Along Lake Walensee from Au to Weesen via Quinten and Seerenbach Falls

(This post published on December 22, 2023)

Sunday July 26, 2015 -- There is a small town on the North side of Lake Walensee (near the border to Lichtenstein) which is only accessible by boat or on foot. We have long wanted to see it, so this was our Sunday outing, also a very popular one. There were lots of people on the 13 km trail from Quinten to Weesen, only luckily they were doing it in the opposite direction. 

Because of its protected location on the North side of the lake, Quinten has a Mediterranean climate and is a good spot to grow grapes, walnuts, and especially figs. You can buy fig jelly and fig schnaps at the local farmers' shops. It took us almost 4 hours to walk the 13 km to Weesen because there was some pretty steep uphill as well, and we took a detour to view the 585m high Seerenbach Falls, third highest waterfalls in Europe. 

The tiny boat from Murg on the South side of the Walensee to Au on the right side was pretty crowded this morning! Being a beautiful Sunday, a lot of people were doing this outing, even if they weren't going hiking!

Looking westward down Lake Walensee at the hillside we will be walking, all the way to the west end of the lake at Weesen. 

Quinten on the Walensee in Switzerland, accessible only by boat or on foot from the east or west ends of the lake. 

The ferry first heads to another landing called Au, somewhat to the west of Quinten, so we got off here and walked the lake-side trail to Quinten. 

Getting off the ferry at Au, to walk the 1-km cliffside trail to Quinten. We started here at noon. 

We decided to get out in Au and walk the 1 km to Quinten, where we are going to have lunch.

The protected region on this side of the lake is perfect for growing grapes. 

It's also a perfect climate for growing figs. 

This looked unusual

A lovely cliff-side trail from Au to Quinten, about 1 km. 

Approaching the village of Quinten from the East. It took us 30 minutes to walk here. 

Our plan had been to have Sunday lunch at one of the three restaurants in Quinten. The Seehus restaurant was pretty fancy! Quinten is a popular destination for Sunday Lunch!

Seehus restaurant where we had Sunday lunch! (We don't often stop at restaurants for a meal).

Heading off to Weesen, 3 hours and 20 minutes according to the trail markers. We headed out at 1:30 p.m. (We ended up reaching Weesen about four hours later, because we detoured to the waterfalls).

In all, this was an almost 4-hour hike. From Au to Quinten was about 30 minutes, and then another 3 hours and 20 minutes or so to Weesen. 

A look at the village of Quinten from the boat dock. 

Across the lake is the town of Murg, where we boarded the ferry boat. A lot of vineyards here as well!

Heading east now above the vineyards to the forest trail. 

Palm trees and figs!

Some nice butterflies

This was the steep uphill section! The cable hand-holds help when the rocks are "slippery".

I'm always glad to be able to fill up my water bottle at a fountain or a mountain spring!

Heading up to the lookout point near the Seerenbach Waterfall. 

This is actually not part of the Seerenbach waterfall. There is a huge subterranean river system behind these cliffs, some of the largest in Europe. When the water level gets too high, the catchment basin overflows and the water drops 45 meters into the Seerenbach river. Sometimes at up to 30 m3/second! It is called the Rinquelle.

These are the Seerenbach falls. The cascade is composed of three falls: 50 meters, 305 meters, and 190 meters from top to bottom. The middle section is one of the highest free-falling falls in Europe, and the highest in Switzerland. 

A look to the south across the lake.

St. Bernard's Chapel in Vorder Betlis

Near the chapel, we left the Walsaweg Trail and headed down to lake level. From here the rest of the trail was basically on this paved road. 

This fortress ruins looks like a cupcake with one of those toothpick flags stuck in it.

The narrow road from Betlis to Weesen. (Interesting note, until the year 1900, there was no road access to Betlis either. Access was on foot or by boat, as is still the case with Quinten). This reminded me of that Tom Hanks movie....

A cool cave/tunnel along the way...

At 5:20 p.m. we finally arrived in the charming village of Weesen, our destination before catching the bus.

Inspecting the alleyways in Weesen before catching the bus. 

In the town of Weesen

In the town of Weesen

We walked a total of 13km from the boat dock at Au, to Weesen at the North end of the Lake.

Trip to the Summit of Mount Niesen on a 105-year-old Funicular

(This album was published on Aug.1, 2023. It refers to a later trip we did to the summit of Mount Niesen, on a much uglier day, but also with very clear views. Those photos are HERE)

July 5, 2015 -- A wonderful day for a trip to the summit of Mount Niesen, which is located near Spiez south of Lake Thun, and nicknamed "Switzerland's Pyramid". Furthermore, this is definitely the 360-degree view mountain in the region. And very popular with paragliders, as we found out up there. 

The Niesen Funicular, built between 1906 and 1910, covers 3.5 kilometers of railway tracks in two sections, and is considered one of the longest funiculars in the world. At its steepest section it has an incline of 68%. It also sports the longest stairway in the world, 11674 steps along the railway line {not for the public, although they do a marathon up the stairs, it's called the Niesenlauf (highlights on this youtube video: NIESENLAUF)}

Crossing the Kander River as the train starts heading up the mountain. 

The Niesen Funicular line, completed in 1910 and running since. 

A beautiful day to be up on the mountain. We got here at 9:30.

The restaurant terrace near the summit station of the railway, view to the east 

A short walk above the restaurant you reach the very summit of the mountain. This view is directly into the Kien Valley, where we traveled to after returning back off the mountain, for a relatively short hike from Griesalp to the valley bottom along the fabulous waterfalls there. 

At the very summit there is a 360-degree view. This is a panorama view north to Lake Thun

A look south across the summit of Mount Niesen. Below on the left is the Kander Valley

Down below is the town of Frutigen at the junction of the Kander Valley and the Adelboden Valley (not sure if it's called that). (side note: in July 2023 we walked down to Frutigen from the mid-station of the Niesen Railway). 

On the very summit of Mount Niesen

In the back are the very recognizable profiles of Mounts Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau

So many paragliders lined up here, and we spent some time watching them. 

Fabulous meadow flowers. This is near the summit station of the funicular. We headed back down at about 10:45. 

Time to head back down (there was a hike in the Kien Valley after this). Those steps form the longest staircase in the world, about 3.5 kilometers. 

This is a look at Mount Niesen from the opposite side of the valley, as we took a bus ride into the Kien Valley. (Kiental).