When you think of Switzerland you usually think of Skiing in the Alps, banking, chocolate, high quality clocks and watches and cheese. The Swiss are an eclectic mix of many nationalities, religions, various languages and cultures. That is what makes this country so great. They stand firm on their traditional beliefs and are not quick to make a change for the sake of making change. One of the most beautiful regions of Switzerland is the Bernese Oberland region, which is number 3 on our list.

Bernese Oberland is located in the central region of the western section of Switzerland. The languages spoken here are a Swiss-German Dialect and the tourist areas of Bernese Oberland also speak English as well. The region is full of glistening lakes, soaring mountain peaks, grass covered rolling hills, quaint little mountain towns and enough skiing and hiking trails that would take years to explore them all.

The uniqueness of this region is the variances in the landscape. A great place to start is Lake Thun. Once at the lake you can see amazing views the the three mountain peaks named Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau. There is a great tour that will take you up through the the mountains via the cogwheel railway which takes about four hours.

The area around Lake Thun is some of the mildest temperatures in the Alps. It is a great place for taking a walk along the lakefront or enjoying any of the water sports Lake Thun has to offer, like Jet boating, kayaking, canoeing, pedal boats, sailing, wind surfing and much more. If you are looking for something a little more thrilling you can bungy jump out of a cable car over the lake underneath you or go whitewater rafting in class 3 or 4 rapids.

If you feel like being more of a spectator than a participant there is literally some kind of festival, concert or a fair every weekend. You can check out the horn-sled races, Swiss Artist Exchange, Menuhin Festival, Jazz Festival or the Summer Musical on the Lake. Check out Swiss Vistas website for a more complete list of activities in the area.

If you plan on making a trip to to Bernese Oberland or any place in Switzerland, make sure to give yourself ample time to explore the many experiences it has to offer. This is not a weekend getaway  location in my opinion. You simply can’t see everything you want to in that short period of time. VRguest has some great Vacation homes in the area you can check out here.