Oberhofen Castle

Oberhofen was begun in the thirteenth century and grew by accretion over six hundred years, which is why it reads as a cluster rather than a single building - a keep, a chapel, wings and a water tower standing out into the lake, the last being the element that makes every photograph. The interiors run from a medieval chapel with wall paintings to nineteenth-century rooms furnished by the Prussian and later American owners, including an oriental smoking room fitted out in the 1850s in the tower, complete with painted ceiling and divans, which is an unexpected thing to find in a Bernese castle. The English landscape park around it, laid out in the nineteenth century, holds mature exotic trees and runs to the water.

What you actually see

• A tower standing in the lake - the element in every photograph.
• Six centuries of accretion - keep, chapel and wings added over time.
• A Turkish smoking room - fitted into the tower in the 1850s.
• An English park to the water - nineteenth-century planting with exotic trees.

When to go

Mid-May to October for the rooms; the park is open all year. Half a day.

Honest expectations

The museum is seasonal - out of season only the park is accessible. Rooms are shown on a fixed route and can be crowded when a boat arrives. Labelling is mainly in German. The lakeside terrace restaurant is separate and busy.

Nearby

Thun and its castle are west; Spiez is across the bay.