Walking: inspiration for walks throughout Switzerland

Beautiful places to go for a walk or ideas for making your daily evening walk a little more varied – we’ve got some tips for you. The walks are relatively flat, easy and straightforward to access. They can also easily be incorporated into your daily routine – as a break when working from home, to maintain your basic fitness or even as an outing.

Around the lake

You want to go for a walk, but not a stroll? And you need a goal, too? Then a circuit around a lake is just right for you. Many lakes have a continuous waterfront path, which is ideal for a walk. Some are only a few kilometres long, while others have several stages, most of which can be easily reached by public transport. This allows you to complete the circuit with walks on different days.

• Lake Zurich: On the signposts, trail number 84 indicates the circular route around Lake Zurich. It’s a total of 120 kilometres in 10 stages.

• Lake Ritom: In the middle of the mountains, but only a few metres above sea level – that’s what Lake Ritom in the Ticino municipality of Quinto offers. This mountain walk is only possible in late spring or early summer, when the snow has melted. You can get there by cable car.

• Lake Hallwil: The entire circuit is a stately walk, over 20 kilometres and about five hours long. The trail is accessible year-round, and along the way there are swimming spots – ice bathing in winter, cooling off in summer – and sights such as Hallwyl Castle or a stilt house.

• Schwarzsee: A varied walk through the hilly Sense district. There are plenty of rest areas on the four kilometres around the lake – for a picnic or simply to savour the moment.

• Lake Murten: Murten itself, with its pretty old town featuring massive city walls, is well worth a walk. The 30-kilometre circular trail around the lake is a challenging walk. You can also shorten the route from Praz, Môtier or Vallamand and take the boat back to Murten.

Playful walks

It’s hardly imaginable for walking fans, but some people find going on a walk boring. So, add playfulness to freshen up your walk. It’s works just as well for adults as children.

• Nature bingo: Make a list of things you want to discover along the way, such as certain flowers, birds, trees – even smaller things like bugs, snails or a letterbox labelled with a name with a specific initial letter.

• Colour walk: Choose one or more colours and search for as many items as possible of that colour while on your walk. Maybe you’ll want to count them or take a picture – however you like.

• Story trail: Taking turns, each person tells one sentence of a story, creating a story on an ongoing basis. It’s best to include what you see on the walk.

• Sensory walk: This works well for solo walks. Pay particular attention to everything you hear and smell – pause for a moment to take it in. You can also be mindful on your walk by focusing for a few minutes on all shades of green, then all shades of brown, and so on.

• Letter walk: Find something for every letter of the alphabet along the way.

Walking to high ground

For a good – or at least different – view, a walk to a higher point is often enough – and that doesn’t have to be the next mountain.

• Highest point: Look at a map to find the highest point within walking distance. A hill, or even just a small elevation, often offers a different view of the surroundings.

• Tower: Is there a church tower, lookout tower or historical tower you can walk to? The stairs might make the walk more strenuous, but it’s definitely worth it for the view.

• Everesting: Want to go for a walk on Mount Everest? That’s also possible in Switzerland – more or less. Find out how to do it here.

Record-breaking walks

There are plenty of beautiful walks out there – but not all of them can boast a record. Below, you’ll find selected walks that have something special to offer.

• Above the ground: A walk with a view of the forest canopy is a special experience. The longest treetop trail in the world is located in Laax. The Senda dil Dragun offers 1.56 kilometres of footbridges in the treetops. You can find another treetop trail in Toggenburg.

• Switzerland’s tallest wooden tower: 234 steps lead to several viewing platforms with picnic tables, then to the top of the tower 'Chutzenturm' at 859 metres above sea level. Up top, you can enjoy panoramic views of the Jura, Lake Biel, Lake Murten and Lake Neuchâtel, the mountains of the Bernese Oberland such as the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau, and, on a clear day, Mont Blanc.

• Lowest point in Switzerland: Looking for a nice place for a stroll? The Locarno and Brissago region is one of the warmest in Switzerland. This makes it ideal for enjoying some warmth either in spring or autumn, for example on a walk to the Sacro Monte. And if you’re already in the region, take the bus to the Brissago, Co’ di Campo stop. From there, walk towards Italy to the bridge before the border. Below, you’ll see the lowest point in Switzerland, where the Valmara flows into Lake Maggiore.