Huddled above and around a small bay 11km south of Thun, SPIEZ is a gentle little resort village, dominated by its medieval waterside castle and stunning views over the lake to the high mountains all around.
The train station is in a modern shopping area high above the Old Town, or Städtli – find your way down on stairs and the descending main Seestrasse. Boats from Thun and Interlaken dock right beside the Old Town. The castle, Schloss Spiez (April–Oct Mon 2–5pm, Tues–Sun 10am–5pm; Fr.4), dating from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries but with earlier foundations, was the residence of the Stretlingen family before passing to the Bernese noble dynasties of Von Bubenberg and, from 1516 to 1875, Von Erlach. You can visit several of the grand halls within, including the Baroque Banqueting Hall of 1614. The Romanesque church adjacent, with its seventeenth-century spire, has original frescoes in the apse and the crypt. Wandering through the tiny lanes around the castle, and around the bay filled with yachts (Spiez is home to a renowned sailing school) is a good way to get a feel for the town.