A Super Easy and Interesting 5 km Walk from Interlaken West to Lake Thun

INTERLAKEN WEST TO NEUHAUS

A couple of months ago we did an early morning run/walk from Interlaken to Neuhaus, just outside of Interlaken and I was eager to share it. This path has many lovely views and some great stories that are all packed up into a very do-able walk for all ages. Unfortunately, when we went in the middle of winter I didn’t take many photos to illustrate just how great this walk is. Rather than bore you entirely with my blah blah, I put it on the back burner.

This past week, after catching up with some of Corinne’s family at Restaurant Neuhaus, we took the path back to the train station in, quite warm, but oddly overcast, weather. Mostly dust blowing in all the way from the Sahara Desert… Nonetheless, my camera roll is now overflowing, and I am very excited to share this great walk with you!

Coming in at about 5 km (3 miles) one way with not so much as a mole hill to climb (unless you count the tower of a ruined castle), this path is super easy and mostly follows well-tended gravel paths.

You can follow along with our Interlaken to Lake Thun trip using this interactive map

From the end of the walk, you can easily catch the bus or boat back to Interlaken West Train Station like we did or make a loop on one of several intersecting trails. The path is open year-round and nice shade trees in proximity to the lake ought to make it a summer dream.

Following Transport on Lake Thun

Terminus of the Interlaken Ship Canal with the Motorship Beatus about to embark

View looking up the Aare River into the heart of Interlaken

The first c. 2 km or 1.5 miles of our walk follows the almost straight shot course of the Interlaken Ship Canal which connects passenger ships plying the waters of Lake Thun with the center of Interlaken. To get started, you will want to cross the train tracks just past Interlaken West Train Station and make your way past the terminus of the Interlaken Ship Canal.

On the far side of the canal terminus, you will pass a small hydroelectric power station that diverts water from the Aare into the ship canal as well as a small quay built to allow ships to turn around upon reaching the end of the canal.

Follow the road along the turquoise blue waters of the canal. The road eventually becomes a gravel walking path. At this point, you are actually just steps away from the Aare River on the other side of this narrow peninsula.

While thousands of visitors embark on voyages of Lake Thun each year from the Interlaken Ship Canal, I am guessing few really appreciate how this seemingly mundane infrastructure has fundamentally shaped tourism in the Berner Oberland.

Honestly, there is ample material to write an entire book dedicated to the history and importance of this canal and the several millennia of transportation on Lake Thun, but I expect you did not really come here for that. I will try to leave you with a condensed version.

Rich bronze age graves and settlements dot the edge of Lake Thun alongside more recent middle age castles like Schloss Thun and Spiez. These sites all speak to Lake Thun’s profitable position along trans-Alpine trade routes over the last few millennia.

Fast forward to 1835 and the first stirrings of Victorian age tourism lead to the introduction of steamships to Lake Thun. The first of these pleasure boats, the 16 horse-power ship Bellevue, begins making its regular 75-minute non-stop service between Thun and Neuhaus, the end of our walk just outside Interlaken.

The Bern-Münsingen-Thun railway, built in 1859 and extended to Lake Thun in 1861, can be credited with really opening the door to a new era of mass tourism and shipping on Lake Thun. With the railway, visitors and cargo can now make their way from the Swiss Plateau to Thun then onto one of the, now quite numerous, steamships crossing the lake to Neuhaus.

Up until this point, cargo had to be off-loaded from the train in Thun, reloaded onto steamships for transport to Neuhaus, be off-loaded again from the ship and loaded onto carts to get pulled by horse into Interlaken. No small effort.

The completion of the Bödeli railway in 1874 between Interlaken and Därligen, located along the northern shores of Lake Thun just a few kilometers beyond Interlaken, cuts time and effort in half allowing for special train barges to transport goods wagons directly across the lake connecting rail line to rail line.

As you continue along the path you are likely to see several trains pass by on the far side of the canal, up against the cliffs. These services are operating on the original path of the Bödeli railline to Därligen.

Lovely views from the path along the Interlaken Ship Canal

Fearing the heavy impact a Lake Thun Railway connecting Thun to Därligen would have once it was completed, the ferry owners on Lake Thun financed the construction of the Interlaken Ship canal paralleling the non-navigable waters of the Aare River. The canal opened in 1892 allowing cargo and passengers to make their way directly into the heart of Interlaken.

