Switzerland – Lake Thun and ST. Beatus Caves (vanlife)

On the road again!

A few weeks ago, when the weather was getting warmer and spring was just around the corner we spontaneously decided to spend the weekend going somewhere in Switzerland with our beloved Bumblebee. The plan was to go somewhere not too far from us and to spend at least one night in the van.

But where to go?

Even though Switzerland is not that big, there are almost endless possibilites when it comes to weekend trips. So when we were looking for a place to visit we couldn’t really decide at first. By the lake, in the mountains etc.? We wanted to find a place to visit and from then on see where we could sleep and maybe explore some other places. Eventually, we came across St. Beatus caves and decided to go there.

Why St. Beatus caves?

Firstly, it seemed to be a place not eeeveryone knows about. Also, the location high above lake Thun looked pretty epic. Plus you don’t really go to caves very often so having a bit of an adventurous feel seemed quite cool to us. Ah and did we mention it looked a bit like a scenery from Lord of the Rings?

What to know when you visit St. Beatus caves:

What it is?

It is said that there once lived a dragon there who was chased by a monk, holy Beatus. Who knows, maybe you find him 😉
The caves are accessible on a length of 1 kilometre but there are at least 14 kilometres more that are studied. There’s a walkway with waterways from time to time and a little cascade in the end so it’s quite fascinating.

How to get there?

You can either drive there by car and park in one of two paid parkings (one is a bit further) or you can get there by bus from Interlaken or Thun. To access the caves you have to walk up through a walkway which takes around 10 minutes. If you want the full program, you can also go there by ship (20-25 min walking), by bike or walking on the pilgrim way by the lake.

What are the conditions?

The price for an adult is 18 CHF. Unfortunately, dogs need to pay 10 CHF as well as there were some incidents with dog poop… You can walk through the caves on your own if you want. It took us around one hour to go the whole way but we stopped along to take pictures and admire 😉 There are also guided tours every 45 minutes that you can join if you want to get additional infos.

When to visit?

The caves are open from 16th of March till 10th of November. They open in the morning at 9.30 am and close at 5 pm. The best time to visit is in the morning as there are not so many people yet and you have more space on the walkway.

Other useful information?

The temperatures in the caves are 8-10 degrees celcisus all year long so it’s recommended to have a small jacket or so to not be cold. There’s also a museum a bit further down that you can access for free with the ticket and a restaurant up by the entrance of the caves.
We visited the caves in the morning after spending our first night back in the van just 15 minutes away right by Lake Thun (as you can see on the first picture). After that, we parked in another spot by the lake. That’s when we had the idea of spending another night in the van (the initial plan was to return that day). As we were off of school/work a bit longer and we couldn’t yet return to reality, we looked for a place close to our home to free park. Personally, we like to use the free app park4night (no advertisement lol). Eventually, we found another spot by Lake Lucerne around 20 minutes from home where we spent our second night before our mini holiday ended.
Thank you so much for reading until now and following our little stories! We truly appreciate it and if you’re interested feel free to subscribe 🙂
Peace and love,
Leonie, João and Maria