A Short Walk from Bürglen to Flüelen in William Tell's Homeland

Sunday February 9th, 2025 -- Even though for the whole past week it was absolutely stunning, sunny, cloud-free weather with great visibility in the mountains (with thick, high fog in all the valleys below, even those that don't usually get fog), we were not able to do our Wednesday walk as I was quite sick with a very disturbing cough, so did not feel like leaving the apartment. So terribly unfortunate.

But on Sunday I felt a little better, and even though the nice weather had turned, we were promised some sunshine in the Reuss Valley in a favourite place just south of Lake Uri, i.e. in Altdorf, which is a short travel time for us. Even though we have walked almost everywhere we can walk here, it seemed like an acceptable choice for a short Sunday walk close to home. (As it turns out, there was actually more sunshine right where we live!)

We started in Bürglen for the seven-kilometer walk to Flüelen, a cute little town which claims to be the birthplace of the fictional William Tell, and so there are many monuments to him, as well as in the town of Altdorf itself, which we also passed through on the way to Flüelen. (Altdorf is the capital city of Canton Uri). Unfortunately we had less sunshine than hoped, but it wasn't too cold and there was no fog! 

I had done part of this walk once before on my own (Altdorf to Flüelen, those photos are HERE), but we did it again, as Urs was interested in the dry-stone walls that the area is famous for, and we still managed to cover not quite the same paths as last time. 

At the bus stop in the heart of the cute little village of Bürglen is this tower called the Wattigwiler-Turm, one of four defense towers from the 13th Century in this small village. It was restored in 1966 and stands under heritage protection. It currently serves as the Willian Tell Museum. We started here about 1 p.m. 

A few steps toward the main road below and we pass some lovely buildings: On the left the "Gasthaus Adler" (1574), on the right and across the road is the "Tell Bürglen Hotel, Restaurant and Café", and in the center, the lovely village church surrounded by several chapels and adorned with paintings of William Tell. 

It's a beautiful building, but I cannot find out how old it is

The William Tell Monument in Bürglen was created in 1786 and used to stand in the town of Altdorf, where now the more well-know Tell Monument stands, although this was the first and original Tell Monument. It was a gift to the village of Bürglen from the town of Altdorf.

From the Canton Uri website, here is a bit of information about the village of Bürglen, allegedly the hometown of the fictional character of William Tell. His family home probably stood where the 1582-built Tell's Chapel now stands (with some of the oldest paintings of the story of William Tell); The Tell Fountain displays a 1786 statue of Tell and his son, the oldest Tell-monument gifted by the people of Altorf nearby; The Tell-Museum in the 13th-Century Wattigwiler Tower; Eight information placards tell the story of William Tell, including how he drowned in the nearby Schächen River in 1354 while rescuing a child during high water storm. 

The Gasthaus Adler is really a magnificent building, and is one of the oldest Gasthauses in Canton Uri.

Down the road a bit you can see the roof of one of the other 13th-Century defense towers. 

Cute!

The Tell Monument stands on the Tell fountain at the St.Peter and Paul church, which we are going to have a quick look at, although I have been here before (see also photos HERE). Documents of the year 875 mention a church here, but this building is early-Baroque, built in 1681. The small chapel with the rounded roof is one of three chapels on the grounds. It is called the "Oelberg Chapel" from 1693. 

On the south side of the church square is the ossuary (St.Annas) from 1693. There are several real skulls displayed, and the foldable altar piece looks very old!

View past the graveyard to the south

The graveyard has some vary attractive sculptures, probably depicting something important in the lives of the deceased. There are many people with the family name of Arnold from this region. Many Arnolds have married other Arnolds. 

From the front terrace of the church, we get a view over the town of Bürglen toward Altdorf, where we are going to walk to. We had hoped that the clouds would have disappeared by now, but this was unfortunately not the case. 

The inside of the St.Peter and Paul church in Bürglen, which is very obviously a Baroque church (Early Baroque from 1681) with all the pink marble decor. 

There were two small organs in the choir section near the main altar, as well as a larger organ at the back of the church. 

The lovely and ornate balcony with organ at the back of the church. 

The third chapel on the church grounds is called the Tell Chapel, from 1582, where allegedly the birth house of William Tell once had stood. 

The Tell’s Chapel dates from 1582. During the renovation of the chapel in 1949, a valuable fresco cycle from 1588 was discovered under the plaster. These murals are among the oldest known Tell frescoes. On the right is a painting of Tell's son standing against a tree, as William prepares to shoot the apple from his head. 

This pretty little bird has the unfortunate name of "Great Tit". Its German name of "Kohlmeise" is much prettier. 

