Pierre, Swiss Local Adventures
Auteur
Most farms have a sign. Daniela's doesn't need one.
If you've made it to Alp Signswiler, on foot from Büffelboden through the valley floor, past the stream and the first line of cows, you already know you're somewhere that doesn't advertise itself. That's the point.
Daniela Thierstein and her team have been working this stretch of the Justistal for years. Farmers. Dairy farmers. The kind who start before sunrise and finish when the work is done.
We take our guests to meet them. Here's what you should know before you go.
[PHOTO : Daniela devant Alp Signswiler | Daniela Thierstein at Alp Signswiler alpine farm in Justistal valley near Interlaken]
Daniela grew up in the agricultural culture of the Bernese Oberland, where farming and cheese production are inherited rhythms. She runs Alp Signswiler as her main operation: the dairy, the cheese, the animals, the land, and everything that comes with alpine farming at 1,400 metres.
The farm sits in the Justistal, a 7.5-kilometre valley above Sigriswil flanked by the Sigriswilergrat and Güggisgrat ridges. Accessible only by foot from Büffelboden or by 4x4 directly to the farm. No cable car. No tourist infrastructure. A full guide to the Justistal is coming soon on this blog.
The farm is part of a cooperative of 15 farming families whose collective herd grazes the valley each summer. Together, they bring roughly 250 cows between late May and September. The distribution of milk and cheese follows the , documented in the valley since 1739: at the end of summer, each farmer receives cheese proportional to how much milk their cows produced. No lawyers. No apps. A handshake and 300 years of precedent.
Daniela's personal production: approximately 700 wheels of cheese per season.
The morning starts with the cows. By the time our guests arrive at 9am, Daniela has already been working for hours.
The cheese process begins with the morning milk, still warm, going into the copper cauldron, the Chäschessi. Heat is applied. The curd forms. A lyre (a long-handled tool that looks like what its name suggests) cuts the curd, which is stirred and drained. The result is pressed into wooden molds where it holds its shape and slowly becomes the round, firm, golden wheels that line the cellar shelves.
By 9am, the cheese is already in the forms, past the cauldron stage and moving toward pressing. When our guests arrive, the farm is already mid-morning. The real work of the day is underway.
Daniela will show you the cellar. Rows of wheels at different stages of aging, with the smell of controlled fermentation that is nothing like anything in a supermarket. She'll tell you which ones are ready, which ones need more time, which ones she's particularly proud of this season.
She'll tell you in Swiss German. You might not catch every word. You'll understand everything.
[PHOTO : Daniela au cuivre | Daniela Thierstein making alpine cheese in copper vat at Alp Signswiler, farm tour Interlaken]
Alp Signswiler keeps dairy cows, pigs, sheep, hens, goats, turkeys, and a dog who takes his job seriously. The 250 cows graze as part of the cooperative of 15 families. The rest of the animals belong to Daniela's farm directly.
They all live here for the same reason: the alpine grass at 1,400 metres is denser in minerals and richer in the compounds that make the cheese taste the way it does. Nothing on this farm is decorative.
The animals are the last stop before the walk back. The cows get curious quickly. Some will come right up to you. We always remind guests to move slowly. The pigs and goats are less subtle about what they want. The hens have their own agenda. The dogs will have already decided what to make of you before you reach the gate.
[PHOTO : Vaches alpage Justistal | Swiss alpine cows grazing at Alp Signswiler in Justistal valley, farm tour from Interlaken]
After the dairy, Daniela's team sets the table in the Chucheli, the farmhouse gathering room, for an alpine breakfast.
Fresh cheese from this morning. Butter made from the milk of those cows. Bread baked the same morning. Coffee that makes sense at altitude.
Daniela's cheese is available to buy directly on the farm on your way out. CHF 20/kg. Cash only. Bring some.
[PHOTO : Petit-déjeuner alpin | Alpine breakfast at Alp Signswiler farm with fresh cheese butter and bread, farm tour Interlaken]
She starts around 5am. The cows are milked first. The morning milk goes straight into the copper cauldron, still warm. By the time our guests arrive, the cheese is already in the forms and pressing. Daniela doesn't pause the farm for visitors. She continues. What you see at 9am is a working morning, not a reconstruction of one.
You arrive mid-process. The cauldron stage is done, but the pressing, the cellar, and the wheels from previous days are all there. Daniela walks you through what happened that morning and shows you the result at each stage of aging. Some guests have told us this is more interesting than watching from the start. You see the continuity, not just the beginning.
The Chästeilet is the annual end-of-summer ceremony where each farming family in the Justistal receives their share of the season's cheese, calculated by how much milk their cows produced. It has followed the same rules since 1739. The ceremony takes place in September and is open to the public. Interlaken Tourismus publishes the exact date each year.
The cows graze on alpine grass at 1,400 metres, denser in minerals and richer in the compounds that give alpine cheese its character. The cheese Daniela produces has a firmer texture and more pronounced flavour than most supermarket Swiss cheese. The age matters too: a wheel from early July tastes different from one made in late August. She'll show you both.
Our Farm and Alpine Breakfast Tour departs Interlaken at 8:00am and returns by 12:30pm. Maximum 8 guests. CHF 139 per person. Tuesdays and Thursdays, late May to September.
Season: Late May to late September
Days: Tuesdays and Thursdays
Departure: 8:00am from Interlaken
Duration: 4 hours
Price: CHF 139 per person
Group size: Maximum 8
Language: English (Daniela speaks Swiss German; your guide translates)
Access: On foot from Büffelboden, 20 minutes; or directly by car in bad weather
[PHOTO : Pierre et Daniela ensemble à la ferme | Pierre Vetsch and Daniela Thierstein at Alp Signswiler farm, farm tour Interlaken]
Also read:
→ What Is Alpkäse? The Alpine Cheese That Never Leaves Switzerland
→ Seven Hundred Wheels. One Summer. What Actually Happens Inside a Swiss Alpine Dairy.
→
*Written by Pierre Vetsch, founder and head guide at Swiss Local Adventures
Source:
On-site visit and interview with Daniela Thierstein, Alp Signswiler, Justistal, 2026.
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