Thun
Switzerland · Bern · 560 m
Description
Thun stands where the Aare leaves Lake Thun, at the threshold between the Swiss plateau and the Bernese Oberland. A twelfth-century keep with four corner turrets rises above the roofs and holds the town museum, reached from the old town by covered wooden stairways. The Obere Hauptgasse is built on two levels, with the shop terraces raised above the roadway and the pavement running along the roofs of the cellars below, an arrangement found nowhere else in Europe. Lakeside at Schadau Park stands a nineteenth-century château in English garden grounds, alongside the Wocher Panorama, the oldest surviving panoramic painting in the world. Steamers leave from the town for the villages and castles along the lake and onward to Interlaken.
Length of stay
Recommended length of stay: 1 to 2 days (optimal 1 day)
Travel season
Best time to visit: May – June or September
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
Highlights
- Thun Castle
- Thun Old Town
- Lake Thun
- Obere Hauptgasse Raised Pavements
- Lake Thun Steamer Cruise
- Schadau Park
- Schadau Castle
- Wocher Panorama
- Rathausplatz
- Aare Riverside Walk
- Oberhofen Castle(Day trip)
- Scherzligkirche
- Kunstmuseum Thun
- Spiez Castle(Day trip)
- Stockhorn(Day trip)
- Niesen(Day trip)
- Interlaken(Day trip)
Getting there
- Train stations:
- Thun
- Seaport:
- Reachable by ship or ferry