From Holderbank in the Balsthal Valley, over the Jura Crest to Egerkingen.

(This post created on April 27, 2026)

Sunday April 6, 2014 -- Before going to spend a lovely afternoon with friends (woodfire BBQ!) we did a quick two-hour hike in their neighbourhood in Northwest Switzerland (Canton Solothurn). Starting point was Holderbank in the Bals Valley (Balsthal), from there we walked up to the ruins of the fortress Alt-Bechburg (Old Bechburg), and then over the hill and down to Egerkingen. It was a 7-km hike which took us about 2¾ hours.

Unfortunately it was a foggy day, and we don't usually hike in the fog, but we did want to do a hike first before our visit, and the fog gives the landscape a unique atmosphere. 

Heading by bus from the town of Balsthal to the start of our hike in Holderbank, we pass another large Fortress Ruins at the entrance of a side valley. This castle is called Neu Falkenstein. 

A close-up view of the Neu Falkenstein fortress ruins high above the valley. 

From the town of Holderbank, we started up the mountain at about 10:45 a.m. toward the ruins of the Alt-Bechburg fortress, and passed a farm just below the castle where the cows and pigs were making their way to the pasture (unattended!)  We could have sworn the cows were foster mothers to about 20 hyperactive piglets!

VIDEO:

I tried to make a little video of the cows and pigs

(Not great quality)

View of the valley from the fortress ruins. Too bad that it's a foggy day!

Exploring the ruins of Alt-Bechburg. 

As it was now 11:30, we had a bit of a picnic break here. 

From the ruins, we had to head down to this farm, before continuing up the hill to the crest. 

A look back at the ruins of the Old-Bechburg fortress as we reach the crest of the Jura Range here. This is looking north, and we are now going to descend the hill to the south. 

This spot on the crest of the hill is called "Schlosshöchi" (i.e. "Castle Heights"). The National Trail no.5: "Jura Crest Trail" passes through here. We have come up from Holderbank, and are now descending to Egerkingen. 

Shortly down from the crest of the hill is the restaurant Bluemlismatt. It seems to be very popular on a Sunday!

So here we are at 12:15, and heading down toward Egerkingen. 

Heading down the steep side of the mountain.

Our first view of the town of Egerkingen below

Close-up view of the end of our hike. It is now just about 1 p.m. Once we get to the church below, we still have to walk another 15 minutes to the train station. 

A look back up the hillside we had just descended, before heading to the train station. The fog has lifted and the sun has come out now!

This was a 7-km hike we did, starting in Holderbank and ending in Egerkingen. Pure walking time is about 2½ hours. We started about 10:45, and would have gotten to the train station in Egerkingen at about 1:30 p.m.  

Walk along Lake Biel from Erlach to Hagneck

(This post published on November 27. 2023)

March 9, 2014 -- Another beautiful day and perfect for walking. This time we were in the Western part of Switzerland, at Lake Biel. First we checked out the quaint town of Erlach, and then walked about 11 km along the East side of the lake to Hagneck, before heading back home with the train. We had originally planned to walk further, but having started late (at 2 p.m.) and because I find walking parallel to a lake-shore quite tiring, we cut it "short" (almost three hours of pure walking time was enough). 

The church in the main part of Erlach. We started from the bus stop near here at about 2 p.m. 

Those stairs aren't very straight any more!

Heading up the main street to the castle. 

Heading up the main street to the Castle

Castle Courtyard

Looking back down the main street from the Castle

Erlach castle

Looking across Lake Biel from the Castle. The snow-covered mountains at the back are the Jura range near the border with France. 

A look over the roof-tops of Erlach from the castle grounds. 

Old square near the church

Old chapel in the small town of Vinelz

Snack break

This is the first time I have seen orchards with net roofs like my Dad has in Canada

A lovely half-timbered house in Lüscherz

Location of Lake Biel within Switzerland

Exciting Toboggan Run from Preda to Bergün in the Albula Valley

(This post created and published on January 25, 2026. This outing took place in February 2014, but I am currently reminiscing). 

Thursday February 27, 2014 -- Today we went looking for snow, and this is what we found!

