Hiking in Switzerland – Gabrielle and Urs

(This blog post FINALLY finished on July 19th, 2026)

Thursday February 26, 2026 -- As there were several beautiful days forecast for this week, and as Urs had used his day off on Wednesday to meet up with a friend, he also took this Thursday off to do a hike together with me.

We had lots of options, but chose to do another stretch of the National Trail no.4: "Via Jakobi", but this time in Canton Bern, starting in Schwarzenburg near the Sense River, which we can reach in just 2½ hours of travel time, and for this reason have already started and ended several very nice hikes there. (Most recently in March 2025). The day was perfect for what ended up being a 15-km walk, with lots of variety including a stretch along the Sense River in a rather shady valley and along an old Roman road. Our goal was the town of Tafers, which we reached after almost four hours of walking, and along the way we crossed the Sense River which forms the Canton Border from Bern to Fribourg. Along the way we also got some very nice views of the Eiger-Mönch-Jungfrau trio of mountains. Only the final 2 kilometers before the end of our hike in the town of Tafers was a bit tedious.

Since this trail is part of the pilgrim trail of the popular Camino de Santiago, we passed many churches and chapels of course, and took lots of time to inspect these. As usual, I have very many photos!

After traveling about 2½ hours from home, we got to Schwarzenburg at 10:45. We have started two other previous hikes from here.

Just after leaving the outskirts of the city of Schwarzenburg, we already see our first major goal up ahead, the town of Heitenreid, which features both a large church and a mini castle. On other hikes we did previously starting in Schwarzenburg, we had spotted this town to the west, and were determined to visit it at some time.

Close-up view of the town of Heitenried which we had also seen from the last time we did a hike starting in Schwarzenburg, which was just about a year ago in March of 2025.

A look behind us as we leave the outskirts of the town of Schwarzenburg. Those are the Gantrisch mountains, part of the Bernese Alps.

This was a very long hike for us, although generally quite interesting, with a crossing of the Canton Border at the Sodbach bridge. We started at 10:45 in Schwarzenburg, and caught the bus in Tafers at 16:05 for the 2½-hour trip home. The hardest part of walk was the final two kilometers into Tafers, which we had to do along the main road.

One of the first interesting places we got to was this historical inn with a sign reading that this is part of the Via Jacobi trail, and that Santiago de Compostela is another 1700 km from here!

Up ahead, our trail continues down along the road on the left.

Here we are headed down to the Sense River through the Torenoele Gully along a road known locally as the Roman Road. This road is mentioned in documents of 1385. In fact, the stretch of the Via Jakobi trail we are currently walking was also once an important Roman Route.

We had to walk a long stretch along the Sense River in the shadow of the mountain. This river forms the border of Cantons Bern and Fribourg.

This is called the Sodbach Bridge across the Sense River. For some reason it was not possible to cross on this bridge, so we had to cross along the main vehicle road. The 43-meter long bridge was built in 1867. This stretch was formerly considered an important trade route between the cantons of Bern and Fribourg.

Crossing the Sense River, which forms the border of Cantons Bern and Fribourg.

A sign welcomes us into Canton Fribourg, i.e. Freiburgerland.

This mop of a sheep was walking around a property (no fences) and we enjoyed seeing it. It looks like a Valais Black-nosed sheep but isn't purebred, as the black spots on the knees are missing!

More of the old Roman Road all paved in cobblestones.

At 12:15, just before reaching the town of Heidenreid, we found a perfect bench for our picnic lunch break. This was right next to a little shrine offering pamphlets listing accommodations for people walking the pilgrim trail. There was also a map showing other chapels to visit on a detour trail from here, which we did not follow.

The map shows an alternate route which we could have followed to see some other pretty chapels. Another year maybe!

A look behind us again and we can see the trio of Eiger-Mönch-Jungfrau looming large in the east.

So now we have reached the parish church of St.Michael in Heitenreid. This is a neo-gothic building from 1905.

Interior of the neo-Gothic parish church of St.Michael.

Entrance side of the church with the organ.

Other details from the inside of the Heitenried church.

A very pretty view of the entrance side of the church.

View of the Eiger-Mönch-Jungfrau trio from the site of the church, plus Mt. Schrekhorn on the far left.

Far to the west we can see the Jura Range, with the observation tower at the Chasseral, which is the highest point in the Bernese Jura.

Continuing on now along the St.James Trail, with the town of Heitenreid in the background.

Closer look at the town of Heitenried.

The first forest flowers!

Another great view of the Eiger and Mönch mountains to the southeast!

Not sure if this horse can actually see us!

We took a detour to a little roadside chapel outside of the farm called Winterlingen.

The Winterlingen Chapel of St.Appolonia.

Wow! From up higher these peaks are fabulous!