Heading down the road now, we pass another roadside chapel. There are so many chapels in this region, that a special "Chapel Trail" has been created, where you can walk past 16 various chapels. 

The whole village is full of such pretty houses. 

A look behind us at the second tower, called the Meierturm. 

And a final look back at the church in Bürglen, which watches over the junction of the Reuss Valley and the Schächen Valley. After spending 30 minutes looking at the various buildings here, we finally headed on our walk at about 1:30 p.m. 

After looking at the various chapels and towers and monuments all dedicated to William Tell in his alleged home town of Bürglen, we started on our walk toward Flüelen at 13:30, reaching Flüelen just over two hours later. In all, we spent about three hours outside, walked about 7 km, but didn't have the sunshine we hoped for.... but at least no fog!

After crossing the Bürglen River, we are now walking along Regional trail no.55: "Via Suvorov", which we followed to the train station in Flüelen.  This is a look toward the Uri Alps up the Reuss Valley. The sky was very overcast, so we didn't see the mountains very well. 

The trail passes through the grounds of a former boarding school called St.Josef, now an international school. 

At the junction of the Via Suvorov trail and the Kapellenweg (Chapel Trail), this brings back memories of the Chapel Trail we walked in March 2020, just as the Covid chaos started (photos HERE. We had many nice days where we were asked not to come into the office!)

We always enjoy all the cats we encounter along the way. 

As we enter the outskirts of Altdorf, we can see the large building which was a former Capuchin Monastery. 

This building is the Suvorov house, one of many historical sites along the "Suvorov Trail", which follows where the Russian General traveled while fighting Napoleon within Switzerland in 1799. 

Above us on the hill is the Nussbäumli Restaurant, which we hiked to on a beautiful April day in 2018 (photos HERE). 

Details of the Suvorov House show it was built in 1550, and the chapel next door was built in 1730. On the 26th of September 1799, Russian General Suvorov spent the night here. 

As we entered the town of Altdorf, we came across this very pretty building all covered in intricate paintings. It is a second-hand shop which I vaguely remember visiting about 10 years ago. 

Details of the paintings on the outside of this second-hand shop. The cat in the window was a surprise!

The cat was walking among the objects in the window and we were surprised that nothing was knocked off the shelves!

This is the theater building in Altdorf, called the "Tellspielhaus". 

It's now 2:15 p.m., and we have been sauntering from Bürglen for about 45 minutes. From here it should be another hour or so to the train station at Flüelen, but we didn't walk fast, and got there at 3:50 p.m.

Main street in Altdorf

Main square in Altdorf. Urs is going to check if there is a still a bakery in that building, but it turns out it is now a restaurant. 

This is the well-known William Tell Monument in the main square in Altdorf. 

We continued on our walk past this building, which is the Canton Uri Courthouse. (Altdorf is the capital city of Canton Uri). 

After a few detours on side alleys, we made it to St.Martin's Parish Church in Altdorf. The small chapel in front has two entrances and two levels, i.e. a type of crypt below. 

Heading up to see the inside of the church. 

That's a cool tree!

St. Martin's has a very large cemetery with large family graves. 

Inside the church, the two side altars are very ornate. 

On either side of the main altar are ornately-carved choir benches. 

Another beautiful organ at the back of the church. On either side is a row of separate wooden carved individual cubicles with family crests. 

A final look at the parish church and past the large cemetery, as we continue on our walk toward Flüelen. Just the tiniest bit of sunshine here!

A look behind us up the Reuss Valley. 

Starting on a path between the fabulous dry-stone walls. 

Details of the dry-stone walls between Altdorf and Flüelen. 

For most of the rest of the way to Flüelen, the trail followed a small stream with superbly clear water. 

Walking along the trail next to a small river. 

There was a bit of a rock slide here recently!

We got to the south end of Lake Uri at the Flüelen train station at 15:53, about 20 minutes early for the train for the one-hour trip back home. Now the sky is clearing and we are getting some sunshine!

We watched the seagulls for a while before the train came at 3:10 p.m. 

What our 7-km walk looks like on Google Satellite Maps. 

All the hikes we have done in the region around Altdorf, between the south end of Lake Uri and the Schächen Valley. 

Sunshine now in the Schwyz region as our train passes Lake Lauerz, heading into train station at Arth-Goldau. 

Location of Altdorf within Switzerland. This is just an hour's travel time from where we live. 

This is a webcam shot from a couple of days later: It's what the view should have been from the church in Bürglen!

This is a webcam shot from a couple of days later: It's what the view should have been from the church in Bürglen!

