From Murten (Canton Fribourg) to Avenches (Canton Vaud), Switzerland

(This post published Feb.28, 2023)

Wednesday June 1, 2016 – With all this rain there are only small windows of opportunity to find nice weather. On June 1st we had seen the weather forecast had decent weather in only one small North-South strip in Western Switzerland so that’s where we went, and indeed we had nice weather!

First we walked along the city ramparts in Murten, which is a medieval town (founded 1159-1179) in Canton Fribourg on the shore of Lake Murten (also called Morat in French) and the capital city of the Lake District. After a reasonably-priced meal of Cordon Bleu, we walked 14 km along Lake Murten through several bird protection areas, accompanied by bird chatter all along the way, to the town of Avenches, previously a Roman village called Aventicum (the former capital of Roman Helvetia and one of Switzerland's most important archeological sites), where there are still remains of the semi-circular theater with its usual temple, and the circular amphitheater which apparently is still used for open air concerts.

It was actually a pretty good hike with a single exception: A large part of the "trail" was along paved roads, not my favourite. But the amphitheater and the medieval towns of Murten and Avenches were worth the hike.

Interesting information about the town of Murten can be found HERE and of the rampart walls HERE

A five-minute walk from the train station in Murten gets you do the castle and into the old town

The very lovely main street of Murten. We got here at 11 a.m. and decided to first go see the city wall. 

Walking along the old city wall looking for the stairway access to the ramparts

The rampart walls of Murten were built in several stages and of several materials. The lower 15 layers existed before the founding of the town in the 12th Century

Urs on the Murten Town ramparts

Different views from the rampart walls of Murten

Panorama view over the roofs of Murten looking westward toward Lake Murten. 

Heading back to the main street to find the restaurant for our lunch

We were seated outside in the arched walkway, so we could observe the main street. 

Yummy variations of Cordon Bleu. Mine was with Gorgonzola Cheese and sun-dried tomatoes, Urs' was pear and Brie.

Hopeful for some dropped french fries

A view of the "Bern Tower" / City Gate from my seat at the restaurant table. 

A look across the main street. You can just see some of the cellar doors

Many towns in western Switzerland (i.e. Bern also) have these cellars doors from the main street level to one level down, and there are often shops and restaurants below, such as this one!

A final look down a secondary street in old town Murten. Looks like there are some Canada fans here!

Detail near the Bernertor (Bern City Gate) at the north end of town

Heading down to the lakeshore now for our walk south to Avenches. We did have a bit of sunshine at this point. 

An aerial view of Murten/Morat from the tourism website "FribourgRegion.ch"

From the ship station below the town, the fastest path to the train station in Avenches is only about 2-1/2 hours. We took longer as we did a detour to the Roman Theater.  

In all, with our walk around Murten and the town ramparts, as well as having a look at the Roman Theater in Avenches, we walked for about 3.5 hours, or almost 15 kilometers! Note that the western section of the lake belongs to Canton Vaud, whereas Murten and the other 2/3rds of the lake are in Canton Fribourg!

A final look at the town of Murten as we head south along the shores of Lake Murten

Another boat dock on the lake, this one is called Faoug (pronounced "Foo"), and is actually located across the Canton Border in Canton Vaud. 

Our lakeside walk, as well as a section along a marsch, was replete with waterbirds, and lots of twittering otherwise. We even glimpsed a woodpecker in a tree trunk!

VIDEO:

Duck Babies stay close to Mom!

(Note the sound of the birds twittering)

The first glimpse of Avenches from the west. We bypassed the town on this side to first have a look at the Roman theater on its east side. (It seems we lost our sunshine by now).

A satellite view of Avenches. We first had a look at the Roman Theater east of town, before heading to the Amphitheater and the castle inside the old town. 

The old Roman Theater in Avenches was built in the 2nd Century AD and could accommodate 9000 people for open-air spectacles, festivals and religious feasts. It was later exploited as a quarry until the 19th Century. 

Inside the old town is the Roman Amphitheater, which could accommodate 16,000 spectators to the gladiator fights. It is still in use for concert events. 

Eglise St.Marie Madeleine: The original church was built at the end of the 11th Century for the Bishop of Lausanne, then rebuilt at the end of the 15th Century, and again in the early 1700's during Protestant Reformation. 

Main street in Avenches with its sandstone houses and arched passageway beneath the residences!

Before heading to the train station, we took a detour up to the castle. 

Details of the Avenches Castle, which dates back to the 13th Century. More information about its history can be found HERE

Our approx. 15-km hike along Lake Murten from Murten to Avenches as seen on Google Satellite maps

Location of Lake Murten in Switzerland, between Fribourg and Neuchatel