[TexasK]

6 July 2017 at 13:51:52 #812542

Hello All,

We are headed back to Wengen for 11 days in early August and one thing I have always wanted to do is swim in the River Aare. We could either take one day out of our stay in Wengen and go there for a day and come back to Wengen OR we could plan on doing in on our last day as we head back to Geneva before we fly home to the U.S. the next day. If we did this, are the lockers large enough for 2 carry on suitcases and can we change into dry clothes in the locker room before we head back to Geneva? I almost think we should just explore Bern and the river for a day when we need to take a break from hiking. Open to all suggestions!

I also have a thing for icy alpine lakes to swim in but I haven’t really seen anything except possibly in Geneva or maybe Lake Brienz? Would love to know if there is somewhere near Wengen for us to swim in a lake for day.

Thank you!

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[Slowpoke]

7 July 2017 at 3:59:50 #866383

Hi TexasK –

A couple of quick thoughts.

Without any rigorous searching, I recall a Strandbad (beach) near Brienz.

map.search.ch/?pos=646748,177886&z=51 2

Also, the tourist office in Wengen or Interlaken can offer suggestions.

Not sure where you want to swim along the whole length of the Aare, which is the longest river in Switzerland with a range of conditions, but, if you do it in Bern, the current is extremely strong.

This link mentions swimming places:

http://www.myswitzerland.com/ en-us/aare.html

Also:

http://www.bern.com/en/detail /aare-swimming

Slowpoke

[Removed user]

7 July 2017 at 4:08:25 #866384

I’m assuming the water from the Aare River is pretty cold since it comes from the Glacier/mountains, right? Or is it bearable?

[Removed user]

7 July 2017 at 7:43:25 #866385

It is better to swim in the Thuner- or Brienzersee. But some people swim also in the Aare Canal in the City centre from Interlaken, but it is a little bit dangerous, i think so.

The most village near the Thuner- or Brienzersee have a swimmingpool / Swimming aerea in the see. We always swim in Leissigen (Thunersee) but the water is cold.

You can also swim in the Oeschinensee (Kandersteg) but is very, very cold.

Greetings Brahms

[Removed user]

7 July 2017 at 10:26:08 #866386

Hi TexasK and welcome to MySwissAlps!

There is also a tubing option that looks like a lot of fun. It’s expensive of course but there is a luggage transfer available apparently – so it could work for you quite well.

I’ve been wanting to do this myself!

https://aaretubing.ch/ tubing/

Lucas

[Removed user]

7 July 2017 at 14:23:52 #866387

Hi Texask

There are a lot of places along the north shore of lake Thun where you can swim – the n0 21 bus route between Interlaken and Thun gives easy access to “Strandbad” in Huenibach/Hilterfingen, Wichterhergut, Merligen, Gunten etc.

When the weather is hot we often see the local teenagers in Thun jumping into the River Aare from the bridges and with the help of the current swimming to point where they climb out and go back and do it again! There is also a “proper” swimming area roped off there to swim!

Maggie

[AlanPrice]

8 July 2017 at 21:06:02 #866388

Hi,

Something else to consider, if you go to Bern, you can swim around the city. Bern sits on a large bend of the Aare and in summer the locals jump in on one side and let the current take them around to the other, then walk across the narrow part of town back to their starting point. It looks like a lot of fun on a hot day. Just take some flip flops and a tee shirt in a zip lock bag.

Cheers,

Alan

[TexasK]

9 July 2017 at 13:19:19 #866389

Thanks everyone for all the great info, lots to think about!