Hi Pikey
When I looked at Manor Farm and the other central Interlaken sites a few summers back I found them very crowded and was not too impressed. We found two very pleasant sites in the village of Brienz. This is at the far end of the Brienzersee from Interlaken. Both sites are in the Caravan Club's Caravan Europe guide. Below is a copy of a review I wrote soon after our visit.
The Bernese Oberland around Interlaken is stupendously beautiful lake and mountiain scenery. The Swiss transport system is very impressive with a wonderful range of train, cable cars, buses and boats which enable the car to be parked-up. We used our bikes a lot, too.
I would like to add a couple of alternative sites to the suggestions so far. We looked at the Lazy Rancho and another Swiss CC site, can't remember the name but Lazy Rancho seemed very crowded and the other was full when we went in July. I would highly recommend 2 sites at Brienz at the other end of the Brienzer See. The 2 sites are both right on the lakeside. There is
Camping Seegartli Tel 033 9511351
This is quite a small site with the only facilities being toilets, launderette and hookups but it in superb position right on the lakeside. We turned up without booking and stayed for nearly 2 weeks. We had a superb lakeside pitch - our van was about 2 metres from the water's edge with uninterupted views along the Brienzer See towards interlaken and the mountains. This site takes tents too.
Camping Aaregg Tel: 03395111843, Email: camping-aaregg@bluewin.ch Website: www.aaereg.ch
Aareg is the bigger of the 2 with more facilities. snack bar, shop, etc. It is is on the same minor road as Seegartli, a little further on.
Both sites feature in the Caravan Club's "Caravan Europe" (Vol 2) which I would recommend as an essential guide for caravanning on the Continent. The same volume, also, covers Italy.
Both sites are very close to the picturessque lakeside village of Brienz which is famous for woodcarving. It is quiter than Interlaken which we found rather busy at times. It has its own railway station, mountain railway and lake boat station within walking distance of the campsite.
We bought a combined rail and cable car pass and hardly used the car all the time that we were on the site. The rail pass gave us access to all the main peaks including the spectacular Jungfraujoch with its glacier and ice cavern and Schilthorn made famous in the James Bond Film "On her Majesty's Secret Secret Service". Alhtough our children were quite young we were able to walk in the mountans by using the cable cars and walking between them.
Interlaken and Meringen are within easy travelling distance and the valley floor is flat enough for cycling. We cycled to Meringen and the nearby Reichenbach falls, where Sherlock Holmes "died"!!?? and, also, visited the Sherlock Holmes Museum in the former English Church in Meringen. En route a very helpful Swiss motorist stopped and, in perfect English, directed us to a beautiful minor road for cycling - all orchards and flower-decked chalets, cos he thought the main road was too busy for our family cycle!! Meringen, also, had a wonderful selection of, free-to-use outdoor toys in a public square near the centre of the town. Our boys had a great time there.
Just writing this brings back many happy memories of a super caravan holiday in staggeringly beautiful surroundings. Switzerland is, also, a very clean and efficient country. Although the campsites were not too expensive we found that food and other things tended to be.
It was a really memorable holiday and still brings back many happy memories.
As to getting there we travelled down to Italy via Switzerland in Summer 2006. I would recommend this route which was passed on to us by other caravanners on the UK Campsite website, I'd recommend that website too.
This is an account of our journey.
We travelled overnight arriving at Dunkerque at 06.00. After stopping for a couple of hours sleep at a Aire near Lisle we then drove on down through Belgium and Luxembourg. At Luxembourg we turned south onto the E23 and drove as far as an Aire near Nancy before stopping for the night - an excellent day's drive we felt. The Autoroutes we used were all toll-free until we reached the Swiss border.
The motorway ended just south of Nancy but we continued south past Epinal and then turned west onto the N66. This single carraigeway road is a good one which goes through the heart of the Ballons des Vosges mountain range. The view are lovely and there although there are some gradients these are relatively easily laid out in long hairpins.
At the eastern side of the Vosges we spent a few days staying at the Camping Acasias site at Cernay. This is an interesting site right next to a stork reserve and with a VERY HELPFUL warden. There is only a small shop on the site but there are several supermarhe and a good range of other shops in this pleasant riverside town. The municipal swimming pool and sports centre are right next door. We were delayed here after I found a split in one of the 'van tyrewalls as we were preparing to leave. I was not happy towing over the Alps without a spare and so we were delayed whilst a replacement was obtained.
From Cernay we continued down the A35 to Basle where we crossed into Switzerland.
I have since been advised that we would have been better to have made the slight detour of crossing into Germany before entering Switzerland on the German E35, rather than the French A35 as we did, as that would have allowed us to avoid the centre of Basle which was a nightmare with lots of roadworks and diversions.
At the border we had to pay for the overpriced annual Swiss motorway vignettes for BOTH the car and caravan. When stopped at the Border point a man comes to sell them to you - 2 are needed one for the car and one for the 'van. We wished to pay by credit card so we had to park up and pay at the office. There are loos there too.
From near Basle you would be best to take the E35/A2 motorway then turn onto the A1 Mway toward Berne. Before Berne branch onto the A6 motorway which leads down to Interlaken. The campsites are actually signed on the motorway signs showing the correct turn for each one. If you are following my recommendation of Brienz I would recommend staying on the A8 Mway all the way to eastern end of the Brienzersee and then turning onto the Route 6 for Brienz. The road along the norther side of the lake from Interlaken to Brienz is quite narrow and has overhanging rock outcrops which are bit dangerous for caravans.
A general point about Swiss motorways is that although they are good quality roads they are only dual or sometimes single carraigeways with quite a lot of tunnel sections (but then I don't like Tunnels much.
Hope this all helps. Post again if you have further questions.
Best wishes
Tim
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