Our First European Road Trip - Day 6

A Trip Around Lake Thunersee to Spiez

On our last full day in Switzerland we decided to make use of our free travel pass and head into the town of Interlaken (literally meaning 'between lakes' because on one side is Lake Thunersee and on the other side of town is Lake Brienzersee).

With the option of a free bus or a free boat trip, we chose the latter and headed off to the little jetty situated in the grounds of the adjoining Hotel Neuhaus.

 The boats run hourly from here and the trip into Interlaken takes about 30 minutes. Passengers using their free travel pass  into Interlaken sit downstairs while paying passengers travelling around the lake are allowed upstairs into first class. We hadn't realised this and attempted to go upstairs for the better views - we only made it to stair 5 before we were politely intercepted!

The boat takes you into Interlaken right next to the train station. From here we traveled by double-decker train to the town of Spiez, a journey around the lake of about half an hour. For most of the trip the railway line follows the lake giving wonderful views.

Nestled between hills and vineyards and dominated by a magnificent castle, Spiez is a lovely destination. Above the lake the Niederhorn Range stretches as far as the Bernese Alps and forms a beauftiful panorama.

Spiez offers an outdoor pool and lake swimming cove. You can take a cruise on Lake Thunersee from the little harbour or, as we did, just stroll along the lake promenade. There are also no shortage of hiking and biking trails for the more energetic, fishing, windsurfing and sailing are also all available.

The station in Spiez is set up on a hill outside of the old town and harbour areas so it does involve a pleasant walk down and a rather less pleasant walk back up again!

The town  is situated on the lake with a very pretty harbour surrounded by restaurants with flower-decked terraces. The very attractive, small, mediaeval castle with a thousand year old castle-church  is open to the public.

The harbour area was bustling with activity and is a great place for watching the comings and goings of little boats. The lake really does dominate this area of Switzerland and it well used by both individuals and the big lake steamers for transporting people from one town or village to another.

The weather was kind to us and we returned to Manor Farm Camping ready for our last dip in the lake before our journey the next day to Annecy in France.....

Our First European Road Trip - Day 3 & 4

Day 3 & 4 - Pottering Around Manor Farm Camping

We spent the next two days familiarising ourselves with the campsite, stocking up on some food for the week to come, swimming in the lake, reading, messing around with the inflatable canoe and generally relaxing.

The first thing to say about Switzerland is that it is expensive! We knew this and were prepared for it but it still took us by surprise just how expensive everything was. A pizza in the on-site restaurant (and it was a very nice pizza) was around £18.00! A bottle of wine that might be £5.00 at home will cost you about £10.00. Don't let that put you off visiting this beautiful country but do go prepared for it. I took quite a lot of (non-perishable) food with me and for the first few nights we ate very simply but cheaply (and it gave me an excuse to do an M&S shop before we left!)

During our stay we did treat ourselves to a meal at the Landhaus Restaurant on the campsite. The restaurant is typically Swiss in appearance but the food was predominantly Italian. We just had pizzas and they were very good. In warm weather there is a lovely terrace to sit on and look out over the lake too.

When we arrived at the campsite we were told that the weather in the previous fortnight had been glorious - very high temperatures and not a hint of rain. With a wry smile the nice man in reception told us that was all about to change! The weather we experienced for the 7 days we were there was, we were told, much more typical of this mountainous region - warm sunny mornings followed by thunderstorms during the afternoon and evening. The advice we were given was to get up early and visit the sights in the morning - this went down well with the teenagers as you might imagine!

As part of the tourist tax that you pay when you stay in Switzerland (this is incorporated into your campsite or hotel price) you receive a free travel pass for the immediate area. For us, this meant that travel by bus or boat into Interlaken, the nearest town, was completely free. Before we left home we had read that most Swiss people use public transport and leave their cars at home because the transport system is so well integrated and this was our experience too. Unlike in the UK, the bus, boat, train, cable car and funicular railway timetables are coordinated to make your journey quicker and easier. We didn't need to move the van from our pitch during our stay which was great.

