Därligen on Lake Thun

If you are considering Därligen as a base for a hotel stay, specific features can help you decide: the seasonal lakeside bath, cycling routes through the village, and a village and lakeside landscape with distinctive architecture. This can help you consider whether swimming, cycling, hiking or the history of the village suits your travel plans.

Lakeside, architecture and public facilities

The Wöscherhus is located directly on Lake Thun and can be rented for events with up to 45 people. Next to the house are a public bathing lawn with a table tennis table and public toilets. Passers-by and bathers may also use the bathing lawn and toilets.

Därligen’s lakeside area includes a strip of grass between Seestrasse and Lake Thun, private gardens or meadows with shrubs and individual fruit trees, as well as a few small, old wooden boathouses. The village is characterised by low, two-storey Oberland semi-detached houses. Their broad, relatively shallow tiled roofs and carved friezes give the village a distinctive architectural profile. The Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites of National Importance classifies the significance of Därligen’s village character as regional.

Swimming in the Tracht area

The Tracht lakeside bath is open seasonally from May to September. In the Tracht area, the municipality operates and maintains a lakeside bath with a sunbathing lawn. Under the 2025 municipal regulations, the grounds are available as a bathing area for local residents and visitors from elsewhere. There is no lifeguard on duty at the Tracht bath; you use the bathing facilities at your own risk. The seasonal opening period and this condition of use are important when planning a day of swimming.

PostBus route 60 serves the Därligen Bahnhof, Därligen Dorf and Därligen Tracht stops. The Tracht lakeside bath is also served by this route. If you plan to travel by bus, you can check the route 60 timetable in advance.

Cycling routes and a hike

The 49-kilometre Lake Thun cycling loop passes through Spiez, Einigen, Thun, Hilterfingen, Oberhofen, Gunten, Merligen, Interlaken, Därligen, Leissigen and Faulensee before returning to Spiez. The Aare Route 8 from Meiringen to Spiez also passes through Därligen; along this route, the village lies between Interlaken and Faulensee. Därligen is also on the Lakes Route 9, between Faulensee and Interlaken.

The routes can be distinguished by their different itineraries: the Lake Thun Route is a 49-kilometre loop that returns to Spiez, while the Aare Route 8 connects Meiringen and Spiez. The Lakes Route 9 places Därligen between Faulensee and Interlaken. A hiking route runs from Kiental via Faltschen, Aeschiried and Meielisalp to Därligen. It takes five hours and 50 minutes and passes through forests and across alpine pastures. This gives you a choice of cycling and hiking routes with different descriptions when planning your trip.

Transport and art history

The village’s transport history dates back to the 19th century. As early as 1873, the Bödeli Railway operated its own ferry on the Scherzligen–Därligen route, which could carry four to five freight wagons. When the Bödeli Railway opened in 1874, the upper terminus of the Lake Thun steamers was moved from Neuhaus to Därligen.

Ferdinand Hodler also often stayed in Därligen to paint around the turn of the century. Among the works created there were the paintings “Storm on the Lake” and “Lake Thun with Reflection”. At the nearby church in Leissigen, you can visit excavations from earlier phases of church construction and a bell-casting pit. These historical and cultural connections add further aspects to the village, bathing and route information for your stay.

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Back to the main travel overview: Interlaken.