Sunrise cruise · Lake Thun
First Light
The lake belongs to nobody at this hour. For ninety minutes, it belongs to you.
We leave before the sun clears the ridge, while the water is still glass and the mountains are still blue. No scheduled boats, no wake, no other party anywhere on the lake. Then the peaks catch fire, one after another, and you watch it happen from the middle of the water with a coffee in your hands.
What happens
You arrive in the dark. We leave forty-five minutes before sunrise, into what photographers call the blue hour, when the whole lake turns the same deep colour as the sky and the water does not move at all.
We cross towards the north shore, where the light lands first, and cut the engine. What follows is the part nobody expects: the silence. Lake Thun carries almost no sound at this hour, and for twenty minutes or so there is nothing to do but watch the Niesen, then the Stockhorn, then the far peaks turn from grey to pink to gold.
Then coffee, something warm to eat, and a slow run home along the shore as the village wakes up. You are back before most people have had breakfast.
- The whole boat — never shared, as with every charter.
- Captain Chris, who has watched this happen several hundred times and still gets up for it.
- Hot coffee and tea in proper cups, not paper.
- Fresh gipfeli and Swiss butter, collected that morning.
- Wool blankets, which you will want in every month of the year.
- A route chosen on the morning for where the light will be best.
When the sun comes up
Sunrise moves by two and a half hours across the year, so the hour you set your alarm for depends entirely on when you come. These are the real times at Merligen, and the time we leave the harbour.
Times are for the 15th of each month and shift by a few minutes either side. Your exact departure is confirmed with your booking.
The best months are the ones you would not guess
Everyone assumes summer. But in June you are leaving at ten to five in the morning, which is a serious commitment. From September to February sunrise falls between half past seven and ten past eight, so the boat leaves at a civilised hour, the air is cold and perfectly clear, there is often mist sitting on the water, and the peaks already carry snow. You are also back by nine with the whole day still in front of you.
Price
Per boat, as always — never per person. Ninety minutes, everything above included.
CHF 1,700
1 to 4 guests, everything included
- 5 to 6 guestsCHF 2,100
- 7 to 8 guestsCHF 2,700
- 9 to 12 guestsOn request
- Add a photographer for an engagement, a proposal or a portrait in this light — arranged on request.
- Proposals at first light are the quietest and most private moment we can offer. Tell us and it is planned around you.
- Swimming is possible in high summer, when the water holds its warmth overnight. The lake at six in the morning is an experience of its own.
Set the alarm.
Tell us your date and how many of you there are. Captain Chris confirms the exact departure time for that morning, down to the minute.
Departs Merligen, about 20 minutes from Interlaken · how to find us · conditions on the lake
Booked in advance only — this one needs planning the night before. Weather and cancellation terms are in our booking policy.
Licensed Swiss commercial vessel · fully insured · established 2020
