Gorge of the River Aare, Canton Bern, Switzerland

Ulrich Koepf

6 years ago

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125 Years of the Aare Gorge (watch the video)

Once the town council received permission from the Canton of Bern to build a walkway and path through the Aare Gorge in 1887, Johann von Bergen, an ex-council chairman, was given the task of founding a company. 12 local “personalities” joined together to finance and carry out the construction of the access route, which proved to be quite a hazardous venture. The gorge was opened in 1888 and 12’000 visitors went through the gorge in that year.

In recognition of the 125th jubilee, the Aareschlucht AG and restaurant team are organized several events in 2013.

The Haslital,

one of the large valleys in the central Alps stretches from the Grimsel Pass to the Lake of Brienz. The flat valley floor of the lower Haslital is separated from the upper valley by a transverse rock formation. Over thousands of years, the Aare River eroded a path through this rock formation resulting in a gorge that is 1’400 meters long and up to 200 meters deep.

This gorge has been accessible for over 100 years by a system of safe paths and tunnels. The walk through the gorge is a very special way to experience nature.
Please read below about the best way of exploring the gorge, its origins and history, and what’s been said and written about it. (read about the Aare river here)

Directions

The Path through the Aare Gorge is an easy walk and is mostly between 1 – 2 meters wide. The path is constructed of 1 km of wooden paths built on steel girders which are anchored in the cliff walls, 400 m of tunnels or galleries, and 250 m of gravel or asphalt paths.
The most beautiful parts of the gorge are accessible by wheelchair from the west entrance until the middle.
Hiking through the Aare Gorge from either the west or east entrances takes approx. 40 minutes. The return journey can be made via a hiking trail over the „Lammi“ pass and takes around one hour.

The Meiringen Innertkirchen Bahn

offers the possibility to make one part of the round trip by train. The walk from Aareschlucht West train stop takes approx. 10 minutes, from Aareschlucht East approx. 5 minutes (not suitable for wheelchairs). Click on the following links for info about the Meiringen-Innertkirchen train and the train timetable.

CH-3860 Meiringen, Haslital, Berner Oberland
Phone +41 33 971 40 48
info@aareschlucht.ch