Estimated duration: 75 minutes
Overview
Welcome to Spiez, a small town on the southern shore of Lake Thun that locals call the most beautiful bay in Switzerland. With its medieval castle standing on a promontory above the lake, its terraced vineyards descending to the water, and the perfect pyramid of the Niesen rising across the bay, Spiez is a place of quiet, almost painterly beauty. On this walking tour, you will explore a castle that has been inhabited for over a thousand years, walk through one of the northernmost vineyards in Europe, stroll the charming harbour, and enjoy views of the Bernese Alps that justify every superlative. Spiez is the Bernese Oberland's best-kept secret, and today you will discover why.
Let us begin.
Stop 1: Spiez Railway Station and the Bay View
Start at Spiez railway station. Walk to the terrace in front of the station and look south.
The view from the terrace in front of Spiez station is one of those Swiss panoramas that makes you stop and simply stare. Before you, the town descends through vineyards and gardens to the deep blue waters of Lake Thun. The castle, with its distinctive stepped roofline and Romanesque church tower, stands on a promontory jutting into the bay. And beyond the lake, the Niesen rises in a near-perfect triangle to 2,362 metres, one of the most recognisable mountain silhouettes in the Bernese Oberland.
Spiez has been a significant settlement since antiquity. The bay provided a natural harbour on the lake, and the promontory where the castle stands was an ideal defensive position. Roman-era finds have been made in the area, and the first fortifications on the castle promontory likely date from the early medieval period.
The town today has about 12,000 residents and serves as a transport hub for the southern shore of Lake Thun and the Simmental valley. But its character remains that of a small, prosperous lakeside town, unhurried and quietly proud of its extraordinary setting.
Walk downhill from the station toward the castle, following the signs.
Stop 2: The Vineyards
Walk through the vineyards that descend the hillside between the station and the castle.
As you walk downhill, you pass through the Rebberg, the vineyards that are one of Spiez's most distinctive features. These are among the northernmost commercially cultivated vineyards in Europe, thriving at a latitude where you might not expect to find wine production.
The vineyards face south, overlooking the lake, and they benefit from the moderating influence of the water and the reflected warmth of the sun. The primary grape variety is Pinot Noir, though Chasselas and other varieties are also grown. The wines are produced in small quantities and are mostly consumed locally. Spiez wine has been produced here since at least the Middle Ages, when the lords of the castle cultivated the slopes.
The terraced vineyards, with their neat rows of vines, the stone retaining walls, and the views of the lake and mountains, are beautiful in every season. In autumn, when the leaves turn gold and the grapes are being harvested, the scene is particularly magical.
Spiez holds an annual wine festival, the Läset, in October, celebrating the grape harvest with tastings, food, and music. It is one of the most popular local events and a wonderful way to experience the town's wine culture.
Continue downhill through the vineyards toward the castle.
Stop 3: Schloss Spiez (Spiez Castle)
Walk to the castle entrance. The castle complex includes the keep, the residential buildings, and the church.
Schloss Spiez is one of the most important and best-preserved medieval castles in the Bernese Oberland. The castle complex occupies the entire promontory above the bay and includes a massive keep, residential wings from various periods, a beautiful Romanesque church, and surrounding gardens.
The earliest fortification on this site dates from the tenth century, and the Romanesque keep, the imposing square tower that dominates the complex, was built around 1200. The castle passed through several noble families over the centuries. The Barons of Strättligen held it in the early medieval period, and it later came into the hands of the Bubenberg family, one of the most powerful dynasties in the Bernese Oberland. Adrian von Bubenberg, who commanded the Bernese forces at the Battle of Morat in 1476, one of the decisive battles in Swiss history, was the most famous member of this family.
In 1516, the castle was purchased by the von Erlach family, who held it until the nineteenth century. The residential wings were expanded and remodelled over the centuries, creating the mix of medieval and Renaissance architecture you see today.
The castle is now a museum, and the interior rooms display period furnishings, weapons, and artefacts from the castle's long history. The banqueting hall, with its painted ceiling and carved wooden panelling, is particularly impressive. But the true highlight is the Romanesque church.
Stop 4: The Castle Church (Schlosskirche)
Enter the castle church, located within the castle complex.
