Swimming in the Aare River: The Complete Guide to Switzerland’s Favorite Wild Swim

There’s a moment almost every visitor to Switzerland remembers: standing on a riverside path, watching locals of every age casually jump into a fast flowing, glacier fed river and float away like it’s the most normal thing in the world. That’s Aare swimming. It’s not a spa activity and it’s not a lazy river at a water park. It’s a genuine wild swim that runs right through the middle of several Swiss towns and cities, and once you understand how it works, it might become the highlight of your trip.

This guide covers where to swim, how it actually works, the safety rules that matter, what to pack, and when to go, with a look at the full stretch of river from Thun to Solothurn and beyond, not just the famous Bern float.

What Is “Aare Swimming,” Exactly?

Aare swimming, or Aareschwumm as locals call it, means entering the river at a marked or informal point, letting the current carry you downstream, and climbing out later at an exit point. There’s no lap swimming involved. You mostly float, steer yourself with your arms, and enjoy the ride.

The water is famously clean and strikingly turquoise green, fed by glacier melt and filtered through Lake Brienz and Lake Thun before it flows onward through Bern, Solothurn, and eventually into the Rhine. A key reason the tradition has endured is the river’s exceptional water purity, which Bern has used as a model for river swimming that cities like Berlin and Boston have since studied.

Where to Swim: The Best Spots Along the Aare

Thun: the calm starting point

At the Schwäbis river pool in Thun, experienced swimmers can enjoy a shorter, calmer stretch of the Aare, right where the river leaves Lake Thun. This is a good introduction if the idea of a longer, faster float feels intimidating. The water here is glassy clear straight out of the lake.

Bern: the classic city float

Bern is where Aare swimming became a cultural institution. Two traditional starting points anchor the tradition: the Marzilibad, dating back to 1782, and the Lorrainebad from 1892, where swimmers change into their swimsuits and walk upstream along the footpath before jumping in. On hot days, hundreds of locals walk roughly two kilometers upriver from Marzili to Camping Eichholz, passing the Dampfzentrale cultural center and beach volleyball courts along the way, before floating all the way back down. Bern’s UNESCO listed Old Town rises above the riverbanks the entire way.

Solothurn: the Baroque town swim

Solothurn is the most underrated stop on the river and deserves far more attention than it usually gets. Swimmers set off from Solothurn’s outdoor pool and let the Aare’s gentle current carry them straight through the most beautiful Baroque town in Switzerland. You can get into the water pretty much anywhere along the riverside, as long as you’re confident you can climb back out further downstream. The city leans into its water side identity, pairing the swim with some of its coolest restaurants overlooking the river and Switzerland’s longest riverboat cruise.

Here’s how the spots line up if you follow the river downstream through town:

• Kofmehl. This riverside cultural venue is the top spot locals rate first. You can jump straight in from the bridge nearby, and getting back out is easy.
• Schwimmbad Solothurn. The city’s main outdoor pool, mentioned above as the classic starting point, also works as an entry or exit point at either end of your swim.
• Aaremürli. Right in the city center, this stone wall along the river is the social heart of Solothurn’s summer, packed with people relaxing by the water between swims.
• The bar Docks. A bar right along this stretch has an easy, gentle entrance into the Aare, worth stopping at for a drink before getting back in.
• The red bridge. Further downstream, this landmark bridge is another easy jump in, easy climb out spot.
• The riverside forest. Past the red bridge, a stretch of small woodland along the Aare’s bank hides several quieter, more informal entry points if you want fewer people around.
• Fleur de Soleure. A relaxed café and bar right on the water, and a natural place to plan your exit, since it’s an easy, gently sloped spot to climb out.
• Schwimmbad Zuchwil. Further along, this outdoor pool also has direct river access.

Together these spots make it easy to design a swim of almost any length through Solothurn, from a short hop between two nearby bridges to a longer float that takes in most of the town.

Interlaken: between two lakes

Between Lake Thun and Lake Brienz, the Aare offers a shorter but equally scenic stretch, framed by views into the Bernese Oberland peaks. It’s a quieter alternative if you want the Aare experience without the city crowds.

Beyond Solothurn: Olten and Aarburg

Further downstream, towns like Olten and Aarburg also see locals swimming and floating the Aare in summer, though with fewer marked facilities than Bern or Solothurn. If you’re road tripping along the river, these are worth a stop for a quieter, more local experience.

