Must-see attractions in Bernese Oberland

  • The red train running on the Jungfrau railway with a background view of Jungfrau

    Jungfraujoch

    Bernese Oberland

    This is the big one. At 3454m above sea level, Jungfraujoch is Europe’s highest train station: a once-in-a-lifetime trip, with views of the deeply…

  • Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland.

    Reichenbachfälle

    Bernese Oberland

    Gazing over the mighty Reichenbach Falls, where the cataract plunges 250m to the ground with a deafening roar, you can see how Arthur Conan Doyle thought…

  • Staubbach Falls during autumn.

    Staubbachfall

    Lauterbrunnen

    Especially in the early morning light, you can see how the vaporous, 297m-high Staubbach Falls captivated prominent writers with its threads of spray…

  • Thun Castle in Switzerland.

    Schloss Thun

    Bernese Oberland

    Sitting on a hilltop and looking proudly back on 900 years of history, Schloss Thun is the castle of your wildest fairy-tale dreams, crowned by a riot of…

  • The lower waterfall of the Trümmelbach glacier waterfalls in the Lauterbrunnen Valley, Bernese Oberland, Switzerland.

    Trümmelbachfälle

    Lauterbrunnen

    These glacier falls are a bang-crash spectacle. Inside the mountain, up to 20,000L of water per second corkscrews through ravines and potholes shaped by…

  • Pedestrian zone Obere Hauptgasse in Thun, Switzerland.

    Thun Altstadt

    Bernese Oberland

    It’s a pleasure to wander Thun’s attractive riverfront Old Town, where plazas and lanes are punctuated by 15th- and 16th-century townhouses. A stroll…

  • Schadau Park and castle on the shore of Lake Thun, Switzerland.

    Schadau Park

    Bernese Oberland

    These beautiful botanical gardens spread along the shores of Lake Thun, with sublime views to the snowcapped Jungfrau range on clear days. The grounds…

  • Trift Hanging Bridge

    Triftbrücke

    Bernese Oberland

    The Hasli Valley is laced with 300km of signposted walking trails. A huge hit is this 170m-long, 100m-high suspension bridge, Europe’s longest and highest…

  • Summer morning on Oeschinensee Lake.

    Oeschinensee

    Bernese Oberland

    Mountains rise like natural ramparts above the impossibly turquoise Oeschinensee, where you can fish, stroll, swim or hire a row boat. A cable car takes…

  • A hiker explores the Aletsch glacier.

    Aletsch Glacier

    Bernese Oberland

    Jungfraujoch commands a phenomenal view of the largest glacier in the Alps: the 23km Aletsch Glacier, which powers its way through peaks hovering around…

  • Restaurant on the Harder Kulm

    Harder Kulm

    Interlaken

    For far-reaching views to the 4000m giants, take the eight-minute funicular ride to 1322m Harder Kulm. Many hiking paths begin here, and the vertigo-free…

  • (GERMANY OUT) Schweiz, um 1964, Rosenlaui Gletscherschlucht   (Photo by Leber/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

    Gletscherschlucht

    Grindelwald

    Turbulent waters carve a path through this craggy glacier gorge. A footpath weaves through tunnels hacked into cliffs veined with pink and green marble…

  • Faulensee

    Bernese Oberland

    The formerly top-secret bunkers at Faulensee were built to house troops defending Thun, Spiez and the Lötschberg railway. During summer, they’re open to…

  • Allmendhubel

    Bernese Oberland

    In summer the Allmendhubel funicular takes you above Mürren to a panoramic restaurant and the Skyline Chill relaxation area, where funky wave-shaped…

  • Schloss Oberhofen

    Bernese Oberland

    Scenically perched on the lake, turreted Schloss Oberhofen was wrested from Habsburg control after the Battle of Sempach (1386) and now traces Bernese…

  • Bernatone Alphornbau

    Interlaken

    It doesn't get more Swiss than the alpenhorn, that fabulous-looking instrument often played by bearded Alpine men with ruddy cheeks and a good set of…

  • St Beatus Caves

    Interlaken

    Sculpted over millennia, the St Beatus Caves are great for a wander through caverns of dramatically lit stalagmites, stalactites and underground lakes…

  • Thun Panorama

    Bernese Oberland

    Swiss artist Marquard Wocher sketched out this panoramic painting – the world's oldest cyclorama of its kind – between 1809 and 1814, seizing inspiration…

  • Aareschlucht

    Bernese Oberland

    Less than 2km from Meiringen is the narrow, 1.4km-long Aare Gorge, where tunnels and galleries lead past milky-blue torrents and limestone overhangs. The…

  • Ice Palace

    Bernese Oberland

    Tunnels of ice polished as smooth as cut glass lead through the so-called Ice Palace at Jungfraujoch, which offers a frosty reception at minus 3°C…

  • Schloss Hünegg

    Bernese Oberland

    The plaything of a wealthy Prussian baron and modelled on the chateaux in the Loire region of France, silver-turreted Schloss Hünegg is a feast of art…

  • Bachalpsee

    Bernese Oberland

    Utterly entrancing in the still of early morning, with its perfect reflection of the white pyramid of Schreckhorn (4078m), this glacial lake is less than…

  • Schloss Spiez

    Bernese Oberland

    This turreted medieval castle is smothered in oil paintings of its former masters, the influential von Bubenburg and von Erlach families. But it’s the…

  • Blausee

    Bernese Oberland

    From Kandersteg it's a scenic 5km hike up to the Blausee – named after its startling shade of blue – and its nature park. The restaurant on its shore…

  • Bond World 007

    Bernese Oberland

    The interactive Bond World 007 exhibition here at Schilthorn, where several scenes from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service were shot, gives you the chance to…

  • Kirche Scherzlingen

    Bernese Oberland

    First mentioned in 762, this wonderfully atmospheric church on the banks of the Aare has a sensitively restored Carolingian tower and Romanesque nave. The…

  • Heimat und Rebbaumuseum

    Bernese Oberland

    This attractive 18th-century wooden chalet showcases exhibits on wine cultivation. The best time to actually taste local tipples is at the Läset-Sunntig…

  • Alpengarten

    Bernese Oberland

    Atop the Schynige Platte plateau, the Alpengarten nurtures 600 types of Alpine blooms, including snowbells, arnicas, gentians, anemones and edelweiss…

  • Skyline Walk

    Bernese Oberland

    A head for heights is a prerequisite for this eyrie-like viewpoint at Birg. The glass-and-steel platform dangles above a precipice, providing dizzying…

  • First Cliff Walk by Tissot

    Bernese Oberland

    Next to Berggasthaus First at around 2200m, this new lookout platform, jutting out 45m into the void, provides heart-pumping views of the valley and…

  • Sherlock Holmes Museum

    Bernese Oberland

    Sherlock fans won’t want to miss this museum in the basement of the English church in Meiringen. The highlight is a re-created sitting room of 221b Baker…

  • Gletscherschlucht Rosenlaui

    Bernese Oberland

    A round trail takes in waterfalls and 80m-high cliffs at this dramatic glacier gorge. The walk back to Meiringen takes at least two hours, but hourly…

  • Tourist Museum

    Interlaken

    This low-key museum sits on a cobbled, fountain-dotted square in Unterseen. The permanent exhibition presents a romp through tourism in the region with…

  • Heimwehfluh

    Interlaken

    A nostalgic funicular trundles up to family-friendly Heimwehfluh for long views across Interlaken. Kids love the bob run down the hill – lay off the…