Short Winter Walk in the Goms Region, from Münster to Biel

(This post created and published on February 6, 2026)

Saturday February 28, 2015 -- Again, following the weather... it was supposed to be a nice day in the mountains so we decided on a "Winter Walk" in the high plateau / valley called the Goms (in Canton Wallis), where the Rhône River runs down toward Lake Geneva. As it turned out, the weather was not as great as expected, and toward the end of our walk at about 4 p.m. it got quite windy and cold. 

The walk was about 8 km from Münster to Biel. This area is very popular with cross-country skiiers. There are more cross-country ski tracks than walking trails here. 

As our train heads up the Schöllenen Gorge from Göschenen to Andermatt at 11 a.m, the weather is looking quite promising. 

Looking down the Schöllenen Gorge. 

This interesting bridge at the south end of the train tunnel is called the "Devil's Bridge" (Teufelsbrücke). 

In Andermatt we have to change to another train, so we had a bit of time to peek into the snow-covered park next to the train station. With the sunshine, the snow-covered landscape looks so pretty. 

After traveling along the Urseren Valley and through the Furka Base Tunnel, the train then heads southwards along the Goms region. We are starting our walk in the village of Münster, about a third way down the valley, at about 12:30. 

At Reckingen, at about 1¼ hours after the start of our walk in Münster, we crossed the wooden covered bridge over the Rotten River, from the east side to the west side. 

A look back at the Reckingen bridge as we make our way to the train station which is close by. We then changed our minds and decided to continue along the winter trail, as it was really too short of a stretch to walk, having come this far. (About 3¼ hours each way).  

There are some very nice prepared walking trails in this region, although it is mostly popular for cross-country skiing. 

At this point near Gluringen, it is 2:30 p.m. We have come about two hours now from our start in Münster. (Winter walking takes longer than these summer signs indicate). We are walking along a trail called Rottenweg, which is a trail along the Rhone River. In this region, the river is called the Rotten. 

On the other side of the Rotten River, the little red train from the Gotthard-Matterhorn Railway travels along the valley bottom. (We came from Andermatt with such a regional train, and are also riding one on the way back). 

Another bridge crosses the Rotten (Rhone) River here, leading up to the next village called Blitzingen. We are staying on this side and continuing downstream to the next crossing near the train station in Biel.  

The popular Glacier Express train runs along this route from Zermatt to Chur (via Andermatt) and then on to St.Moritz. 

Some curious onlookers!

A typical Valais village in this valley. This one is called Selkingen, and is slightly south of Biel where we are heading to the train station now, which we reached at about 4 p.m. 

Our 8-km walk as seen on Google Satellite Maps (except with a winter landscape). Starting in Münster at about 12:30 p.m., this means we got about 3½ hours of fresh air.  

Location of the Upper Goms Region within Switzerland.