Tradition, nature and Alpine magic: Travelling with your dog in Brienz

Have you ever visited Brienz with your faithful four-legged friend? Then it’s high time you did! Here you can look forward to a warm atmosphere and unforgettable experiences. Livia from H-UND Tourismus tested Brienz Youth Hostel and its activities to make sure they are suitable for dogs.

Livia

13.09.2024

Despite the rather gloomy weath­er, the jour­ney to Brienz already offers us views beyond com­pare of the pic­turesque land­scape.

Relaxation from the stress of everyday life by shimmering turquoise Lake Brienz

Brienz Youth Hos­tel is locat­ed on the shores of the lake and count­less excur­sions near the accom­mo­da­tion await adven­tur­ers and explor­ers. After the three-hour jour­ney, per­fect for us, because we can hard­ly wait to check the area out.

 

Pic­turesque Lake Brienz wel­comes us in all its glo­ry. © Livia Was­er

Wildpark Brienz wildlife park

We decide to take a short excur­sion to the Brienz wildlife park before check­ing in at the youth hos­tel. It’s open all year round and admis­sion is free. Dogs on a leash are allowed and the enclo­sure and aviaries are acces­si­ble for pushchairs or wheel­chairs. Red deer, ibex and chamois as well as snow owls, gold­en owls, gold­en pheas­ants and man­darin ducks are looked after here by the club’s team of keep­ers. With a lit­tle luck and patience, you may even see up to three young mar­mots (born in ear­ly June).

Spe­cial encoun­ters at the zoo. © Livia Was­er

A warm, dog-friendly check-in

We’re back at Brienz Youth Hos­tel just in time for open­ing hours. We receive a warm wel­come and get set­tled into our room. One awe­some and impor­tant thing to high­light is the oppor­tu­ni­ty to book din­ner. Through­out our stay, we enjoy the superb cui­sine, and even the wish­es of cus­tomers with aller­gies are tak­en into account.

At Brienz Youth Hos­tel, we are warm­ly wel­comed and catered for. © Livia Was­er

Giessbach Falls combined with lunch and a boat ride

Per­fect for our planned tour (Grand­ho­tel Giess­bach com­bined tick­et), the weath­er today is much friend­lier. A leisure­ly walk along the lake (around an hour) takes us from the accom­mo­da­tion to the Grand­ho­tel Giess­bach car park.

Well sign­post­ed, the impres­sive nat­ur­al spec­ta­cle of the Giess­bach Falls starts here (approx. 10 min­utes from the car park; the cir­cu­lar trail takes around 20 min­utes). A vis­it is par­tic­u­lar­ly worth­while in spring, when the thun­der­ing mass of water plunges a total of 14 steps over rocky cliffs into the turquoise waters of Lake Brienz. Sur­round­ed by dense for­est, it offers a unique back­drop for nature lovers and pho­tog­ra­phers.

The mass­es of water rush­ing down the Giess­bach Falls are impres­sive. © Livia Was­er

If you book ear­ly, you can enjoy a 3‑course lunch at the Grand­ho­tel (includ­ed in the tick­et). The his­tor­i­cal­ly sig­nif­i­cant hotel and restau­rant is sup­port­ed by the region. Local pro­duc­ers ensure only the best for guests, as the high-qual­i­ty, region­al prod­ucts are offered as an authen­tic and unique culi­nary expe­ri­ence.

Travelling by rail and water

Our jour­ney con­tin­ues and instead of fol­low­ing the rather steep foot­path down the val­ley, we enjoy the charm­ing­ly guid­ed return trip on the Giess­bach­bahn down to the «Giess­bach» jet­ty. Opened on 21 July 1879, the Giess­bach­bahn is the old­est funic­u­lar rail­way in Switzer­land still in oper­a­tion. At the same time, it is the first cable car in Switzer­land built exclu­sive­ly for tourism.

The per­fect­ly timed BLS boat is quick to arrive and takes us back to Brienz in an approx­i­mate­ly 10-minute cross­ing. The hos­tel is a com­fort­able 20-minute walk from the jet­ty. We use this time to reflect on what we have expe­ri­enced and treat our four-legged friends to a dip in the cool water before return­ing home.

 

We take the funic­u­lar rail­way and boat back to the youth hos­tel. © Livia Was­er

Pic­turesque, tra­di­tion­al and charm­ing, nes­tled in an impres­sive Alpine land­scape – thank you and see you next time, enchant­i­ng Brienz!

Adventure on four paws

Spec­tac­u­lar views and dog-friend­ly walks also await you in Crans-Mon­tana.

Get hik­ing now
Crans-Montana_Bergumgebung_mit_Hund_01_© Livia Waser
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written by

Livia Waser

After several years of training in photography and then studying to become a professional tourism professional (HF), Livia now lives in Glarus. Her passion for discovering and experiencing new things together with her dog Kaya remains undiminished to this day. As the successful owner and author of H-und.ch® Schweiz mit Hund erleben (Experiencing Switzerland with a Dog), Livia is passionate about providing her readers with a continuous stream of interesting and up-to-date information, advice and tips. The book of the same name Die Schweiz mit Hund erleben (Experiencing Switzerland with a Dog) quickly became one of the top ten travel guides in Switzerland.