Best place to view Lake Thun and Lake Brienz

Hi, my girlfriend and I would like to visit Lake Thun and Lake Breinz in Interlaken.

Both lakes are quite huge from the Google Map and we are not sure where is the best spot to view both lakes.

Question:

Can you suggest where is the best place to view Lake Thun and Lake Breinz?

Your suggestion would be helpful for us to plan our itinerary.

Thank you.

Hi ericjoe,

I'd recommend a boat trip:

• myswissalps.com/ boatlakethun
• myswissalps.com/ boatlakebrienz

If you just want to sit down and watch Spiez and Brienz are nice little towns to do so. You can also walk along the lakes. Two examples are:

• myswissalps.com/hiking /faulensee-spiez
• myswissalps.com/hiking /giessbach-iseltwald

Is a boatride on Lake Thun possible after visiting the Jungfrau mountains? Suppose if we start around 9am from Luzern to Interlaken OST to Jungfrau and return around afternoon 4pm can we still take the boat ride in evening ? What would be the last time to take the boat ?

Hello there

Whether you can take a boat ride in the evening depends on your holiday dates. The summer schedule's ( from May 14 to Oct 16) last full cruise to Thun is at 16.10 (remember you need to get from I Ost to West after coming down from Jungfraujoch - either train or bus). This boat arrives in Thun at 18. 20. You could return to Luzern by train. The railway station is near the boat dock but you need to be ready to disembark quickly to allow time to walk to it and get to platform.. Train from Thun at 18.33 arrives Bern at 18.52, train to Luzern leaves Bern at 19.00 and takes 1 hour exactly.

If your holiday comes during Spring or Autumn schedules the last boat is at 14.10 during the week and 15.10 on Saturdays and Sundays.

I would say in order to fit all this into one day would need an earlier start than 9.00 and it would be a very long day. It might make more sense to look at the possibility of taking boat from I Ost to Brienz then train from Brienz to Luzern. It is a shorter cruise and on the way back from Interlaken to Luzern. You will need to check the Lake Brienz schedules for the season you will be there to see if there is a boat late enough to suit your plans

hope this helps.

Maggie

Hi Eric Joe-

Go up on Schynige Platte. Depends on time of year.

Slowpoke

HI Maggie, thanks for the info. Let me get a couple of things clear for myself :

My stay dates in Swiss are from 18/4 evening to 22/4 morning. So ideally we get 3 full days - 19/4, 20/4 and 21/4. We plan to visit the Jungfrau on either of 19th or 20th. But I guess going by the timings you gave, it might not be possible to take the Lake Thun boat ride after Jungfrau as we will be putting up in Gersau, Schwyz. So from Gersau to Luzern, Luzern to Interlaken OST and then to the top will take some time.

Lake Brienz -- will that be possible ? I am just keeping it as a backup plan in case we return earlier from the top.

Hello again

The spring timetable shows the last boat to Brienz from Ost is at 14.07. so it is probably not feasible. I doubt you be down from Jungfraujoch as early as that. The boat schedules are pretty limited in Spring.

Maggie

Hi sskundu-

Since you are staying at Gersau, consider a boat trip on Lake Luzern. It is, in my opinion, more rewarding than a boat trip on lake Thun or Lake Brienz, although both of those are nice, too.

This thread gives some idea of what the southern end of lake Luzern looks like -

www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/the-swiss-path-and-southern-lake-lucerne

If you are staying a the youth hostel near Gersau, some lake boats stop there. Gersau is a regular stop.

Slowpoke

Thank you slowpoke :-) will surely try that ....... or atleast sitting by the lake in late evening on the day of our arrival by 4pm or so.

For a scenic few hours take the cograil from Vitznau up to Rigi-Kaltbad or all the way to Rigi-Kulm, then the cableway from Rigi-Kaltbad down to Weggis, then the bus or boat back to Gersau.

www.myswissalps.com/ti metable

Slowpoke

Did you say this as an alternative to Jungfrau or normally as a separate trip ?

What time to start for this one (i.e. from Vitznau) ?

Hi sskundu:

There is nothing in Switzerland that can replace a visit to the Jungfrau on a clear day. However, the Jungfrau is a bit distant from Gersau in time and train/bus/boat connections.

I mentioned this as on option to consider when you are in Gersau.

Look at the time table I linked above on your dates and see if it fits your time available.

What brought it to mind what the discussion about lake boat rides near Interlaken, then the thouight of a lake boat ride on Lake Luzern, then what else might be nice near Gersau.

Slowpoke