Hike to the Bantiger Tower near Bern: The Third Tallest TV and Radio Tower in Switzerland

Wednesday March 16, 2022 -- Well, it looks like our objective to visit observation towers this spring is turning out to be more of a "sorry, no view available" type of look-out tower theme!

Plus this trip was a real bust, made more disappointing by the very deceptive weather forecast of pure sunshine and mild temperatures all over the country! What better plan than to visit one of Switzerland's tallest TV towers: the Bantiger Tower near Bern, whose look-out platform at 42 meters claims to provide one of the most beautiful 360-degree views!

We chose to do a themed route we had found described on the Internet, which would also take us past some interesting local natural sandstone "monuments", and the "cliff-dwellings" from the 16th Century, built into the sandstone cliffs where the Aar glacier had carved out parts of the mountain (there are still people living here...). But we had a hard time finding the described sandstone formations, as the maps were confusing and the monuments not marked anywhere.

So all in all, not one of our more successful or satisfying hikes, other than to say that we got fresh air and practice for our longed-for high alpine hikes which cannot come soon enough. But the tower was definitely impressive, and we might return another day, when the sky is more certain to be clear! Also, this being in the Emmental region of Canton Bern means that there were plenty of very pretty houses to admire. 

NOTE: As is turned out, the sun didn't shine anywhere in the country this day. On the day before, the skies across the entire country turned yellow from Sahara dust carried this far North due to excessive wind storms in Africa, and maybe this was the after-effect???

Coming from Bern, we had to change to a bus here in the town of Bollingen, which is at the foot of the Bantiger mountain where the renowed TV tower is located

Our hike started here in the village of Krauchtal

Before starting our hike, we had a coffee break here at the church in Krauchtal. (Built in 1794)

These interesting sandstone formations next to the church in Krauchtal looked really inviting, but our plan was to head South, i.e. the other direction!

In Canton Bern there are many of these wooden buildings originally used to store grain below, with living quarters for older family members above (once their children had taken over running the farms)

Heading South to the "cliff dwellings" (in the red circle) we pass beneath the Thorberg Castle, which now forms part of a prison

On the left is the village of Krauchtal where we started from, and above on the hill is the Thorberg Prison

Coming from this direction, we got a good look at the houses built into the sandstone cliffs

Climbing up the hill, we get a good look back at Krauchtal and the Thorberg prison. The valley here is called the Lindetal.

A lovely combination of new spring flowers!

The first cliff dwellings were apparently built here in the 16th century. These houses are still inhabited. Near here was supposed to be the first of two impressive rock formations, but we didn't find it.

This kitty seems to have its very own building!

Heading on to the predominantly wooded trail all the way to the Bantiger tower, about an hour from here. 

The impressive Swisscom TV tower with a viewing platform at about 40 meters. The tower itself is almost 200m tall, one of the tallest in Switzerland. 

There are 154 steps to the viewing platform at 42 meters. No elevator!

We still had a view, though not a great one. This view is to the North toward the Jura mountains.

And to the South you can just barely make out the line of the Bernese Alps. 

A view over the Emmental region of Canton Bern

Heading down and away from the tower on our way to Geristein, where we need to find the natural stone "monument" called the Elephant

According to our map, the second stone monument was supposed to be here near the ruins of the Geristein fortress

Heading up to the ruins of the Geristein fortress. 

No stone monument, just the remains of a fortress tower. This tower was apparently built in the second half of the 12th Century. At the end of the 13th Century it was destroyed by the Bernese peasants, and pieces of it removed for other building projects. 

After another search in the Internet, we finally found a description on how to find the elephant. Do you see it?

It really does look like an elephant. We didn't actually go right up to it, as we needed to catch the bus nearby, or wait an hour for the next one. The weather wasn't pleasant enough to hang around and wait...

This was a 3.5-hour hike with a decent amount of uphill! It wasn't one of our favourites. Obviously, a stunning view on a clear day and finding the monuments would have made it more memorable.