Lake Brienz
Fly here
Turquoise glacial water between Interlaken and the Brienzer Rothorn.
From the basket
East of Interlaken, Lake Brienz fills a narrow, deep valley between steep slopes. From the balloon its water has a turquoise-green tint, almost milky, because of the fine particles carried down by the glacial torrents. About fifteen kilometres separate Brienz, at its eastern tip, from Bönigen, at the other.
On its course, the Aare has not yet met any other lake before this one. It enters in the east, then leaves at Interlaken to reach Lake Thun. The two Lütschine rivers, one born in Grindelwald and the other in Lauterbrunnen, flow into it as well. Its banks are so steep that it has almost no shallow edges: no Bernese lake goes deeper.
Along the southern bank, the Giessbach Falls tumble down through the forest in several cascades. A little further on, Iseltwald village juts out into the water, with a tiny islet close to the shore. For centuries, and into the 1800s, people brought cattle to the pastures, and stone from the quarries, by boat here.
Fly along the length of the lake, then let the wind take you towards the Brienzer Rothorn, which towers over it to the north.
Sources: Wikipedia, “Lac de Brienz” (in French).
All around
- Interlaken, 2 km to the south-west
- Brienzer Rothorn, 2350 m, 4 km to the north-east
- Wetterhorn, 3692 m, 13 km to the south-east
- Eiger, 3967 m, 14 km to the south
- Mönch, 4107 m, 16 km to the south
- Jungfrau, 4158 m, 17 km to the south