Can Someone Who Doesn't Drink Wine Enjoy the Spiez Wine Tour?

I get this question once a week.

Usually from someone booking with a partner who picked the tour. Sometimes from a solo traveller who saw the view in a photo and wants to go but doesn't drink much.

The honest answer: it depends on what you expect the tour to be.

Is the Wine Tour Only for People Who Know Wine?

The wine tour to Spiez skips the technical side: no oak-and-tannin vocabulary, no quiz, nothing to study beforehand.

Most guests come without any wine background, and that's who the tour is built for. They're people who wanted a different afternoon near Interlaken.

If you've read our guide to Best Wine Regions in Switzerland, from Lavaux to Spiez, you already know Spiez is a small, quiet corner of that map. That's the point. No one here expects you to arrive as an expert.

What Actually Happens on the Wine Tour to Spiez?

Three hours. A twenty-minute drive along the south shore of Lake Thun. A walk through vineyards that have been on the slope above Spiez since 994 AD.

Then: views of the lake and the mountains that would justify the drive with or without a single glass of wine.

Three wines with a representative from the cooperative. Simple explanations of what you're tasting, why these particular grapes grow here and nowhere else in the Bernese Oberland, and what a wine from this hillside tastes like versus what you'd find in a shop.

Local cheese. A table outside when the weather holds.

The wine is context. The place is the point. Our full breakdown of the Wine Tour Spiez experience above Lake Thun covers the route and timing in more detail if you want the bigger picture before you book.

What Does the Wine Tour Spiez Cost, and Is It Different for Non-Drinkers?

The tour is CHF 139 per person, for a 3-hour experience with a maximum of 8 guests, departing from Interlaken. The price is the same whether you drink all three wines or none of them.

That surprises some people. It shouldn't. The CHF 139 covers the transport, the guide, entry to the vineyard, the story of a cooperative that's farmed this hillside for over a thousand years, and the cheese. The wine itself is a small part of what you're paying for.

We get this question from designated drivers often, and from guests who are sober curious or pacing themselves for the rest of their trip. No one gets a discount for skipping the pour, and no one should feel they need one. The CHF 139 buys the whole afternoon, not a per-glass wine bill.

Do You Have to Spit or Pour Out the Wine?

No. There's no expectation to spit, and no formal spittoon setup like you'd find at a large-scale tasting. If you want to taste and not swallow, just say so, and pour the rest into the small buckets we bring for exactly that purpose.

This comes up most with drivers, pregnant guests, and people who don't want three glasses of wine in their system on a Tuesday afternoon. It's a normal request, not an awkward one.

Some guests taste a sip of each wine and pour out the rest. Others skip a pour entirely and just listen to the explanation. No one tracks how much ends up in your glass versus the bucket.

What If You Don't Drink at All?

If you don't drink at all, tell us when you book. We always bring still water, and no one comments on how much or how little you taste.

In practice: most people who say they don't drink wine try a sip in the vineyard anyway. Standing on a slope above Lake Thun, hearing the story of a cooperative that's been on the same land for a century, makes the wine something different from what it is in a glass at dinner.

Some of them end up buying a bottle at the end. Not everyone. That's fine.

What Makes Spiez Worth the Detour, Wine or Not?

Spiez is one of the most photogenic towns in the Bernese Oberland. The castle sits on a promontory directly above the lake bay. On a clear day, the Niesen is directly behind you and the Jungfrau appears to the south.

Most visitors to the Interlaken region see Spiez from the train window and don't stop.

We stop, walk to the vineyard, and sit at tables with a view that most people pay a cable car fee to get anywhere near.

The wine is good. The location is exceptional.

If you're someone who wants to get off the Interlaken tourist circuit without doing an extreme sport, this is one of the few options that exists. For context on the grapes themselves, the guide on the Alpine Weinkultur Spiez partnership explains why Riesling-Sylvaner and Pinot Noir are the varieties that thrive on this hillside.

Your Questions About the Wine Tour to Spiez

Can I ask for water instead of wine?

Yes. Tell us when you book, or just let us know on the day. Still water is always available. No one will comment on it.

Is there anything to eat if I don't drink?

Yes, local cheese from the Bernese Oberland is served with each wine. You can eat and skip the wine entirely.

Can children come on the wine tour?

We recommend the farm tour for families with children. The wine tour suits adults better: the vineyard walk and 3-hour format work best for guests who can sit through a tasting.

What if the weather is bad?

We run the tour in most conditions. Tasting tables move under cover when it rains, the view remains. We cancel only in thunderstorm or severe weather, and you'll get a WhatsApp message the morning of the tour.

Do you have to spit or pour out the wine if you don't want to finish it?

Yes, that's normal. We bring small buckets for anyone who wants to taste without drinking a full glass. Drivers and guests who are pacing themselves use them regularly. No one will ask why.

Is the price lower if I don't drink any wine?

No. The CHF 139 price covers the vineyard access, the guide, the transport, and the cheese, not just the wine. Designated drivers and non-drinkers pay the same as everyone else, because they're getting the same afternoon.

If the drive along Lake Thun and an afternoon at a vineyard above Spiez sounds like your kind of detour, whether or not you finish a single glass, book your spot on the Wine Tour to Spiez. Departures from Interlaken, cheese included, maximum 8 guests.

*Written by Olivia Lufman, your travel writer at Swiss Local Adventures

Source: 

on-site visit to the Spiez vineyards with the Rebbau Spiez cooperative, 2026.