MySwissAlps.com features ads, commercial and non-commercial Thunersee ferry: Oberhofen castle and Beatus caves
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Does the ferry stop at Schloss Oberhofen castle, and can you catch the ferry from St. Beatus cave to get there?
Thanks in advance!
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Thunersee lake ships* run on an itinerary that serves most of the villages on both lake shores. The main service Thun – Interlaken and vice versa hugs the north shore (including Oberhofen) then crosses to the south shore to serve Spiez before crossing back to the north shore to serve Beatenberg and Beatushölen, before going on to Interlaken.
However there is also bus 21 that runs very frequently all along the north lake shore road
* Minor linguistic point: Swiss lake ships are normally referred to as ships or boats and are not really referred to as ferries. The word ferry (and its equivalent in most European languages (eg fähre in German) ) in English parlance refers to ‘back and forth’ short hop (generally) type boat service acting as a continuation of a highway from one side of the body of water that it passes over to the other.
<<“Swiss lake ships are normally referred to as ships or boats and are not really referred to as ferries. “>>
Thanks. Good to clarify the distinction. I’ve never seen the lake boats called ferries in any Swiss publication. Here is a ferry ( eine Fähre).
Slowpoke
Hi TMW85 –
Here is some more information:
http://www.myswissalps.com/boatlakethun
This link provides schedules: http://www.bls.ch/en/fahren/unterwegs-mit/schiff/fahrplan
They are seasonal, so your date of travel is important.
In particular:
http://www.bls.ch/-/media/bls/pdf/fahrplaene/schiff/fahrplan-schifffahrt-2020.pdf?la=de&vs=1
The main site also provides maps:
Slowpoke
Thank you everyone! Slowpoke, The maps were very helpful to see where they go, thank you!
It got rather late at night so I curtailed my last post, but indeed I was going to mention the Beckenried – Gersau. Being on the same lake as all the Vierwaldstädtersee (SGV) ships and steamers, it is a good example of the difference between a ‘ferry’ and a ‘lake ship/boat’
’round the lake’ SGV boats: http://www.lakelucerne.ch/fileadmin/lakelucerne/content/Bilder/3_Schiffsmiete/Flotte/Schiffe/Aussenansicht/MSGotthard_Aussen_1600x750.jpg
Ferry: http://www.realest.ch/images/gallery/REALEST-Beckenried-Autofaehre-Gallery-3.jpg
It is interesting to note that the Beckenried – Gersau ferry uses the same vessel (MV Tellsprung) in service ever since the ferry was created in the 1920s.
Two other Swiss big lakes with both round the lake boats and ferries
Zurichsee
normal lake boats: http://www.zsg.ch/en/media/photos/fleet
Horgen – Meilen ferry: faehre.ch
Bodensee
Romanshorn – Friedrichshafen (Germany) ferry: http://www.schwaebische.de/cms_media/module_img/12588/6294352_1_opengraphpremium_B997204379Z.1_20200317135207_000_GOQ5PUGA8.1-0.jpg
<<“t is interesting to note that the Beckenried – Gersau ferry uses the
same vessel (MV Tellsprung) in service ever since the ferry was created
in the 1920s.”>>
Not too surprising, though. Build it right the first time. 😉
Slowpoke
Attached is a photo of the Fähre Romanshorn-Friedrichshafen. Looks like they squeezed as many vehicles as possible onto that Ferry.
Ferries are sometimes more than a connection between highways on each side of a body of water. When I was a student I remember going to Norway by train, and there were ferries to connect Germany to Denmark (Puttgarden to Rødbyhavn), and then later on, to connect Denmark to Sweden (Helsingør to Helsingborg). Those ferries had three sets of parallel tracks on board and so the train was loaded onto the ferry in three sections. It was a slow procedure at both ends but there was no other option at the time. Of course, now we have the Øresund bridge/tunnel link between Copenhagen and Malmø and so the trains and road vehicles just roll along from one country to the other. Here is a nice video showing this Denmark/Sweden link: youtu.be/iy6l3Xn7mYo If you like trains (which I just know many visitors to this forum do) you may also enjoy watching the following video, a cab ride on the train from Malmö to Copenhagen: youtu.be/LE_BlE4DxcA. It shows, among other things, how the train tracks are on a level below the road section of the bridge. I suppose people in the USA can only drool at what has been built in so many parts of Europe.
Attachments:
Hi Peterli-
Thanks for the links.
<<“Attached is a photo of the Fähre Romanshorn-Friedrichshafen. Looks like
they squeezed as many vehicles as possible onto that Ferry.”>>
A visit to the Zeppelin Museum in Friedrichshafen is well worth the trip:
http://www.zeppelin-museum.de/
Or, if you prefer English:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeppelin_Museum_Friedrichshafen
While we are in the Ostschweiz, have you been to the Tamina Schlucht?
Slowpoke
“Ferries are sometimes more than a connection between highways on each side of a body of water.”
Indeed, but I was just quoting the simplest definition I could find in a dictionary to underline the difference berween ferry and a Swiss lake boat.
“When I was a student I remember going to Norway by train, and there were ferries to connect Germany to Denmark (Puttgarden to Rødbyhavn), and then later on, to connect Denmark to Sweden (Helsingør to Helsingborg). “
Absolutely correct. I have been that way several times. I didn’t digress into this subject however as it is not related to Switzerland and thus off topic, even though I have an extensive knowledge of this subject. There are / were dozens of train ferries around the world but this is not the forum to talk about them.
In the meantime, the Romanshorn – Friedrichshafen ferry was a train ferry until 1976
Hello Slowpoke,
Next time I am over in the Bodensee (Lac Constance) area, I do plan to go visit the Zeppelin Museum. By the way, one can click to English (but not French) on their website. http://www.zeppelin-museum.de/en As you probably already know from other posts I have made, die Nordosttschweiz is an area really like, having stayed a summer (when still a student) with family friends in the Toggenburg. I used to just love pulling down the train window and leaning out a bit and smelling the countryside along the BTBahn.
As for your question about the Taminaschlucht, the answer is “no”. I looked it up on Wikipedia and found that nobody has bothered to translate it to any language from the original German. But it does look like it would be worth the detour when I am in that part of the country. Looks like it is only a half hour drive from Sargans.
I hope you are staying home and keeping safe.
PS: Glad you liked the two links.
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