Le Chic En Rose

We first visited the pretty Swiss town of Thun back in 2010. Sitting delightfully at the head of an inlet off the eponymously named Lake Thun, it is a bustling place but a bit off the tourist trail compared to places such as Interlaken and Lucerne, which makes for a more relaxing visit.

 

We were enchanted with the cobbled streets of the Altstadt. Quaint old buildings line the streets and little alleys lead back down to the River Aare, which flows rapidly through the town centre. The old wooden bridges across the river look every bit as pretty as the more famous ones of Lucerne (the Kapellbruecke and Spreuerbruecke).

 

 

Morning coffee in the Rathausplatz followed by a quick trip up to the top of the hill to see the 12th century Castle added to Thun’s charms. We wandered round the castle gardens admiring the views out across the alps of the Bernese Oberland.

The following photos were taken on our 2010 trip – all the others are from earlier this year.

 

 

Since that day 7 years ago, we’ve been lucky enough to go back to Thun a couple of times, most recently during our stay in Central Switzerland this May. Easily reached from our lakeside base of Spiez (see here and here), we had a couple of trips to Thun – one a late afternoon meander followed by drinks and a longer trip on our last full day in the area. The May sunshine was glorious more like summer, indeed quite hot so much so that I had to pop into the shops to purchase a sunhat!

 

 

It was rather too hot to think about climbing up to the castle! We walked round the river and Altstadt, spent some time browsing round the market stalls and shops then headed for lunch. Here you are spoilt for choice – cafes and restaurants nestle along the sidewalk by the river taking advantage of the superb location. We ended up having a lovely meal at an Italian place (run by Italian speakers) but really any of the cafes would have been good. With a slight breeze coming off the water, it made for a very pleasant and lazy lunch – perfect for a warm spring day.

 

 

 

Thun is well connected, not only by ferries but also with excellent rail connections in all directions (the ferry quay is adjacent to the railway station). It’s the sort of place where you could just stop off for a couple of hours before resuming your journey – indeed we did see plenty of backpackers round the station area stocking up on supplies at the nearby Co Op!

A perfect day out before it was time to catch the last ferry back to our little base in nearby Spiez.

 

 

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