Trans Swiss Trail 1 - 2010

Crossing Switzerland from North to South on Foot

In 2010 my wife Therese and I crossed Switzerland on foot. We walked the full trip with a total lenght of about 525 kilometers in 26 etappes and days.
We interrupted our walk two times:

• In Andermatt for about a week because of very bad weather with snow down to 1'300 Meters above sea level
• In Bellinzona for about two months because of excessive summer heat and some other circumstances

It was a great experience for both of us. Enjoy.

Route Overview

The map here shows the GPS Tracks as recorded during our trip.

The blue line shows the transportation per vessel across Lake Neuenburg, and the pink one shows the use of Bus and Train to get on the other side of Lake Lugano from Morcote to Brusino. The vessel was already out of service at the time we went there.

Impressions

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Therese sewed this superlight backpack for me (270 Grams). Total pack weight with tarp, sleeping pad, sleeping cover (quilt), clothes and water was about 7.5 kgs. Self made tarp. Worked very well, weighs 600 grams only including stakes, and covers a surface of about 3.5 x 2 meters The first day. View back to the starting point Pruntrut Somewhere in the Jura Walking along the Swiss-French border river Doubs Everywhere in the Jura you can see these foraging horses Tarp camp Walking through the meadows of Jura Steep descent into the small town of Saint Imier Strenous walk Jura meadows Val de Ruz Lake Neuchatel. To be crossed by a vessel Camp at Lake Neuchatel On top of Mont Vully. View to the lake of Murten View back to the old town of Murten This is Switzerland too. Settlement near the city of Berne Berne. - House of Parliament Berne. - Old world famous clock tower Berne. - Main road within the old town Old wooden bridge crossing the river Aare south of Berne In the Emmental you can see widely scattered old farm houses Walking path signs in the Emmental Climb one of the many grassy hills in the Emmental Hidden old farm house in the forest More farm houses in the Emmental View from the Wachthubel 1'440 meters above sea level. And yes, the footpath going down from here was a very steep one too Walking in the mist ner Soerenberg Great view near Glaubenbielen pass A place for pilgrims. Brother Klaus Eremitage in Flueli-Ranft Near Stans . One can see lake Vierwaldstaetten already One of the many waterfalls along the way Rather exposed footpath above lake Vierwaldstaetten The Ruetli Meadow. The place where Switzerland has been founded in the old days (1291) The small village of Blauen at lake Vierwaldstaetten Crossing the wild river Reuss Interstate highway, normal road and railway share the small room in this Valley And here comes a train ... Walking on top of the galleries protecting trains and roads from stone fall The famous Devil's Bridge near Andermatt Hospental. - Here the walk up to the alpine pass of St. Gotthard begins Walking up to St. Gotthard pass There's still snow up here in June On top of the pass Descending from St. Gotthard pass The famous old road on the southern side of St. Gotthard. It's name is Tremola Descending south from St. Gotthard A look further south from the High Altidute Track (Via Alta) in the Region of Tessin To go down to the riverbed to be able to cross the water was not always easy A church built high on a rock in the Leventina valley Walking near a 400 Meters drop wall made us a bit nervous It became HOT! Therese in Bellinzona, on the balcony of our hotel room And this is my silk shirt (made by Therese too) after the arrival in Bellinzonewalk with heavy tracks of use and wash every day Bellinzona Bellinzona. - One of the three castles in town A view back to Bellinzona Very steep climb up to Cima di Fuori. - 850 meters of elevation on only 3.5 kilometers of way ... Steep and rough through the woods and down to Isone
A room with a view. - Hotel Camoghé in Isone Another early morning climb Near the small mountain village of Condra Tesserete (foreground), Lugano and Lake Lugano (background) Arrival in Tesserete near Lugano Tesserete Church Tesserete baths Fruit of the autumn Chiesa San Bbernardo Lago di Lugano from Chiesa San Bernardo Lugano: Intense construction activity takes place everywhere Lugano: All hills are crowded with houses here Lugano: Walk to the lake Late arrival in Paradiso near Luganoo World famous Cinemae Paradiso Some people like to carry heavy backpacks And others prefer tiny ones Who is scared by these two frieindly dogs? Lago di Lugano southern fork Lago di Lugano eastern fork WalkingClimbint up to Monte San Salvatore Swiss alps view from the climb up to Monte San Salvatore On top of Monte San Salvatore Swiss Alps from top of San Salvatore Wonderful botanic garden San Grato Above Alpe Vicania
Expensive soup on Alpe Viscania: CHF 15.- for one plate Lago di Lugano above Morcote Morcote Famous and impressive graveyard of Morcote The end of the more than 2000 steps staircase from Alpe Vizcaino to Morcote is a very long staircase Lago di Lugano fork between Morcote and Brusino Unknown tree fruitsplant in Brusino Gigantic chestnut tree at Alpe Brusino The trail rather disappears between Alpe Brusino and Monte San Giorgio Near Monte San Giorgio Descent on an old path to Meride Traffic noise covers the whole valley near Mendrisio Back to civilisation in Mendrisio Nice old villas can be found in Mendrisio In the old town of Mendrisio Wineyards between Mendrisio and Corteglia Leavings of the early morning mist near Castel San Pietro Castel San Pietro Small footbridge over the narrow canyon of the small creek Breggia Breggia Remainders of a mill at the border of the small creek Breggia And now we are back to the shopping centres near Chiasso The directions were not always very clear ... ... but in the end we arrived at the southern border of Switzerland ... ... in Chiasso Therese enjoying the ride back home by train And Rudi too likes it to stretch his tired legs nowImage in jQuery by VisualLightBox.com v4.3.1