Among chalets and turquoise lakes and towns and villages with a magical atmosphere and many pearls to discover
  • Travelling time: 3 hours and a half
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Why we love it: Because it's suitable for all, even for the less trained bikers, and because in few kilometers offers many wonders of nature
  • Length: 60 km
  • Total Elevation Gain: 650 m
  • Way to travel: by bike
  • Cost: 0 €
  • Our Advice: This is just one part of the long national cycle-path. If you decided to spend a week in Switzerland, we suggest you to do it till the end!

Switzerland is a land rich of naturalistic wonders and this itinerary offers you the occasion to fill your eyes with some of the pearls of this country, Let’s discover them together!

 

Interlaken
Interlaken, photo by Almost Suma via Flickr

 

 

 

Our starting point is Interlaken, lovely town, wet by the river Aare and surrounded by two lakes, the Brienz Lake and Thun Lake. We’ll bike in the national cycle path number 8, which runs along the river. The activities that Interlaken offers are many: a boat trip in its lake, a hike towards the three mountains (Eiger, Mönch e Jungfrau) that surround it and much more. We hop on our bike and we leave towards the capital of Switzerland, Berna. We go on the western shore of Lake Thun, that we’ll coast till its end. Its intense turquoise and the light breeze will keep us company. After few kilometers we arrive at Spiez, a stop that you can’t miss.Here the turquoise of the lake meets the green of the vineyards. As soon as you arrive, you will see the magical castle of the town: it stands near the little port, on a rock spur, and it dates back to the XII century.

Spiez, photo by Yury Kiselev via Flickr

 

We continue on our itinerary, always along the deep waters of the lake. We arrive at its inferior far end and then to the city that gives it its name. Thun is a small town that offer many magical and fascinating corners. We walk in its colorful inner city and in its high sidewalks, the only ones in Europe, among the houses and the shops.

Thun and its high sidewalks
Thun and its high sidewalks, photo by John Weiss via Flickr

We are half way of our itinerary, here starts the great Aare valley: big villages, wide fields and the wild river. So we enter in Bern, capital of Switzerland. The medieval inner city of Bern, with its fountains, brick façades, historic towers, is an Unesco World Heritage Site, and its arcades, with 6km of length, are one of the longest commercial covered walkway of Europe. In every period of the year you’ll find events and festivals: the city is known for its lively musical and cultural scene. The Tourist Information office offers an original way to visit the city: iPod AudioGuide (http://www.bern.com/en/activities/city-tours/audioguide-en/ipod-audioguide). The iPod AudioGuide is your personal tour guide to the city of Bern. It takes you to all the most attractive parts of the city and tells you everything you need to know about it; the tour is supplemented by music from some of Bern's most famous musicians.

Bern, photo by John Weiss via Flickr

Switzerland is a country of a thousand faces, and it’s also the land of cycle paths: roads with a perfect signage and designed specifically for bikers cross the whole country. Our itinerary is part of the most famous path, the one that goes along the Aare river that allows you to discover most of the Swiss beauties: the great green fields, the beautiful mountains, the lakes, but also the castle and the characteristic chalets.

 

Author: Chiara Marras

Cover image: Lake Thun, photo by Linus Mak via Flickr