Manor Farm Camping provided us with everything we wanted for our first two days in Switzerland. We all enjoyed the crazy golf (especially as we had never seen a 37 hole version before) and we spent a lot of time either swimming in the lake or paddling around in our kayak. We had decided against trying to transport our sit-on-top kayaks so we took the inflatable Sevylor kayak instead to save space and weight. The Sevylor is only intended for two people but most of the time one of us straddled the back of the kayak while the fourth person was towed behind! Needless to say, progress was slow! This was the first time we had used the inflatable although we had blown it up at home to make sure we didn't look like idiots on the site. The kayak inflates very quickly and easily with a hand pump and is really very easy to paddle.

It was a shame we had rain on most days and I was very glad that we had a selection of campervan games to play. Our favourites are Grab a Pig (a ridiculously silly game that is even funnier if the adult players have been drinking!), Bananagrams (like Scrabble but without the tedium of waiting for someone else to go) and card games (we never go anywhere without a pack of cards).

Our favourite rainy day campervan games

After two days of relaxation we felt ready to see some sights. The one I had been looking forward to most (and the main reason we had chosen Switzerland as a destination in the first place) was the climb, by mountain railway to the top of the Jungfrau mountain, via a 4 mile tunnel through the north face of the Eiger, by mountain railway...........

Our First European Road Trip - Day 2

DAY 2 - Reims, France to Interlaken, Switzerland

The sun shone for us, a hot shower and breakfast set us up nicely for another day of driving, and we were ready to drive from the fairly flat countryside of this part of France into the alpine landscape of the Bernese Oberland.

We had roughly 380 miles to do but our reward was to be a lakeside pitch in the shadow of the Eiger, the Monch and the Jungfrau mountains at Manor Farm Camping in Interlaken.

I stayed at this site as a seven-year-old (which was quite a long time ago!) so it was partly for sentimental reasons that I booked it this time. I remember thinking Switzerland was the most beautiful place I had ever seen (to be fair I didn't get out much as a seven year old) and I wanted my kids to experience it too.

We had a pretty good journey through the flat, Champagne producing areas of France, across the border into Switzerland. We had pre-purchased a Swiss vignette for 40 Swiss Francs (they don't have the Euro in Switzerland) which allowed us to drive straight through the border without stopping. The vignette is required for driving on all class 1 & 2 roads throughout Switzerland. It is valid for 1 year and has to be displayed on the windscreen of your vehicle. We were glad we had bought one in advance because all of the vehicles without one were directed into a very long queue to buy one!

We arrived at Manor Farm Camping around 4pm and were welcomed, in perfect English, by a very helpful member of the reception team who provided us with a lot of information and also 4 free passes for local public transport, by bus or boat, into Interlaken.

Manor Farm Camping is located on the shores of Lake Thunersee. One half of the campsite in on the lake side of the road that runs all around the lake. The other half of the site is located away from the lake but access can be gained to all of the facilities and the lake shore via an underpass, making it safe for children.

The beach & lake at Manor Farm Camping

The site has a very well run shop that remains open until 9pm every night. The toilet and shower facilities were superb and cleaned regularly and there is also a lovely restaurant, the Landhaus, specialising in Italian food, on-site. Their pizzas were to die for! There is also a lovely 37 hole (!) crazy golf on site.

Like a lot of continental campsites, the pitches can be a little on the small side and also fairly higgledy-piggledy. Having said that, our pitch was more than generous and we were very pleased with our choice. Booking some way in advance does mean that you have a choice of pitches. I did it all by email and was sent a map of the site and a list of available pitches. We chose one very close to the lake shore with a small inlet behind the pitch, allowing for easy launching of our inflatable canoe.

Our pitch and our own private canoe launch!

The situation on the lake is what really makes this campsite special in this area. The lake bed is gravel and the water was perfect for swimming. Many campers spent their whole holiday pottering about in or on the water. Quite a few campers had bought some very impressive looking inflatable dinghies with outboard motors with them to play with too.

So, we pitched-up, changed for swimming and went straight in to the water to cool down after our long drive.

Lake Thunersee

Cooling off after a long and very hot drive!

Later, as the sun went down, we opened a bottle of wine and sat on the lake shore before heading back to the van for supper and our first night in it on foreign soil, dreaming of adventures to come!