How to Actually Do It: A Step by Step Walkthrough

1. Start at a public pool or a spot locals use to enter. Change into your swimsuit and store valuables in a locker if one is available.
2. Walk upstream from where you plan to exit, so the current brings you back to your starting point or a chosen exit.
3. Wet yourself before jumping in. River swimmers should let their body adjust to the cool water by wetting themselves first, rather than jumping straight in cold.
4. Float, don’t fight. Let the current do the work. Use your arms to steer, not to swim against it.
5. Watch for exit signage. Many exit points are easy to spot thanks to red handrails on the stairs, with clear signposts helping with orientation along the river.
6. Get out early. Downstream sections often lead to weirs and dams that are genuinely dangerous, so never wait until the last possible moment to climb out.

Safety: What You Actually Need to Know

This is the part the Swimming in the Aare is recommended only for experienced swimmers, since the current is strong and frequently underestimated by visitors.

Before you get in, run through this checklist:

• Am I a confident swimmer, sober, and in good physical shape?
• Do I know exactly where I’ll get in and out of the river?
• Have I checked the weather forecast and current water conditions?
• Do I have a flotation bag with a quick release mechanism, rather than one tied directly to my body?

Watch the flag system, used at official swimming stretches. Green means swimming is allowed with low risk, yellow signals caution due to increased current or turbid water, and red means swimming is prohibited due to very high risk.

If you get into trouble: float on your back and steer yourself sideways toward the riverbank rather than fighting the current, and call 112 or 144 immediately if you or someone else needs help.

A note on water quality: the canton of Solothurn monitors and publishes water quality readings for popular swimming spots on the Aare, the Emme, and Lake Burgäschi from May through August, which is worth checking if you’re swimming that stretch. Sections of the river near any town may also close occasionally for construction or flood protection work, so check current signage before you go.

How Dangerous Is the Aare, Really

The Aare is not a controlled swimming pool, and people do die in it every year. This is not meant to scare you off, but it’s the single most important context for anyone planning to jump in.

Between 2012 and 2024, more than 70 people drowned in the roughly 300 kilometer long Aare, making it the deadliest body of water in Switzerland in absolute terms. Across the whole country, the Swiss Lifesaving Society SLRG records an average of around 50 drowning deaths per year, most of them in lakes and rivers. Most victims are not careless daredevils. Officials repeatedly point to a recurring pattern: a young man who overestimates his own ability and doesn’t know the local exit points. Tourists and newcomers are a specific risk group, which is part of why Bern now hands out river safety information in multiple languages.

Bern carries a disproportionate share of the risk. Data broken down by canton tells a clear story: of the drownings recorded in the Aare, 35 happened in canton Bern compared with 11 in canton Solothurn and 5 in canton Aargau. Newer SLRG data specifically flags Bern as a hotspot with multiple drowning deaths concentrated there. Fatal accidents in the city tend to cluster around the same few spots, particularly the Engehalde weir and the Schwellenmätteli area, where bodies are most often recovered after accidents further upstream.

It’s worth adding an important caveat here: raw numbers aren’t the same as risk per swimmer. A spokesperson for the SLRG has pointed out that Bern’s high count doesn’t necessarily mean the water there is unusually dangerous, since the canton is large, densely populated, and home to an unusually high number of swimmable spots. Bern’s central stretch also simply carries far more swimmers than any other town on the river, at the same time as it has weirs, bridge piers, and industrial structures that a floating swimmer can be pushed into.

Solothurn’s stretch, by contrast, is straighter, has fewer hard obstacles along the main swimming route, and sees a smaller volume of swimmers overall, which lines up with its lower fatality count. That doesn’t make it risk free. It’s still open water with real current, and the same core rules apply everywhere on the river: know your exit point before you get in, never swim alone, skip it after heavy rain, and use a quick release flotation bag rather than tying one to your body.

What to Pack

• A waterproof dry bag, called a “Sackgstell” or “Wickelfisch” depending on the region, to carry clothes, phone, and valuables while you float. Wear it with a quick release strap, never tied tightly to your body.
• Water shoes for gripping slippery entry and exit points.
• A quick dry towel and swimsuit you’re happy to jump straight into.
• Sunscreen, since you’ll be exposed on the water far longer than you expect.
• Cash or card for a drink at one of the riverside bars where you finish, such as Solheure in Solothurn or the terraces around Bern’s Eichholz.

Best Time to Go

Aare swimming runs roughly June through September, when temperatures rise and locals bring out their swim trunks and bathing suits for anything from a quick lunchtime dip to a full weekend workout. Water temperature typically peaks in July and August. Outside summer, the current runs stronger and colder, and swimming becomes something for very experienced, cold water swimmers only.

