noticed there was a 'zoo' at the funicular station.

Regards,

Anna

It's tucked away to the right and behind the funicular station. It's certainly not obvious. Actually called the Alpenwildpark, not zoo. 🤓

For our last day staying at Thun we decided to go and check out the big smoke - Bern. It was a Sunday.

I must say it left us a little cold but that's probably because we are not really big city people.

We found the Tourist Information Office in the train station building and set off with the City Walk map available for free. But first a detour to the Botanic Gardens. That was a mistake. The route took us through a fairly scruffy part of town and the Bern street sweepers had obviously not yet got round to cleaning up after the preceding night's revelry. Most un-Swiss-like. The botanic gardens seemed a little un-loved.

Back the authorised city tour route.

Bern has a lot of fountains, and trams, and construction work, and clocks, and bridges, and churches and cobblestones. Also bears.

There is a famous clock which allegedly does all sorts of amazing things. We arrived at 1.00pm. The expectant crowd awaited. The clock went . . . . . dong!. That was about it. The crowd waited expectantly but then realised it was all over and dispersed. Get there at midday for the real action.

We spent about 4 hours wandering about and were pleased to get back on the train to the delightful Thun.

Sorry to all the Bern lovers for this somewhat downbeat appraisal.

Pictures at flic.kr/s/aHsmJFCJnG. Apologies for the ads.