09/09/2026
🇨🇭 Switzerland by Rail — Day 2: The Day of Surprises
Today was supposed to be a rainy day. We had already decided last night that if the forecast held, we would simply head into Bern, wander through the covered shopping arcades, do a little shopping and hopefully find somewhere for raclette for dinner.
Then I woke up this morning and checked the weather. The rain was supposed to finish around noon. And suddenly I had a thought:
Why don't we just get on a train and go somewhere?
We have our Swiss Travel Passes. The trains are included. We'd be dry while travelling, we'd get to see some scenery, and it really didn't matter where we went.
Marc immediately suggested: Interlaken. Great idea!
So we grabbed sandwiches from the little Coop near our hotel and headed to the train station.
And that decision gave us our favourite day of the trip so far.
We took the train from Bern to Interlaken West, once again travelling First Class with our Swiss Travel Passes.
When we arrived in Interlaken, we noticed there was a ferry terminal right beside the train station. Since the ferry was included with our Swiss Travel Pass, we said to ourselves, why not add a boat component to our day? 
We had about half an hour before departure, so we didn't wander very far. We took a few photos, looked around, and naturally found another drinking-water fountain. 😂
This one might be my favourite yet.
It had two little beavers, and while Marc filled his bottle, the baby seemed to be staring up at its mother saying “Mommy! They're stealing our water!”🤣
Eventually we went looking for our ferry. Except we couldn't actually see a lake. We could see a canal. Where exactly was this boat supposed to be? And then we found it.
🚢 Surprise Number One
Our ferry was a paddle steamer! Not a modern sightseeing boat pretending to be old-fashioned. A beautiful, proper paddle steamer.
The Blümlisalp.
We didn't even know where it was going. We simply walked aboard. “Let’s see where this takes us!”
First Class was upstairs, with a quieter seating areas, inside and outside, providing wonderful views. We chose outside, for the fresh air and so we could take photos with no reflections through the glass. 
For roughly the first 20 minutes, we travelled along the canal leading away from Interlaken.
Then the canal opened onto Lake Thun. And everything changed.
The colour of the water shifted dramatically, the wind picked up, the landscape opened around us, and suddenly we were surrounded by mountains, villages, alpine houses and castles along the shoreline.
It was breathtaking.
But the wind was high and the air got colder, so we decided to move inside. Marc and my brother-in-law ordered fries and they didn’t want them to be ice cold within 30 seconds. 🤣
Then we'd see something. Outside with the cameras. Back inside. Something else appeared. Back outside. 😂
There was an elderly woman sitting by herself near us who had clearly noticed our enthusiasm. At one point she gently touched my arm and told me that a castle was coming up. That started a lovely little conversation. She was from Thun, and I asked whether she had always lived in Switzerland. Eventually she shared that sometimes she simply gets on the ferry and rides it. Not because she needs to go anywhere. Just because it's such a beautiful way to spend a day.
I loved that.
From then on, whenever there was a castle or something interesting approaching, she'd make sure we knew about it.
By the end of the journey I thanked her for being our unofficial tour guide. She gave us the sweetest smile and said it had been her pleasure. I think perhaps we brightened her day a little. She certainly added something special to ours. ❤️
🏰 Castles, Villages... and Another Surprise
There were so many beautiful places along the route, but Oberhofen completely stole our hearts.
Its waterfront, little church and Oberhofen Castle looked almost impossibly picturesque. One of those places where everyone simultaneously reaches for a camera.
And then my sister and I needed to find the washroom. Not usually a pivotal moment in a travel story. Today it was. 😂
We went downstairs and discovered that you could see the working steam machinery inside the ship! The huge rods were moving back and forth as the engine drove the paddle wheels.
Then through a window, we could actually watch the enormous paddle wheel churning through the water. Suddenly our means of transportation had become another attraction entirely.
Our spontaneous little ferry trip eventually lasted a little over two hours, taking us all the way across Lake Thun to the town of Thun.
🧀 The Great Raclette Search
By the time we reached Thun, it was getting into the early evening and we were hungry. We had originally planned to eat raclette today, so Marc searched for somewhere nearby.