The Schlosskirche, the castle church, is one of the most important Romanesque churches in the canton of Bern. The current building dates from the early eleventh century, built on the foundations of an even earlier church from the eighth century. The apse, with its distinctive semi-circular form and small round-arched windows, is a textbook example of Romanesque architecture.
Inside, the church retains early medieval frescoes that were discovered during a restoration in the 1950s. These fragmentary paintings, dating from the eleventh and twelfth centuries, are among the oldest surviving wall paintings in the Bernese Oberland. They depict biblical scenes in a simple, powerful style that predates the Gothic era.
The church is still used for occasional services and concerts, and its intimate scale and ancient stones create an atmosphere of profound serenity. The acoustics are remarkably good, and concerts of early music held here are particularly moving.
From the castle and church, walk down to the harbour.
Stop 5: Spiez Harbour
Walk down the path from the castle to the small harbour below.
The harbour of Spiez is a picture-postcard setting: small boats bobbing gently on the blue-green water, the castle rising above, and the mountains framing the scene on all sides. The harbour has served Spiez since the Middle Ages, when the lake was the primary route for transporting goods and people through the Bernese Oberland.
Today the harbour is used primarily by pleasure boats and by the paddle steamers and motor vessels of the Lake Thun shipping company, the BLS Schifffahrt. A cruise on Lake Thun from Spiez is one of the great pleasures of a visit to the region. The lake is 17.5 kilometres long, surrounded by mountains, and the paddle steamer Blümlisalp, built in 1906 and lovingly restored, is one of the finest historic vessels on Swiss waters.
The waterfront area around the harbour has small restaurants and cafes where you can sit and enjoy the view. The local speciality is Egli, perch, freshly caught from the lake and served with a simple accompaniment of lemon and chips. Paired with a glass of local Spiez wine, it is a meal that captures the essence of lakeside Switzerland.
Stop 6: The Lakeside Promenade
Walk along the lakeside promenade heading east from the harbour.
The lakeside promenade extends along the shore of the bay, offering changing perspectives of the castle, the lake, and the mountains. The path is flat and easy, lined with trees and benches, and it is a favourite walk for locals and visitors alike.
As you walk, look across the bay to the Niesen. This pyramidal mountain has been called the Swiss Pyramid, and its regular shape makes it one of the most recognisable peaks in the Bernese Oberland. The Niesenbahn, a funicular railway built in 1910, climbs from the village of Mülenen on the far shore to the summit at 2,362 metres. The stairway alongside the funicular track, with 11,674 steps, is the longest stairway in the world and is the site of an annual stair-climbing race, the Niesen Treppenlauf.
The view from the Niesen summit encompasses the entire Lake Thun, the Bernese Oberland peaks including the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau, and on clear days extends to the Jura Mountains and beyond. It is one of the great panoramic viewpoints of the Swiss Alps.
Stop 7: The Old Town of Spiez
Walk back uphill from the harbour into the old town area, between the castle and the main road.
The old town of Spiez is small and charming, with a handful of streets lined with traditional Bernese buildings. The architecture is restrained and elegant: stone ground floors with timber upper stories, deeply overhanging roofs, and the carved and painted details characteristic of the Bernese Oberland.
The town developed around the castle and the church, serving as a market centre for the surrounding agricultural area. The Simmental valley, which extends south from Spiez, was an important cattle-breeding region, and the Simmentaler cattle breed, known for its gentle temperament and excellent milk production, takes its name from this valley. Spiez was the gateway to the Simmental and benefited from the trade that passed through it.
The old town streets are quiet and unhurried, a world away from the busier tourist centres of the Oberland. Small shops sell local products: honey from the surrounding hillsides, hand-crafted pottery, and of course wine from the vineyards above. The bakeries offer traditional Bernese specialties, including the Berner Lebkuchen, a spiced gingerbread that has been made in the region for centuries.
Walking through the old town, you pass several well-preserved timber-frame buildings dating from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Look for the carved inscriptions above the doorways, recording the names of the original builders and the dates of construction. These inscriptions are a common feature of Bernese Oberland houses and provide a personal connection to the families who built this community over generations.
Stop 8: The Reformed Church and Cemetery
Walk to the Reformed parish church, a short distance from the castle.
