Photo: Wikimedia contributors · See sourceBern sits at a remarkable crossroads: the farm roads of the Emmental, the blue lakes of the Oberland, the French-speaking lake country and the great Alpine passes all begin within an hour or two of the capital.
These roadbooks use the car where it adds freedom and leave it parked where trains, boats and walking work better. The high-pass circuit is strictly seasonal and should be driven only when every official road report says open.
This is the softest introduction to driving from Bern. Burgdorf’s castle opens the Emmental, Affoltern explains the cheese behind the name and Trubschachen places the road among deep-roofed farms before the landscape rises into the UNESCO-recognized Entlebuch biosphere.
Choose an Oberland lake loop, cross the language line through Three Lakes and Gruyères, or reserve a clear summer day for the great Grimsel–Furka–Susten circuit.
Photo: Wikimedia contributors · See sourceLink Thun, Oberhofen, Interlaken, Lauterbrunnen and Brienz on a four-day loop around two great lakes.
Bern · Thun · Oberhofen Castle · Interlaken · Lauterbrunnen · Brienz · Iseltwald
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Photo: Wikimedia contributors · See sourceCross western Switzerland through Murten, Neuchâtel, Creux du Van, Fribourg, Gruyères and Broc over four days.
Bern · Murten · Neuchâtel · Creux du Van · Fribourg · Gruyères · Broc
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Photo: Wikimedia contributors · See sourceMake a two-day high-Alpine circuit through Meiringen, Grimsel, Furka, Andermatt and Susten only when every pass is officially open.
Bern · Meiringen · Grimsel Pass · Furka Pass · Andermatt · Susten Pass · Thun
Open the roadbook →“Bern is the calm center; the road reveals the landscapes gathered around it.”
Buy the motorway vignette when required, obey village limits, use marked parking and check pass, weather and charging conditions before every Alpine leg.