Getting to and from various walking tracks near Interlaken took me to a number Swiss towns which are covered in this post, starting with Spiez.
Spiez is about twice the size of Interlaken, based on permanent population, and sits on the shores of the gorgeous Lake Thun. I spent a couple of hours here on my way back from visiting Oeschinensee, in part by being tempted by this alluring view from the train station while changing trains on the way to Oeschinensee.
It’s a relatively short downhill walk to the lakefront, though it took somewhat longer for me to find somewhere that I could swim. As is appears common in Switzerland the best area was a private ‘beach’.
I walked around the lake front trying to find somewhere to swim, finding either trees or private gates belonging to hotels and houses. I was about to give up when I found this public swimming spot, ideal other than lack of any privacy for changing! It was a magical place to swim, though I’m glad that I got out before the wake arrived from this ferry.
I didn’t get the chance to visit Schloss Spiez but you can see it from seemingly everywhere in town. Parts date back to the 12th and 13th centuries.
Another day I took the train to Brienz, travelling around Lake Brienz first thing in the morning, which was stunning.
Along with lots of wood carvings. I particularly liked Batman outside the cinema.
After walking from Schynige Platte to First I took the long (25 mins) cable car ride down to Grindelwald. Despite being a famous tourist destination I couldn’t see much of interest other than the standard if lovely Swiss architecture and mountain scenery.
Lungern was another town passed through between a cable car ride and train station, after walking from Brienzer Rothorn to Torren. It was super hot, and I had to dash to catch the train, but it was a quiet and attractive place, home to the small Dorfkapelle church.
To finish with photos from my flight back to London from Geneva across super flat, dry and fenced fields covered France, and much greener, hedge-rowed fields and slightly undulating England.
