About two years ago, I wrote my very first blog entry about a hike going from the Rhine Falls all along the Rhine to the little town of Eglisau. My friend Thomas introduced me to that hike and back then in March 2018, we mostly followed the trail on the German side of the river. Now with our Corona restrictions still in place, I found two reasons why it was the perfect timing to repeat the hike. First (and most important), I had a direct connection with the public transport to the starting point and knew that I would be able to walk all the way back home from there. And second, as the borders were closed, I had to follow the Swiss side of the Rhine and that ensured some new viewpoints compared to the last time. Actually it wasn’t the plan to blog again about that hike, but as my style of writing in the meantime is a bit different than it used to be and as the day turned out to be good fun, I couldn’t refrain to write about it once more. :) Setting out early in the morning, I took an empty train to the Rhine Falls in Neuhausen where I intended to start my hike. The Rhine Falls belong to the major tourist attractions in Switzerland and usually were always busy when I had a look at them. Today it obviously was very different. It was a tourist attraction without a single tourist. :) Heading down to the river from the railway station, I made use of the lack of people to marvel at the Falls for about half an hour from various viewpoints that in normal times always had been overcrowded.
The castle of Laufen on the other side, boasted the best outlook, but I had to do without it today, as it naturally was closed for the time being. Starting my hike behind the castle, I soon joined the trail along the Rhine and followed it for quite a while. Not many people were up that early and I enjoyed the solitude together with the fresh air and the sounds of Mother Nature. :)
The only downside in that first part was that the sun was mostly behind the trees and it was therefore rather cold, but the longer I walked the warmer it got and my jacket vanished in my backpack soon enough. Except for one little detour, the path hugged the shore of the river and the scenery remained more or less the same until the village of Rheinau appeared in the distance. The popular monastery dominated the landscape from far away already and I wondered if it would be possible to have a closer look at it. Interestingly enough, the bridge and the gate to the area weren't closed and so I walked around the monastery for a bit.
Moving on, I kept following the Rhine that led the way in a semicircle around Rheinau. Actually I could have taken a short cut through the village, but somehow that would have felt wrong and I therefore rather took the couple kilometers long detour. :) Leaving Rheinau behind, I kept my eyes open for a lovely spot to have lunch and it didn’t take too long until I found a cozy place at the river to sit down and rest for an hour. Being surrounded by negative Corona news all the time during the rest of the week, it felt good to listen to the rushing water and the tweeting birds. I really felt at peace out there. :)
Picking up the trail again after lunch, it continued to follow the river, first on a wider concrete road, than on a narrower path in the woods. It remained a beautiful walk with some good views and only when I was approaching Ellikon am Rhein, I started to meet more people. As it was pretty warm in the meantime, many had opted for a walk in the afternoon and coming upon the area of Thurauen, I knew that it was used by many locals as a recreation area. So it was no wonder that that part was the busiest of the day, but everyone followed the rules of our government and practiced “social distancing”. Where the river Thur flowed into the river Rhine, the trail took a detour and for a while I strolled through the woods with only the occasional sight of water.
Once the detour was completed and I was back at the shore of the Rhine, I found another cozy spot to sit down for a short break. The coziness only lasted for five minutes though, as two families with four children decided to have a break there as well. :)
Walking on, it didn’t take long anymore to reach the end of the Thurauen recreation area and coming upon the turnoff towards Tössegg shortly afterwards, I recognized that location again from the last time. The part that was about to follow was the only one I had walked before and I recalled it to be a beautiful one. My memory for once didn’t let me down and I enjoyed the gorgeous walk in the woods along the shore of the Rhine to the fullest. Arriving at Tössegg, I kept my eyes open for the turnoff towards Bülach and luckily found it easy enough. The sign claimed that it would take another one and a half hour to reach home and while I thought that couldn’t be, a look on the map told me that it wasn’t entirely wrong. Having walked almost 30 kilometers already, I was getting tired and now realized that I had completely underestimated the distance. :) Well, there was nothing else to do than to keep walking and even though my feet were tired and sore, I made it home without any major difficulties. It had been another lovely day and once again I thanked our government that we’re still allowed to go outside. Let’s just hope it stays that way.
Highlight of the day: the diversity of Mother Nature
This hike is for you if:
- you enjoy walking along a riverside
- you want to include a major tourist attraction in your hike
- you're looking for a hike with the possibility to do a BBQ along the way
This hike is not for you if:
- you're looking for mountains or panoramic sights
- you mind walking long distances
- you're looking for seclusion
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