Where : St-Beatus Caves, Interlaken
We visited Interlaken in Spring 2017. We’re not sure what the weather’s like in Switzerland during the spring, so we were shocked to see it snowing. Our first day in Interlaken was great, but the next day was snowing and cold. With that, we took advantage of the bad weather and visited the St. Beatus Caves. This was our first cave discovery in Europe.
It was a little challenging coordinating the way to St. Beatus since that part of Interlaken is German speaking. We also fell on a very non-sympathetic bus driver that either didn’t like English speaking people, tourists or both. Anyway, once on the bus we saw other tourists and felt we were heading in the right direction. FYI, the bus is the cheapest and most comfortable travel method. Additionally, the bus stops directly in front of the cave!
At a first glance from outside, it looks majestic and impressive. There’s quite a walk to arrive at the entrance, but the views of the mountain and lake along the way are breathtaking.
We bought the tickets onsite. We saw an option to join a guided tour, which started every 30 minutes but we decided to discover on our our. * They allow use of cameras for photography and filming too! They do ask to respect other visitors and refrain from using tripods within the caves. So photographers, be sure to bring your lowest aperture lens!
On the website they say the average visit is around 75 minutes. We took 2 hours, taking lots of pictures, reading the signs and explanation about the place. We found the information very interesting, including the legend of the Irish monk Beatus that succeeded in driving away the dragon that was living in a large cave at Lake Thun. Actually, you’ll notice this at the beginning of the cave and to be aware of the remaining Dragon.
The cave’s structure is quite impressive. Some of our best memories are from the waterfalls inside, the mirror effect of bottomless caves and stalactite and stalagmite formations. The only other place we’d heard of this terminology was in Mexico’s cenotes.
The structure is great, bring your own lunch or eat at the restaurant, they have washrooms and a small museum on the way out. And most importantly, a souvenir store!
Our Ratings
Serge: 5 Eli: 5
Recommend: Interlaken is quite small so this is a nice way to spend the day.
Tips:
- The bus from Interlaken to the Beatus Caves is by far the best way, it’s really comfortable, easy and cheap. We believe we took the 21 towards Thun Bahnhof, but you can confirm at your hotel or anywhere in the city. Hopefully you’ll get a nicer driver!
- If you go by car, we recall they had limited parking spaces in front. We are not sure if there is a meter.
- Depending on the season, it can be really cold and humid inside. It looks like the same temperature during summertime, so get a warm jacket or if you prefer a scarf.
- Bring comfortable shoes for sure.
- We paid around $ 23.85cad for the entrance and they accept credit cards. Price can change over time, so just check the information on their website for the actual prices and see if you qualify for a groups, children or seniors’ discount !