This 6-km sledding track along the Albula railway line is very popular and is specially maintained for this sport. In summer it is an alpine pass road, but no vehicle traffic is allowed in winter. The track starts near the train station in Preda, and you end about 1½ km from the train station in Bergün, so you have to pull your sled back there again each time. In winter a special sledding train runs back and forth between the two stations. We ran the track 3 times, and it got faster as the day wore on. Our maximum speed was 35 km/hr (there is a meter near the end which displays your speed). No crashes! It took us 3½ hours to get here from home, so it was easily a day trip.

(At the bottom of this blog I added a video I made from piecing together the various videos I took as we raced down the track. It's a bit wobbly because I had a small hand-held camera, but it's fun to watch!)

Heading along the Albula Railway Line, a world heritage site. On the way from Thusis to Tiefencastel we pass the Punt da Solis bridge over the Albula River. This is one of many beautiful bridges in this region. 

VIDEO:

The train heading toward the Landwasser Viaduct on its way to Filisur!

(Note: Not great Quality)

The train approaches Bergün, which is where the sledding run ends. 

VIDEO:
The train leaves Bergün and starts to make its way up the valley over several bridges and through several 360-degree tunnels. 

This is Preda, where the the sledding run "starts". Well, actually, you have to pull your sled for about a kilometer first before the actual downhill starts, but the landscape is pretty! We started on our first run here at 11:30.

A map shows how the sledding trail goes down the Albula Valley. It takes about 45 minutes to do one "run", which includes walking about one kilometer on each end.  

Current (2026) description of the Toboggan Trail on our Switzerland Mobility Map. 

One single photo from the first run down the trail. On the first run, it was kind of warm and the snow was soft, so it wasn't a very fast ride, but got faster as the day went on and more people used the track. 

At 12:15 we were back in the village of Bergün and headed for the train station to take the special sledding train back up to Preda. 

The train between Bergün and Preda crosses several such viaducts. You can just see the sledding trail down below, as it passes under one of the arches. 

A good look at the prepared sledding trail from the train window (as the train crosses one of the viaducts). In summer, this is a vehicle road. Unfortunately, this first part is level, and you have to pull your sled for about a kilometer (or 1.5 km) before the downhill section starts. 

A look at a couple of the viaducts that we pass under with the sleds. As it is a weekday, there are not too many people here. 

Back up at the Preda station now at just after 1 p.m., ready to start on the second run!

We actually brought our own sleds on the train (from home), but did not bring helmets, but that is recommended. You can rent the sleds up here at the little station in Preda. 

Enjoying the views on the first 1-km section where we have to pull our sleds. 

You have to pull the sled for the first 20 minutes or so, before the road dips enough to ride the sled. This here is about where we could finally start "sliding"!

Here's the little "sledding train" (pulling just one wagon where everyone just piles in with their sleds) heading back to Bergün to pick up the next load of sledders. 

View up the Albula Valley as we head down on the toboggan run now. (I stopped once in a while to take photos, and also some videos!)

The track runs beneath the arches of the train viaducts! This is the way tobogganning runs should be!

Here the train makes a 360-degree loop inside the mountains, that's why you see more than one bridge. 

A cargo train heads past slightly higher up

Urs follows behind to keep an eye on me! He's way more cautious than I am.

At 2 p.m. we are back in Bergün again, and making our way to the train station for the third train ride up to Preda for the third and last run down the mountain (no additional photos).

I laugh every time I see a sign like this! "Crap" means "Rock" in the local Romantsch language. 

VIDEO:

I didn't take photos on the third run of the day, 

but here is a video I put together of the videos I took on one of the runs! 

It is not great quality because I had just a small, handheld camera.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The red line is the railway, the blue track is the sledding path.

By 3:10 p.m. we were done the final run, which was pretty icy by then and we clocked a maximum of 35 km/hr! his is what the mountains to the north look like, as we started on our way back home. 

Heading back toward Thusis after crossing the Landwasser Viaduct from Filisur. 

Here's the approximate location of the Albula Valley withing Switzerland.

Here is an idea of how it looks in summer. The trains makes several loops in tunnels to gain altitude. (The Swiss are master tunnel builders!) You can see the road on which we ran the sleds.