Aare Gorge is located in Switzerland, in the Bernese Alps, in the Hasli Valley, which stretches from the Grimsel Pass to Lake Brientz. The gorge is located between Innertkirchen and Meiringen towns. This area rocks consist of very hard limestone formed in the Cretaceous period, 130 – 160 million years ago. Melted glacial water honed rocks for centuries, making its way. The Aaregletcher glacier waters formed seven gorges in the mountain range, the Aare River flows along with the “youngest” of them.
The gorge length is 1.4 km, its depth is 200 meters, the gorge has a width of only 1 meter in the narrowest place. The Aare water flow speed in the canyon is from 4 to 12 kilometers per hour. The canyon has become accessible to tourists since 1888. The gorge has become a popular tourist destination, tens of thousands of people visit it every year. Infrastructure was created at two entrances from the gorge different sides – Western and Eastern.
Special tram service was launched to deliver tourists from Meiringen, and evening lighting was organized in the western part of the gorge in 1912. The path through the Aare gorge takes 40 minutes, you need to go about 1 km of wooden paths and bridges installed on steel mounts that have driven into the rock, and 400 meters of tunnels.
Wheelchair access is available from the western entrance to the middle of the gorge. There are two holes cut in the rock wall – these are the bunkers entrances, equipped inside the rock and connected by a tunnel system. They were built in 1940 to house the headquarters of the 3rd Army Corps of the Swiss Army. You can hear from local residents the legend of the mystical animal Tatzelwurm – a monster with a snake body, legs, a long tail and a toothy mouth, which was allegedly seen in the gorge in 1814.
The gorge is a popular tourist attraction, many visitors attracted by the nearby Reichenbach Falls, which Sir Arthur Conan Doyle selected as the setting for Sherlock Holmes’ murder by Professor Moriarty.
Coordinates: 46°43′4″N 8°12′49″E
Nearest city – Lucerne