The Lake Thun Railway was completed only a year later in 1893 and marked the end of shipping traffic on Lake Thun. Arguably, however, the building of the ship canal was not completely in vain. An influx of visitors brought to Interlaken by rail and the convenient location of the canal terminus directly adjacent to the Interlaken West Train Station boosted passenger traffic on Lake Thun’s steamships which, once again, became proper pleasure boats.

Trains passing on the former Bödeli line to Därligen

The Turquoise Blue Waters of the Interlaken Ship Canal

As you walk along the canal and admire the lovely blue water, you might just see one of Lake Thun’s eight passenger boats glide by on its way to or from Interlaken. Most of the boats in the current Lake Thun fleet are modern motor vessels operating on diesel engines, but the two oldest boats on the lake, named Spiez and Blümlisalp, are steamboats harking back to the days of the Belle Époch just before the first World War.

Steamboat Spiez is the oldest passenger boat on Lake Thun. Originally launched in 1901 for local services, the boat was converted to diesel in 1952, and finally decommissioned in 2007. As the result of a sizeable restoration campaign, Steamboat Spiez was re-launched once again in 2022 with a fully functioning steam engine.

While Steamboat Spiez is relatively small and reserved for events these days, Steamboat Blümlisalp, first launched in 1906, is much larger saloon steamer and regularly plies the water picking up passengers on its summer service. Blümlisalp was likewise decommissioned in the 1970s and refurbished between 1990 and 1992 with a fan-fair relaunch in the Summer of 1992.

Beatus getting prepared to depart Interlaken West on its journey into Lake Thun

The importance of the Lake Thun ships to the economic well being and identity of the Berner Oberland was directly evidenced by near unanimous political support at the Cantonal Level for the construction of a state-of-the art dry dock and ship maintenance facility in 2016. We passed right by these operations on our walk from Chanderbrügg to Thun.

If you have not been able to tell, the boats are one of my favorite parts about living near Lake Thun. The sound of Blümlisalp’s steam whistle is my daily reminder to take a quick break from work and I always love getting out on the water.

If you have the time, I would highly recommend taking a trip on Lake Thun. All the boats are great, but, if you have the chance, try to catch Blümlisalp for a feel of Victorian travel. Looking at a trip on Lake Brienz? The Steamship Lotschberg is your best bet.

The Great Escape to Weissenau

Crossing the Aare River into the Weissenau Nature Reserve

If you are extremely lucky (I have yet to be), you may just encounter one the canal’s native residents as you stroll along the Interlaken Ship Canal.

I can’t say that I have ever seen a beaver in Switzerland, let alone in Interlaken, but there is certainly plenty of evidence for them. Many of the trees have chew marks and wire mesh has been put in place to reduce the urge of these hungry rodents to fell trees straight into the ship canal.

After a couple of kilometers walking, the path bends off towards the opposite side of the peninsula and the banks of the Aare where you eventually reach a pedestrian bridge. This bridge gives you access to the wetlands across the river, the home of our beaver and the next stop.

With proximity to the Aare and its wetlands, I honestly didn’t think much of the beaver presence but I recently stumbled upon an unbelievable story, almost as good as the Unspunnen Stein (if you haven’t read about this greatest of Swiss crime dramas check out our walk from Interlaken to Wilderswil).

On to the story. Brought to the edge of extinction in the 19th Century, Beavers were reintroduced to the Swiss plateau in the 1950’s and 1970’s. While still in a long phase of recovery, the Beaver population has increased tremendously with around 5000 individuals living in Switzerland today.

Before 2006, however, there were only about 1,600 beavers on the Swiss Plateau. With several sizeable man-made dams blocking their way, none could be found in the Aare River upstream of Bern (or so conservationists thought). Unbeknownst to them, the Beavers had hatched their own, almost implausible, recovery plan in the beautiful Berner Oberland.

Early in 2006, residents of Interlaken started noticing some very strange activity in the Weissenau Nature Reserve along the banks of Lake Thun where we are now standing. Upon closer investigation, it turned out that a lone beaver had found its way into the Berner Oberland for the first time in nearly 200 years! But how did it get there…? Experts were properly stumped.

