Niederhorn

looking toward Thun and Lake Thun

Summary: 1:50hr drive from Zurich, 24sfr return fare with halbtax, no trail just lookpoint area, partially stroller friendly, child-friendly restaurant, playground

Niederhorn is a big mountain southeast of Thun and Bern, overlooking Interlaken, the Thunersee, and the Bernese Alps. It's not much for hiking, no family-friendly trails at the top. But it's great for taking in the view and having a nice lunch.


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It's about a 2hr drive from Zurich. We drove to Beatenbucht (no town, just a parking lot and ferry dock), just a few minutes northwest of Interlaken. Then we caught the cogwheel train to Beatenberg (nothing going on here, no town, only vacation homes) and then the cable car to the top, Niederhorn. The whole ride gives a fantastic view of the Bernese Alps, including the Eiger and Jungfrau, as well as the Thunersee. The cogwheel train has a glass ceiling as shown below:


From the top of the gondola, there's a short 5min walk (stroller friendly) to the 360 lookout point, where you can see 360 degress from the Interlaken, the Bernese Alps, Niesen, Thunersee, Thun, and this lovely valley shown below.


Here's what the trail looks like at the end of June:


We went once in the first week of May and there was still lots of snow on the top. No worries as they had shoveled a path through the snow up to the lookout point:


The restaurant has yummier food than most. I really loved my asparagus salad shown below. They have high chairs and are very friendly to children.


There's a small playground next to the restaurant with this fun dragon slide:


Of course, there's a zip line which the whole family, even Grandpa, can try.


They even had this strange slanting soccer field at the top. My husband and son almost lost their ball down the mountain a few times.


Here's the view from the playground:


To extend your adventure, you could take a ferry boat from Thun to Beatenbucht (and back) instead of driving. Also, nearby is a dragon adventure trail and some caves to explore. I'll post about these when I get around to doing them.