Travelnut

I hate to be a whiney-puss, but this place is spread over 66 hectares, and I'm wondering if there are any motorized conveyances to take one around at least part of the way. That is twice as much ground to cover as the Netherlands Openluchtmuseum! I'm quite partial to the little 'trains' that some places have. I see on the website that one can pay many Sw.francs to ride a horse-drawn carriage, possibly 12chf per person.

I plan rather active trips (hoping to do the Schilthorn Schlep the prior day), so not sure I want to walk the entire thing (course, I could just do <i>part</i> of it, right).

How was the park for you?

Suspaul

Hi Travelnut:

We were there 2 years ago and I don't recall any type of transportation within the park/museum. It is spread out over a large area and easy to walk and enjoy. Below is the website, maybe you've already looked at it, I didn't take the time to check it out further but hope it offers you the information you're looking for.
http://www.ballenberg.ch/en/Welcome

Enjoy your trip,
Susan

jrjcolllins

We loved the Ballenburg Open-Air Museum. In fact, it was the best open air museum we had ever seen. We went there in June, 2007, as part of a tour group. It was pouring rain that day, so the majority of the participants chose to stay in the bus. They really missed a lot. Because the bus was waiting for us, we could only be there for an hour and a half. I remember remarking that we really would like to come back and see the rest some day. But even in that amount of time, it was so enjoyable. There were lots of old mountain and valley homes, barns, storage houses, mills, etc. brought there from all over Switzerland. One of the buildings we visited was the cow barn. The cows were outside the barn grazing when the cow-keepers (for lack of a better name) decided to bring the cows inside, not realizing we were inside. So here came the cows! It gave us a good laugh. We were, however, able to find an alternate route to leave.
We didn't see any motorized vehicles to take people around and we didn't see any horse-drawn carriages, either. I would think that if you allowed yourself three hours to see it, it would be enough of the highlights.

bob_brown

I am with JRJCollins, except for cow experience. Instead we witnessed duck quack attack close to the pond. A man fed one duck and suddenly every duck in the area started invading with loud quacking. How the word spread so fast is beyond my knowledge of ducks.

I have been there twice ad enjoyed both times. It is not place to visit on day when heavy rain is falling, however. You can get there easily by train and bus from Interlaken Ost.

However, if you object to walking, go someplace else.

Travelnut

I'm thinking about my hard-working daughter-in-law more than myself, lol..
I think we might take the train to Breinz, then the bus to Ballenberg, knock around there until we quit, return to Breinz and take the boat cruise back to Interlaken as a nice way to rest from our exercise.

Hey I was wondering, though - is one direction of the lake cruise any better than the other direction? (different / better sights, views, etc)...

ronkala

We also were there two years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. Suggestion, take the bus to the top of the park, the second stop, so that you will mostly be walking down hill.

indiancouple

We took the lake cruise from Interlaken Ost to Breinz, then shifted to the bus to Ballenberg. Sorry to put in a dissenting note compared to previous posters, but we were rather underwhelmed at the Ballenberg Museum, and got a bit bored. The place is very nicely laid out and everything, but we thought it would be of more interest to children than adults. But that is just our point of view. I know that many others have thoroughly enjoyed the place. But do not try to cover the entire place, as you would be dead by the time you emerge ! It is a huge place, so select a part of it, and cover that.

We wish we had instead taken the cruise on Lake Thun, which we were told was prettier, and spent more time in Thun, which seemed to be such an interesting little place.

GaryCA

I agree that this is an excellent open air museum and I also don't remember any means of transport within the park. I was staying in Brienz, took a bus to the park, and then spent about five or six hours there. I was determined to see the whole thing, but many people probably would be satisfied &quot;just getting an idea.&quot; I covered the whole thing on foot and it did not wipe me out as I took my time and the distances between places did not seem great at all.

PalenQ

If you have a Swiss Railpass and are using 100% covered travel days then it gets you in free to some 400 museums, including Ballenberg - about $20 value i would think.

Plus the pass would cover boats on Lake Brienz - for the classic tour - boat from Interlaken-Ost station to Brienz then hop the postal bus to Ballenberg - and back to Brienz to take a train back to Interlaken_ost.

Travelnut

PalQ - got my analysis done on the passes, tickets, 1/2 fare card, etc. Waiting to decide a little further out (trip is in Sept).

ronkala - - it's the same bus? it stops at the East entrance first, then goes on to the West entrance?

ronkala

It should be the same bus, but we got off at the first stop to see the visitors center. The second (top) stop has a gift shop and a small chocolate maker.

We brought wine, cheese, meat and crackers along, as we did most days, and had lunch sitting on a bench along the trail.