First result? A cheese shop. Marc said he definitely searched for a raclette restaurant and Google apparently heard “This man would like to purchase cheese.”
So we tried again. We found another restaurant and stood outside studying the menu. No raclette. No fondue. We stared harder. Still no raclette.
Eventually one of the staff members came outside and asked whether she could help us.
Marc explained that we were looking for raclette or fondue. That's when we learned something.
She explained that for them, raclette and fondue are winter foods. They don't serve them at this time of year.
We had always associated both dishes with Switzerland, of course, but hadn't really considered their seasonality. Restaurants serving them year-round may be catering more specifically to visitors looking for the classic Swiss experience.
Travel teaches you something every day.
So...
No raclette. No fondue. What now?
We looked at the restaurant.
It was cozy.
It was interesting.
The menu looked good.
And all four of us said:“Let's just eat here anyway”, giving the server a chuckle. Which, considering how the rest of the day had gone, seemed entirely appropriate.
The restaurant was Steinbock Restaurant and it turned out to be an excellent decision. The food was wonderful. Marc had lamb strips with rosemary. My sister and I had handmade meatballs. My brother-in-law had Cordon Bleu.
And then there was an unexpected little treat on our plates: endive! Something we absolutely love and don't see nearly often enough at home in Canada.
We even enjoyed some Swiss wine with dinner.
Our failed raclette mission had turned into a fantastic dinner.
🏄 Wait... Are Those SURFERS?
After dinner, we decided to wander through Thun for a little while before catching the train back to Bern. We could see another beautiful wooden covered bridge in the distance, so naturally we headed toward it.
And then came perhaps the most unexpected surprise of the entire day.
There were people in wetsuits.
With surfboards.
In Switzerland.
Landlocked Switzerland!
We moved closer.
Sure enough...
They were surfing! 🤣
The covered bridge also incorporates a dam, and where the gates release the water, the current becomes incredibly powerful. It creates a standing surge strong enough that surfers can ride against it without travelling downstream. There must have been around a dozen people taking turns.
🎉 The Funny Surprise!
While we were making our way down the stairs toward the train station, we got one final little Swiss wildlife moment. A pigeon was hopping UP the stairs!
Apparently health and wellness are so ingrained in Swiss culture that even the pigeons take the stairs. 🤣
Unfortunately, none of us got our cameras out quickly enough to prove it.
🚢 One Final Surprise
We eventually made our way back to Bern, tired but extremely happy.
Then Marc started researching the beautiful paddle steamer we'd casually stepped aboard earlier in the day.
And that's when we learned one final thing.
The Blümlisalp was launched in 1906. The ship we'd spent more than two hours travelling across Lake Thun aboard is 120 years old!
It was taken out of service in 1971, later restored, and returned to service in 1992.
Suddenly the gorgeous old staircase, the polished machinery, the paddle wheels and all those old-fashioned details we'd been admiring took on an entirely different meaning.
We hadn't ridden a modern boat designed to look historic. We had spent our afternoon travelling aboard a piece of Swiss history. And we hadn't even known it when we stepped onboard.
This morning, we thought today might be one of the quieter days of our trip. It was supposed to rain. We had absolutely nothing planned.
Instead, we took a train and then a steam paddle boat ride across the lake, because we could. Our Swiss Rail Pass gave us the freedom to build our day as we went and that gave us the most beautiful and relaxing afternoon.
We crossed Lake Thun aboard a 120-year-old paddle steamer.
We saw castles and alpine villages.
Met a lovely woman who became our unofficial tour guide.
Watched the steam engine working beneath our feet.
Went looking for raclette and learned something about how Swiss people actually eat it.
Had an excellent dinner somewhere we hadn't planned to visit.
Found surfers in a landlocked country.
And witnessed what may be Switzerland's most fitness-conscious pigeon. 😂
Yesterday, wandering up an unknown path gave us one of the most beautiful views of the Alps we have ever seen. Today, getting on a train with no real destination gave us our favourite day of the trip so far. A
There may be a lesson in there somewhere.
Sometimes the best travel plan is simply:
Go.
And see what happens. ❤️🇨🇭🚆