Why This Is Actually Rare: Most Rivers in the World Aren’t Swimmable

It’s worth pausing on how unusual the Aare really is, because most people don’t realize how rare a swimmable river actually is. In the United States, government data shows around 51 percent of rivers and streams and 55 percent of lake acres are considered “impaired,” meaning they fall short of the standards needed for safe swimming. The causes are a mix of aging infrastructure, agricultural runoff, and sewage that either overflows during storms or, in some cases, gets dumped illegally. For centuries, most American sewage poured into the nearest river or creek with little or no treatment, and that legacy infrastructure still causes hundreds of billions of gallons of sewage overflow into US waterways every year.

The pattern repeats across much of the world. On the River Thames in the UK, studies have shown elevated levels of dangerous bacteria like E.coli, posing a real risk to swimmers who come into contact with the water. Paris is probably the most famous example: the Seine was closed to swimmers for an entire century, from 1923 until 2024, because industrial waste, sewage overflow, and urban runoff made it unsafe. Reopening it required a 1.4 billion euro cleanup and a purpose built underground tank to stop untreated sewage from entering the river during heavy rain. Chicago’s river tells a similar story: the city dumped sewage directly into it for most of its history, and it only reopened for an official public swim roughly a century later, after building a 110 mile network of tunnels to capture sewage and stormwater before it reaches the river.

This is exactly why a growing international coalition called Swimmable Cities now exists, specifically to help urban rivers reach the standard Switzerland has quietly maintained for generations. The alliance already represents 100 cities working to make their waterways clean enough to swim in, with a goal of reaching 300 by 2030.

Switzerland largely avoided this problem through decades of strict wastewater treatment investment and tight regulation on what is allowed to enter its rivers, legally or otherwise. That is precisely why locals in Thun, Bern, Solothurn, and beyond can treat “let’s go swim in the river” as a completely ordinary sentence. If you’re used to a country where jumping into your nearest river could mean a trip to urgent care afterward, the Aare is a genuine novelty, not just a nice view.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it safe to swim in the Aare river? It can be, but only for confident, experienced swimmers who know the entry and exit points, check conditions first, and use a proper flotation bag. Beginners and inexperienced swimmers are better off in one of the region’s public pools or shallow natural pools instead.

Where’s the best place to swim in the Aare? Bern is the most famous stretch, but Solothurn offers a calmer, less crowded float through an equally beautiful old town, and Thun is a gentler starting point if you’re new to river swimming.

Where do I enter and exit the Aare? In Bern, the Lorraine and Marzili swimming pools are the most popular and safest entry points, with marked exits along the way. In Solothurn, most swimmers start at the outdoor pool and exit near Solheure. Always leave the water before reaching hazards like weirs.

How cold is the Aare? It’s glacier fed, so even in peak summer it stays refreshingly cool rather than warm. Expect a brisk shock on entry that quickly gives way to a pleasant float.

Do people actually die swimming in the Aare? Yes. More than 70 people drowned in the Aare between 2012 and 2024, making it Switzerland’s deadliest body of water in absolute numbers. Most fatal accidents involve people who underestimate the current or don’t know local exit points, and Bern accounts for a much larger share of these deaths than Solothurn.

Is it safer to swim in Solothurn than in Bern? The numbers suggest yes. Cantonal drowning data shows 35 Aare deaths in canton Bern compared with 11 in canton Solothurn over a comparable period. Bern’s stretch has more swimmers overall and hazards like the Engehalde weir, while Solothurn’s route is straighter with fewer hard obstacles. Solothurn still requires normal river caution, it just doesn’t carry Bern’s specific danger points.

Why can you swim in the Aare when you can’t swim in most rivers? Switzerland invested heavily in wastewater treatment and keeps tight controls on what enters its rivers, so the Aare avoided the sewage overflows and industrial pollution that make most urban rivers unsafe. Rivers like the Seine in Paris or the Chicago River were closed to swimmers for around a century each for exactly this reason, and only reopened after major, expensive cleanup projects.

Can beginners swim in the Aare? It’s not recommended to float the open stretches. Stick to a riverside pool with river access first, and only attempt a longer float once you’re a strong, confident swimmer.

Final Thoughts

Swimming in the Aare isn’t just a photo opportunity. It’s one of the few travel experiences where you genuinely join in with how locals live, rather than watching from the sidelines, whether you’re floating past Bern’s Old Town, drifting through Baroque Solothurn, or easing into the current at Thun. Respect the water, pack a proper dry bag, know your exit point before you jump in, and you’ll understand why so many towns along this river build their entire summer around it.

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