Visiting the military tunnels around Interlaken

I've never known where they are. I'm glad to see you bring this up so can understand. It is interesting to see Rick with his big gun, but I've never seen any brochures or other information on the tours. The next time I'm in Meiringen I'll ask around, but that will be after your trip. Can you let us know what you find out?

This is the only one I know of: http://www.myswitzerland.com/en-ch/the-pre-giroud-fortress-1939-1945.html

This is the facility featured in Rick's TV show:
http://tinyurl.com/zdw8w66
It's in German, so you'll have to use google translate.

It's located here:
https://goo.gl/maps/2S1c5YFr5J42

Easy walking distance from Faulensee train station.

There is a larger facility closer to Luzern:

http://tinyurl.com/jves4a9

There is the Waldbrand underground fortress in Beatenberg, near Interlaken. Looks like you need a group of 10 and only certain days during the summer.
http://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/events/event-29538577.html

ef,

Note that some of these facilities are only open on very limited hours, such as one Saturday per month.

HI,
I wanted to get back to all of you after our trip to Interlaken. Your replies were very helpful and we found 2 great tours.
The first is in Faulensee on the shores of Lake Thun. It is the location in Rick's tv show, but is much more than just a gun disguised in a barn. Max Oster ( maxoster@bluewin.ch ), gives a 2 hour tour of this extensive set of 4 artillery bunkers and tunnels. He is past active Swiss military and very knowledgeable about the Swiss preparation for WWII. His English is very good and we really enjoyed the entire experience. Our 14 year old son said it was one of his best days of our 3 week trip! The cost is CHF90 for up to 10 people. The museum is run by a Swiss non profit organization
The second is in Beatenburg, a little higher up. ( info@beatenbergtourismus.ch. ) We were set up to tour this private museum and fortification, but ended up cancelling at the last minute because we were finding it difficult to fit in all the things to do in the area and had found Max's tour to be so complete. The cost is CHF15 for adults, and CHF10 for students. The tour is in German.
Hope this is useful!

Thanks for the feedback!

Thanks, good info!

Here is a map/portal to most of the Swiss national fortress. Individual web sites are listed when you click on the icons.
http://www.forteresse-st-maurice.ch/franz/dat_f/allg_f/fch1_f.htm

Folks interested in the Swiss military and civil-defense infrastructure should seek out John McPhee's wonderful 1984 book, La Place de la Concorde Suisse. That's a subject in which I thought I had no interest, but I loved the book. McPhee is a fabulous writer who has tackled a wide variety of subjects (long-haul trucking, oranges...).

Today I was at the Interlaken TI and I asked about visiting a military bunker. Both women working there said they have never heard of such a thing. Thanks to others who have posted other options in the country, I'll get out a map and see if I can squeeze in a day or two away from the Interlaken area.

No need to leave Interlaken! Both of the options I posted on 8/24 are right in the area and reachable by bus, boat or train in about 20 minutes from either train station in Interlaken. Contact either Max Oster or Beatenburg tours via email(listed in my post) and they will get back to you right away. Have fun! We loved the area and stayed there for 9 days - still left without doing everything we wanted.