The Reformed parish church of Spiez, separate from the castle church, serves the Protestant community of the town. The building dates primarily from the seventeenth century, though it has been modified over the years. Its simple white-walled interior and prominent pulpit are characteristic of the Bernese Reformed tradition.
The churchyard offers another fine viewpoint. From here, you can see the castle, the lake, and the mountains in a single sweeping panorama. The gravestones, many bearing the names of families who have lived in Spiez for centuries, are arranged in neat rows in the well-tended grounds.
Spiez's religious history follows the broader pattern of the Bernese Oberland. The Reformation came to the region in 1528, when the Bernese authorities decreed the adoption of the new Protestant faith across their territories. The castle church, which had served the community for five centuries as a Catholic place of worship, was converted to Protestant use, and the elaborate medieval decorations were simplified in accordance with Reformed principles.
Stop 9: The Spiezberg and the Panoramic View
Walk uphill from the old town toward the Spiezberg, the gentle hill above the town.
For those with energy remaining, a short climb to the Spiezberg, the hill above the town, rewards you with one of the most comprehensive panoramic views in the region. From this elevated position, the full sweep of the bay becomes visible: the castle on its promontory, the harbour with its sailboats, the vineyards cascading down the hillside, and the great expanse of Lake Thun stretching northeast toward Thun itself.
The mountain panorama from the Spiezberg is extraordinary. The Niesen dominates the view to the south, but looking east you can see the Blüemlisalp massif, a range of snowy peaks that forms a dramatic wall along the southern shore of the lake. The paddle steamer that bears this name, the Blümlisalp, can sometimes be seen crossing the lake below, trailing a white wake across the blue-green water.
To the north, beyond Thun, the hills of the Mittelland extend toward Bern, and on exceptionally clear days the Jura Mountains are visible on the horizon. The Spiezberg is a favourite spot for photographers, particularly in autumn when the golden vineyard leaves, the blue lake, and the white mountain peaks create a colour palette of extraordinary richness.
The Spiezberg is also a fine place for a picnic. The meadows are maintained by local farmers, and you can sit in the grass with the entire panorama spread before you, a scene that captures the essence of the Bernese Oberland at its most serene.
Stop 10: Lake Thun and its Stories
Return to the lakeside for a final contemplative walk along the water's edge.
Lake Thun has been at the heart of life in the Bernese Oberland for millennia. The lake was formed at the end of the last Ice Age, roughly 10,000 years ago, when the retreating glaciers left behind a vast depression that filled with meltwater. Archaeological finds from the lake's shores suggest human habitation dating back to the Neolithic period, and Bronze Age lake dwellings have been discovered at several locations around the lake.
In the medieval period, the lake served as the principal transport route through the region. Goods, soldiers, and pilgrims all travelled by boat between Thun and the lakeside communities. The castle at Spiez, controlling one of the best natural harbours on the lake, derived much of its strategic importance from its position on this waterway.
The lake's extraordinary colour, which ranges from deep blue to vivid turquoise depending on the light, the season, and the amount of glacial meltwater, is one of its most distinctive features. The colour is most intense in early summer, when snowmelt carries fine glacial particles into the lake, creating the same luminous turquoise seen in other glacially-fed Swiss lakes like the Brienzersee and the Oeschinensee.
Lake Thun also has a literary connection. The lake and its surroundings inspired the poet Heinrich von Kleist, who lived for a time on the Aareschwemme island in the lake in 1802. Kleist described the landscape as one of the most beautiful he had ever seen, a sentiment shared by countless visitors before and since.
Closing Narration
Our walking tour of Spiez has taken you through one of the most beautiful settings in the Bernese Oberland: a medieval castle on a lake, surrounded by vineyards, with a perfect mountain pyramid on the horizon.
Spiez is a town that asks you to slow down. Sit in the harbour and watch the boats. Walk through the vineyards as the sun moves across the lake. Visit the castle church and stand in a space that has been used for worship for a thousand years. And taste the local wine, pressed from grapes that ripen in the reflected warmth of lake and sun.
This is Switzerland at its most quietly magnificent, a place where every view is a composition, every path leads to beauty, and the only rush is the gentle swirl of water against the harbour wall.
Thank you for joining this ch.tours walking tour of Spiez. We look forward to guiding you again.