Oberhofen Castle

Oberhofen Castle stands on the northern shore of Lake Thun, and its keep reaches so far out into the water that from the passing boats it looks like a separate structure standing in the lake. It is the second castle on this lake — the first is Spiez — so the question is rarely whether to go but which one to pick. The answer rests on two numbers that appear side by side on no operator's page: Oberhofen is fourteen minutes further and three francs dearer, and in return it has the keep in the water and the longer park season.

The Swiss Travel Pass covers the whole admission

This one is worth putting first, because it is unusual around here. The operator writes: «Gratis mit Schweizer Museumspass, Oberhofner Museumspass, Schlössercard, Raiffeisenkarte (MemberPlus), Swiss Travel Pass, ICOM» — free with those cards, not reduced. Add the bus, which the same pass already covers, and the visit can cost you nothing at all.

That is the reverse of what holds at the mountain railways of this region, where a national pass usually buys a discount and the regional cards do better. At the two Lake Thun castles the national pass is the stronger one.

Getting there: 49 minutes by bus, every half hour

49 minutes from Interlaken Ost to the castle, no change, measured on the Swiss timetable for a Wednesday in the summer schedule as the day's minimum across eight departures. No train is involved: the railway runs along the far shore, and the connection here is bus 21, which follows the northern shore every half hour. Forty-five of those minutes are on the bus to the stop «Oberhofen a. T., Dorf»; the last four are on foot, and the timetable counts that walk itself under a stop called «Oberhofen am Thunersee, Schloss».

Board at Interlaken West and you save six minutes — bus 21 starts at Interlaken Ost and calls at the West station on its way out. For comparison, Spiez Castle sits at 35 minutes in the same table, which is the one measure where Spiez is clearly ahead.

What it costs — and what is free

The castle museum costs adults CHF 15.00, reduced CHF 12.00 (disability-benefit holders, students, groups of ten or more and regional guest cards), children aged 6 to 16 CHF 6.00. There are two family tickets: CHF 20.00 for one adult with up to four children under 16, CHF 30.00 for two adults with the same number of children. All fares checked with the operator on 19 August 2026.

The castle park costs nothing. The operator's wording is «Freier Zutritt im Park» — free access to the park — while the admission block for the museum is headed «Eintrittspreise Schlossmuseum inkl. Schlossgarten», museum admission including the castle garden. So if you only want the grounds and the view across the lake, you pay nothing; the fifteen francs buy the museum inside.

Two parts, two seasons

The museum is open from 10 May to 1 November 2026, Tuesday to Sunday from 10.00 to 17.00, closed Mondays. The park runs far longer and in stages: from 30 March, until 21.00 at midsummer, until 19.00 in autumn, and finally until 13 December. All of it checked with the operator on 18 August 2026.

For deep winter the operator gives no park hours at all. That is not a statement that it is shut, but it is not a promise that it is open either — between mid-December and the end of March, plan for the view from outside and the lakeside path. The museum is certainly closed then, and for eight days longer than the one at Spiez: Spiez shuts on 31 October and reopens on 1 May, Oberhofen shuts a day later and does not reopen until 10 May.

The last boat back

The scheduled boat is the finer approach and here also the much slower one: 1 hour 47 minutes from Interlaken West against 49 minutes by bus from Interlaken Ost. The reason is the route — the boat works the southern shore first, past the St Beatus Caves, Merligen and Spiez, and only then crosses to the northern side. You pay that hour in scenery rather than in empty detours.

The last sailing back leaves at 16.03 and reaches Interlaken West at 17.49, while the museum stays open until 17.00. Anyone who wants to stay to closing should therefore go out by boat and come back by bus. Timetable data for Wednesday 12 August 2026, checked on 11 August 2026; outside the boat season the sailing does not run at all.

The Lake Thun boat services at a glance

Is it worth it for me?

Probably yes if you want a half day of culture that also works in the rain, and if you have already seen Spiez or simply like being on the water: nothing else in this overview stands so directly in the lake. With children the family ticket pays for itself from the first child aged 6 to 16: ticket A at CHF 20.00 comes in under the CHF 15.00 plus CHF 6.00 that one adult with one child pays separately, and ticket B at CHF 30.00 costs exactly what two adults pay on their own — the children come free inside it. And with a Swiss Travel Pass you pay nothing anyway.

Probably not if you have room for one castle only — then Spiez Castle is the more obvious choice, closer and cheaper. And not after 1 November: that is the museum's last day, and from mid-December the operator says nothing about the park either.

Opening hours and fares from the operator

Where it is

The castle stands in 3653 Oberhofen am Thunersee, on the northern shore between Hilterfingen and Gunten. Coordinates and ground elevation come from the federal gazetteer and height service (queried on 11 August 2026, listed there as «Historisches Areal Schloss» in Oberhofen am Thunersee); the measured point sits at 563 metres, five metres above Lake Thun, which stands at 558. The castle is run by the Stiftung Schloss Oberhofen, the Oberhofen Castle Foundation.

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