First time visitors to the Bernese Oberland region in central Switzerland are naturally drawn to the mountains. Instead of going up the famous Bernese mountains (Jungfrau, Monch and Eiger), we took our time to drive along the shores of both lakes, Lake Thun (Thunersee) and Lake Brienz (Brienzersee).
Lake is a major natural feature of Switzerland. We lived in Lausanne which lies on the north shore of Lac Leman that is shared with France. I(Chris) worked in Neuchatel which is adjacent to Lac de Neuchatel, the largest lake that is wholly situated in Switzerland. According to Wikipedia, Lac Leman and Lac de Neuchatel are ranked first and third in terms of area. Thurnersee is ranked number 9 and Brienzersee number 12.
From Spiez, we drove clockwise around Thunersee, first on Spiezstrasse, passing the town of Thun, then along Seestrasse, and stopped briefly at the lakeside village of Oberhofen.
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The weather was weird on that day as the whole lake was blanketed by low-hanging clouds.
At one time during the day, none of the peaks, and not even some of the high pastures were visible from the lake. If you were at the summits of the mountains, Niesen or Niderhorn, which overlook Thunersee, depending on the elevation, you would experience zero visibility, or you will see blue skies above and a sea of cloud below you.
We noticed that small palm trees were rather common in the area. Presumably, as they are potted, they can be moved to somewhere warmer or indoor for protection during winter, or they are hardy enough to survive snow.
Oberhofen castle
The ferry that goes around the lake stops regularly at the Oberhofen pier decorated with flowers and palm trees. There was a cute cafe housed in a little hut by the pier. Next to the parking area overlooking the water is Schloss Oberhofen.
The fortified castle, Schloss Oberhofen was built around 1200 and passed to the House of Habsburg in the 14th Century. The property had changed ownership numerous times since, and in 1926, the new owner was the American lawyer William Maul Measey who made the castle a branch of the Bernisches Historisches Museum in 1940.
The park at Oberhofen Castle is a well-known garden in this Alpine region. According to their website, the museum and park are supposed to be opened between May and October.
A new building was completed next to the castle and housed in it is the modern Schloss Oberhofen restaurant. Clad in glass facing the lake, the restaurant has been in operation since 2013.
Unfortunately, on that day, the museum, the park and restaurant were all closed, presumably due to the pandemic.
After Oberhofen, Seestrasse cuts through the village of Gunten where one can go uphill to Sigriswil. A new suspension bridge there offers a panoramic view of the section of the lake (see our later post).
Throughout the day, the clouds lingered low on the horizon …
As we continued driving around the lake, the scene changes from sailboat piers to short tunnels as the road starts to climb and hugs the mountainside towering over the lake. It is the kind of twisty cliffside road where car chases occur in James Bond films.
In this section of Seestrasse, we passed the Parkhaus for the aerial cable car that goes up to Niderhorn (1963 m). There is a restaurant and children’s playground at the top. We wondered what kind of view was on offer at the summit on that overcast day.
Further along, we passed the entrance to the caves at St. Beatus-Höhlen – a popular place for families.
As we approached the eastern end of the lake, the road descends back to the water level. The mountains remained shrouded in mists.
Seestrasse continues onto Interlaken. But we joined autoroute 6 which runs along the southern shore of Brienzersee to Iseltwald (see our later post).
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