It turns out, during flooding of the Aare River in 2005, several beavers had escaped from the Dählhölzli Zoo in Bern. With an impassible dam and flood control gates upstream in Thun, authorities figured that the beavers must have ended up downstream, somewhere alongside the existing wild population on the Swiss Plateau. But the beavers were shrewder than that…

Indeed, finding the Aare River to be blocked upstream in Thun, they headed back down stream, but not all the way into the Swiss Plateau.

If you followed along with our walk from Chanderbrügg to Thun, you passed over the Kander River Gorge. Over 300 years ago, the Kander River was boldly rediverted from its original path into Lake Thun during Switzerland’s first major river realignment. The original course of the river emptied the Kander into the Aare in the Allmend region between Bern and Thun. While the water is mostly gone, the valley remains.

Somehow, one of these clever beavers found its way into the depression of the former Kander River and followed its abandoned track all the way up to the diversion of the Kander River, an exceptional 30 kms, nearly 20 miles. From there, the beaver hopped into the modern Kander River, making its way into Lake Thun and, eventually on to Interlaken and the Weissenau Nature Reserve.

Not bad for an escaped zoo animal…

Evidence of this great escape has been subsequently documented as several other beavers have found their way through the Kander gap. Very slowly, these pioneers are aiming to repopulate the Berner Oberland.

I had trouble finding much information on how many beavers now call Interlaken home but based on the efforts to prevent unwanted tree chomping, I take it there is now more than one living at Weissenau.

Ruine Weissenau and the Weissenau Nature Reserve

After crossing the Aare, you are greeted, almost immediately, by the ruins of Weissenau Castle, built in the 13th Century on, what was at the time, an island within Lake Thun. The castle and its fortified harbor controlled Alpine trade passing along Lake Thun for around a century before passing hands several time. Sometime in the early 16th Century, the castle fell into ruin.

The construction of the ship canal at the end of the 19th Century connected Ruine Weissenau’s island to the mainland but the former fortified harbor can still be easily imagined from the ground or, better yet, from the castle tower.

Like many ruins in the Berner Oberland, Weissenau has been nicely preserved and a free staircase takes you to top of the tower. The views of the Aare and Lake Thun are excellent and you can commune with a tree somehow eeking out its existence on the sparse soil built up on the tower over the centuries.

View of the tower and fortified harbour at Ruine Weissenau

View from the top of Ruine Weissenau

Once you have had your fill of exploring the castle, head back to the intersection with the bridge over the Aare. From here, you could follow the path along the river all the way back into Interlaken (a good option for your return if you are keen for a longer walk) but we will continue along the Lake Thun waterfront into the lovely and engaging Weissenau Nature Reserve.

This former delta of the Aare River, which has long been canalized, is home to numerous species of waterfowl and, of course our illustrious beavers. Starting in the 1930’s the area of the reserve was recognized as an important ecological site in the Berner Oberland and was thoughtfully set aside. Strict rules on access and use, similar to a wildlife preserve in North America, have been applied here. Despite the reserve’s small size, it stands out in Switzerland where most natural land provides unrestricted public access.

The path meanders the shorefront through the reserve along heavily marked paths and boardwalks with excellent views of the Lake and mountains. A bird blind about halfway to Neuhaus offers an opportunity to rest and observe the native residents (of both the human and bird variety).

The End of the Line at Neuhaus

A few peaceful steps further and you reach Neuhaus, end of the line for the first steamboat and, fittingly, the end of our walk.

Ample benches along the far end of the path and just past the small harbor at Neuhaus make for a great picnic spot if you brought your lunch. Alternatively, you can find food at the historic hotel and restaurant at Neuhaus, built in the early 1700’s.

If you are keen on eating at Restaurant Neuhaus, I would recommend making a reservation in advance as it fills up, particularly on a nice day around lunch time. If you have a reservation and don’t want to feel rushed, this walk is perfect in reverse as well. You won’t miss out on anything by taking the bus or boat to Neuhaus and working your way back on foot.

We hope you enjoyed the latest walk in our series Discovering Bern. If you are looking for more adventure across Switzerland, you may enjoy our other ongoing series, One Year: 26 Cantons where we visit each of Switzerland’s 26 Cantons in 2024.

As always, feel free to comment on our social media with your own experiences and suggestions and, until next time, gute Reise!

Historic Restaurant Neuhaus at the end of the walk