Bern to Interlaken

August 14, 2016

Well, we got a good night's sleep. And today will be an easy day, only 33 miles and about 2000 feet. And a good part of it is along Thunersee, or Lake Thun, named after the city on its northern shore, which we will have the pleasure of biking through. And guess what river we bike along? Why the River Aare, of course. Apparently we are following it to its headwaters up Grimselpass. The things you learn when you study maps!

Today's ride to Interlaken.

Heart

Comment

Link

So we backtracked out of Bern on the same route we came into town on, across the Aare on the Nydeggbrücke, and made a right and began our climb out of the river valley. It was a beautiful day made nicer by the allée formed by the evenly spaced shade trees on both sides of the roadway. And that continued for some distance, several miles, I'd say.

Climbing out of the river valley, our look back at Bern.

Passing another cyclist on the way out of town.

But as with most cities, the further from the core you get, the more modern it is with less ambiance. Not bad, just plain. But that is to be expected. It wasn't long before we were beyond that and on the plains along the Aare on our way to Interlaken, soaking up the scenery and small villages we passed through.

Outside of Bern, open fields and the Alps in the distance.

And looming before us, getting closer with every crank of the pedal, were the "foothills" of the Alps. We had been eyeing hill mountains on either side of us as we left Bern, but once we cleared the suburbs and the landscape opened up, you could see the Alps, the taller ones capped with snow and the closer, lower ones as green as could be. With some rocky crags, of course.

And lots of cyclists out on club rides or just traveling from here to there. And all on the road. Like Germany, Switzerland has excellent (by US standards) bike infrastructure. Our difficulty was knowing where to be. It was not always clear, which is our fault, as we didn't bone up on the signage before boarding the plane. Not that it caused any problems either. No one blew a horn at us. But sometimes we were on the bike trail, and it became a sidewalk with no bike lane in the street. Then the bike lane would appear . . . we decided to stay in the roadway unless the path was real clear, smooth, and went for some distance. But you have to watch the markings because sometimes the trail jumps to the other side of the road, and you might miss that.

The bike lane on Swiss Route 6 and the adjacent bike trail.

So we pedaled onto Thun. What a delightful town. Made better by the bike trail we followed into it. In Heimburg we completely abandoned Swiss Route 6, which we had been following since Bern, and took a bike trail, which we could clearly see on our Garmins, that converged back with our route on the other side of Thun. Route altered on the fly!

The bike trail we picked up on the way into Heimburg.

All the while the mountains got closer! It's amazing how fast you can close in on them.

Good choice too. The trail closely followed the railroad into town and then the River Aare as far as the lake, with a slight detour through the old town section. Very delightful.

The bike trail led us to the river, the Aare, which led us to Thun.

After Thun, we were back on the main road following the lake's shoreline. And while it was no longer a numbered route, it was pretty busy. Again, back to the "on the trail", "off the trail" scenario depending on conditions. Most folks we saw were on a mission, so they rode on the road. We wanted to be able to stop and take pictures or just enjoy the ambiance, so the trail made sense for that type of stop-and-go activity.

And the scenery was a showstopper. The contrast between the mountains, now practically at our feet, and the lake was pretty impressive. The pictures tell the story.

And this mountain on the far side that probably has a formal name.

There was only one minor climb where the mountains on our side of the lake really kissed the shoreline. This led to a series of short tunnels and then a descent to the eastern tip of the lake, which seemed more about campgrounds and outdoor activity. Here we started to see paragliding in notable quantities!

There were lots of cyclists on the road.

And the occasional tunnel, none that we couldn't clearly see through to the other end.

Our route returned us to what appeared to be a very busy road into town and not one suitable for biking. We seemed caught in an interchange where a number of roads converged. Thankfully, there was a dedicated bike route indicating West Interlaken, and we jumped on it, only two miles to the city center.

Our route took us to a busy interchange and, from there, onto a busy highway, but . . .

. . . then, a bike trail that took us straight into Interlaken.

The approach wasn't always this pretty. You need to pass through the back of the train station and some industrial areas closer to town as well, but this section wasn't bad.

We came in near the train station and made our way to the main street, crowded with tourists. We really just wanted something to drink, but everything looked crowded and more focused on shopping. At least until we turned onto a side street and found a perfect place for drinks and lunch that was not far from our hotel.

. . . and then on to our wonderful hotel.

At the hotel, we checked in quickly and took advantage of their self-service laundry to wash almost everything. While it dried, we enjoyed the rooftop terrace before going out for drinks and dinner.

Today's ride: 33 miles (53 km)
Total: 625 miles (1,006 km)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	1
Comment on this entry	Comment	0