Visit the Emmental region: meadows, mountains and cheese

Dernière mise à jour de cet article le 19 December 2025

On another weekend in Switzerland, we visited the Emmental region. Why Emmental? Because we’re big fans of cheese, and we’d already visited the town of Gruyères, for which we’d fallen head over heels in love. So we wanted to find out more about how Emmental cheese is made and discover this region, which isn’t necessarily very well known in Switzerland.

So what’s there to do on a weekend in the Emmental region? We discovered some wonderful towns and villages, as well as the Emmental House and the Kambly cookie factory.

And of course, at the end of the article, you’ll find the opinion of Kiki le gourmand, who was in paradise in the Emmental region.

Introduction to the Emmental region

The Emmental region, named after the Emme river, comprises 39 municipalities and 97,000 inhabitants, and is an administrative district of the Canton of Berne. Its capital is the town of Langnau im Emmental. If you want to explore German-speaking Switzerland, this is the ideal destination!

During our weekend in the Emmental, we visited several towns and villages, which I’d like to introduce to you.

Burgdorf in the Emmental region

To start exploring the Emmental region, we stopped off in the town of Burgdorf. It lies on the banks of the River Emme. The town is surrounded by hills and forests.

Burgdorf, whose history dates back to the Middle Ages, boasts a magnificent old town with historic buildings. In fact, with its arcades, Burgdorf bears a striking resemblance to its neighbor and capital Bern.

When we visited Burgdorf on a Saturday, it was market day, with locals flocking to buy their fresh produce. It was very pleasant, and you can even taste some of the specialities.

We then drove to Burgdorf Castle, built in the ^12th century. It now houses a museum, which we didn’t visit.

The view of the Emme River and the forests around the castle is magnificent. Don’t forget to stop for the Grand Tour photo.

Langnau im Emmental

We also stopped off in Langnau im Emmental, the capital of the Emmental district. We wanted to play a treasure hunt to discover the town. Unfortunately, the game was only in German, so we quickly gave up.

What’s more, we weren’t really seduced by the town. We regretted having chosen Langnau im Emmental. We should have made a stop in Lützelflüh, which seemed more charming.

Signau in the Emmental region

We then stopped off in the beautiful village of Signau. Even though it was totally deserted, we really liked the style of the houses, typical of the Emmental region.

Then we hit the road again to visit the Emmental show dairy. The road is very pleasant, with meadows and mountains in the background. We even came across some Hornussen players, a typical Swiss sport.

Emmentaler show dairy in Affoltern

To discover the secrets of traditional Emmentaler production, a visit to the Fromagerie de démonstration Emmentaler is a must. In fact, this cheese dairy has been open since 1983. We’re finally going to find out why Emmentaler has holes, unlike Gruyère.

Emmentaler has been produced since the 12th century. Today, Emmentaler AOP is produced in over 100 village cheese dairies.

This pressed cooked cheese is made from cow’s milk. The holes in Emmental are actually linked to the bacteria that produce carbon dioxide during cheese-making.

Royal Tour

We took the 30-minute “royal road” tour to discover the Emmental production process, from milk reception to storage. We were pleasantly surprised by how interactive, fun and entertaining it was (it’s not every day you get to be inside a cow!).

We loved it! To find out more, visit the official website of the demonstration cheese dairy.

Fresh cheese workshop

We also make our own heart-shaped fromage frais. You can see how the milk is heated in copper vats. We watch as rennet is added to curdle the milk and it is stirred by hand.

It’s not just about watching it being made, it’s also about participating to understand the whole process.

It was very interesting. Fortunately, there were English translations to help me understand. In fact, don’t hesitate to ask for an English translation. Don’t forget to make a reservation before coming, by contacting the cheese dairy directly.

At the end of the workshop, you’ll leave with your own cheese. In fact, before you pick it up, you can watch the curds being poured into the molds used to make Emmental. This takes place every day at 3.10pm. However, it’s a bit long and not necessarily very interesting.

The restaurant

We ate a delicious rösti with a fried egg in the restaurant of the Emmental demonstration cheese dairy. Although it’s touristy, the prices are right and the quality excellent.

Store

Before you leave, you can buy some cheese in the store to make a raclette that evening. If you have a sensitive stomach, especially when it comes to milk, Emmental is the perfect cheese. In fact, we were skeptical about the idea of making a raclette with Emmental, but we loved it.

You can easily spend half a day in the Emmental show dairy. In any case, we really recommend it to all cheese lovers. We really had a great time.

Visit to the Kambly plant in Trubschachen

You either have a sweet tooth or you don’t…so I’m taking you on a tour of the Kambly cake factory. It’s a famous and historic brand in Switzerland.

It’s a paradise…in fact, you can taste the cookies before you buy them. A word of advice? Start with the first cookie made by Oscar Kambli in 1906, the Bretzeli. And continue with the Chocolune…a delight!

You might as well go at a time when you’re hungry. You won’t leave empty-handed, I assure you!

Don’t miss the small exhibition inside the store to understand the history of the brand. It’s very nice.

I didn’t know this brand before, but I really enjoyed discovering the family history of this brand and the cookies are really very good.

Röthenbach im Emmental

Finally, our last visit of the weekend in the Emmental was to Röthenbach im Emmental for a walk in the forest.

We climbed to the top of a tower. Unfortunately, the weather was very overcast. On a clear day, I think the view of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau mountains must be incredible.

By the way, you can find my articles on our stay in Lauterbrunnen with our excursion to the Jungfraujoch, the roof of Europe, but also to the Schilthorn, which offers an incredible view of the mountains.

Where to stay in the Emmental?

We had rented a typical Emmental house in Vechigen.

We loved the absolute calm and the surrounding nature.

The Emmental region is truly an ideal destination to recharge your batteries and get away from the constant stress of the city.

Kiki’s opinion of the Emmental region

As we all know, Kiki is not only a little gourmand, he’s also very cultured. Now, anyone who thought Emmental was a French cheese needs to be strong: no, it’s not. So it’s no surprise that Kiki was keen to see the home region of probably the world’s best-known cheese. And he wasn’t disappointed. He loved this region with its gentle hills and green meadows, reminding him a little of Appenzell country.

As if that weren’t enough, there’s yet another specialty to be had in Emmental: cookies! A visit to the Kambly factory was exactly what he had always dreamed of. He was completely captivated by the fact that you could eat as many cookies as you wanted! As you can imagine, Kiki ate, ate and ate some more. And if he hadn’t had to leave the next day, he’d probably still be eating.