Next goal is St.Antoni, 35 minutes on from here. We are following National Trail no.4: Via Jakobi, also known as the St.James Trail, or the Swiss section of the popular Santiago de Compostela pilgrim trail.

Up ahead is the next village: St.Antoni.

There are two churches in St.Antoni. This first one we came to is the Evangelical Church.

As is pretty common in the Evangelical churches, the interior is made with a lot of wood and is pretty simple as decorations go. An inscription on the front of the church states that the foundation stone was laid on the 5th of June, 1865.

A look back at the St.Antoni Church as we continue along the trail.

There are some interesting old buildings to admire here as well.

Following National Trail no.4: "Via Jakobi", or the "St.James Trail". From here we have another hour to go to Tafers, where we are ending our hike. We have already come 2½ hours from Schwarzenburg.

As we now head toward the Catholic church in St.Antoni, we pass a house with lot of "junk" standing out front. They claim to be a "second-hand" shop!

Then we arrived at the town's catholic church, i.e. the parish church, a building that was erected here in 1894 at the site of an older chapel called St.Antonius, originally built in the 15th Century.

Interior of the parish church at St.Antoni. You can see that it looks quite modern.

More details inside the Catholic church in St.Antoni. A weird mix of styles.

Front entrance of the church where we left to continue on our walk.

At the site of the Catholic church, we get a view down the valley where we are continuing our hike from here, along the small canal which is marked by the row of trees below.

Heading down to the valley bottom now, with a view back to the parish church in St.Antoni.

How cute, a whole row of faces watching us walk by!

Down below now along the main road is yet another chapel! We have to have a look inside as well. This little chapel called St. Sebastian’s was built in 1750 as an act of thanksgiving for deliverance from the plague.

A long stretch now along the canal, where beavers are known to dam the water course!

Far in the back we can still see the St. Antoni church.

There it is, the work of the beavers!

We had to make a little detour to this chapel. Info from the Internet (translated): "The spacious Holy Cross Chapel in Rohr was consecrated in 1842 following a donation by the Bertschy family. The Biedermeier-style altar features an outstanding painting of the Crucifixion by Henri Kaiser (dating from around 1860) and exquisite Neoclassical clay statues of John the Baptist, Peter, Anne with Mary, and Joseph with the infant Jesus."

Aren't these the cutest little pigs ever?

They are called Vietnamese Pot-Bellied Pigs.

The last stretch into the town of Tafers was along the main road, a little over one kilometer, but being at the end of the long hike, it was tedious going. But this cute little "Spycher" along the road caught my eye.

The next church we are going to have a look at is on the outskirts of the town of Tafers, as we approached from the east, after about 20 minutes of walking along the busy main road. It is the parish church of St.Martin, and is one of the oldest in the region.

"The parish church of Tafers, dedicated to the Gallo-Frankish Saint Martin, boasts a very long history. According to various sources, it likely originated in the 9th century—or possibly even earlier." (Translated from the Internet)

On our way to the main door to go into the St.Martin's church, we passed by these two cute little chapels next to the church. The nearest one is called St.Jakob, and the further one, St.Michael (originally an ossuary), which we could not go inside.

The information panel describes what the paintings on the front of the chapel represent. The current chapel was first mentioned in 1065. However, the beautiful early Baroque altar by Hans Franz Reyff dates back to around 1640.

This chapel is called St.Michael, built in 1753, although the sculpture of the crucifixion is from the 16th Century. This was the former ossuary (bone-house). In medieval times, cemeteries were located in the center of the village, and as there was no room for expansion, when a new grave was needed, an old one was emptied. Skulls and femur bones were collected and stored in the ossuary. The building is now a "chapel of rest".

This is the front of the St.Martin's church. This parish church is one of the oldest in the region. Its history dates back to possibly the years 600-800, although the church was first mentioned in documents of 1148. The building received five major renovations and expansions since then, as well as an external renovation in the early 2000's.

And details of the inside.

There were two particularly impressive paintings on the ceiling.

This beautiful building at the main square in front of the church is a museum. It was originally built as a schoolhouse in 1780.

And on the other side of the church is this lovely building, which is an elementary school!

A look back at the church and museum as we head to the bus stop which is just nearby. It is now 4 p.m. and we were home by 6:45 p.m.

This is what our walk looks like on Google Satellite Maps, with all the chapels and churches we visited along the way!

Heading into the city of Fribourg by bus from Tafers. The bridge crosses the Saane River here (also known as La Sarine, because Fribourg is right on the language border with German and French).

I love this stretch of railway between Bern and Olten/Zurich, as you get this fantastic view of the Eiger-Mönch-Jungfrau trio. Especially when the late afternoon sun shines on the mountain range, and during periods of Föhn the mountains appear much closer than they really are.