Winter Walk on the Arni Upper Plateau in the Reuss Valley

Sunday February 2nd, 2025 -- The fog is back, but there was sunshine in the mountains, so we opted for another snow hike in the Uri Alps, near a lovely alpine lake called Arnisee, a place we have been many times in summer, as this is where Urs' father grew up. There are two cable-cars which access the upper plateau where the lake is located: A southern line (from Intschi) with an eight-man cabin directly to the mountain restaurant called Berggasthaus Alpenblick next to the lake, and a smaller four-man cabin from near Amsteg to the upper plateau, which is the one we prefer to take.

It's only a 90-minute trip for us to get here, so a nice place to spend a few hours in the sunshine above the fog. We knew of prepared walking and snow-shoe trails we could follow to get some walking done, a short "hike" of less than six kilometers for us. But we hadn't been up to the lake in a long time, although we have often taken our foreign visitors there, so it seemed like a good time to go again.  

The little Amsteg-Arnisee cable-car is the preferred cable-car by locals, but on a Sunday there are usually many people who want to travel with this cute cable-car, so it runs constantly (7 minutes each run), and we only had to wait about twenty minutes till we got up into the sunshine. 

After a 7-minute walk from the bus stop along the road to Amsteg, we reached the Amsteg-Arnisee cable-car station at 10:45. (Having left home shortly after 9 a.m. for the 90-minute trip). There were about a dozen people waiting here already (lots of cars in the parking lot), and we had to wait for a couple of runs of the cable-car (6 minutes each run). 

Watching the cable-car run up to the Arni Plateau. The fog is very thick here!

This is the cute little Amsteg-Arni cable car which we have used many times already to get up to the Arni plateau. It carries four people at a time and each run takes 6-7 minutes. 

We got up to the summit station at 11:10, above the fog, to wonderful sunshine!

Lake Arnisee is a 30-minute walk from the summit station, on a prepared winter walking trail. In the direction of Vorder Arni is a snow-shoe trail, and since it hadn't snowed for several days, we decided to follow the snow-shoe trail, as it was tramped down quite well. 

To the east on the other side of the Reuss Valley is the fabulous Gross Windgällen mountain. 

This wasn't a very long trail which we walked, about 6 kilometers. We started at the summit cable-car station at Mittelarni at 11:15, did the loop walk on the snow-shoe trail to Vorderarni and back, then did the winter walking trail which is also a loop to Lake Arnisee, and then back to the cablecar station. We spent about three hours in the sunshine up here, taking the cable car back down again at about 2:15 p.m.  

Heading north toward VorderArni on the snow-shoe trail. 

Looking behind us as we reach the northern-most point of the loop trail. 

This is the look-out point and furthest north along the VorderArni loop, where we get a view down the Reuss Valley.... well, on this day, along the top of the blanket of fog!

We sat here for only about five minutes, as other people who had been walking behind us (talking very loudly) showed up, so we left again. (Unfortunately those people ended up catching up to us later as well, still talking loudly! So much for enjoying the peace and quiet of a winter mountain landscape). 

The fog blanket is very high this day, but at least we can get above it!

After we left the look-out bench, many other walkers reached there! (The three people on the left were the ones who did all the talking! The two women had even ridden in the cable-car with us, already non-stop chatting there!)

A cute little house along the way as we head back toward the cable-car station. 

We were following a nicely-tramped snow-shoe trail!

We were following a nicely-tramped snow-shoe trail!

Another look to the east across from the Reuss Valley, into the Maderaner Valley, which is also full of fog!

As we get closer to the cable car station, we started looking for a place to sit to eat our sandwiches. Later we started on the second loop walk to the lake up the hill on the right, but ultimately walking up through the forested section from the left. 

We could not find a snow-free bench, but this large boulder turned out to be a great place to sit and eat our sandwiches! This was shortly after noon-time. 

The view from our Rock, of the beautiful Mount Bristen. Those two ladies are just starting up along the snow-shoe trail (using actual snow-shoes) where we had just descended from. 

Ahead to the south is where we continued walking, heading into the forest and approaching the lake along the forest trail. 

The second part of our walk was along an official walking trail, prepared for walkers. 

Looking behind us as we continue south... just behind Urs (above his head) is the cable-car station, and that mountain is the Grosse Windgällen. 

Another look behind us. 

A lovely small trail through the forest. 

From a look-out point on the most eastern side of the loop, we get a lovely view of Mt.Bristen and the very high blanket of fog in the Reuss Valley below. 

Heading up through the forest toward Lake Arnisee from the East. This wasn't actually the officially walking trail, but parallel to the official trail which was lower down and more in the shade!

This is now up at the lake, which is almost all frozen over. 

Making our way around the lake on the popular walking trail. 

This is the popular view across Lake Arnisee!

At the south end of the lake is another cable car which comes up from the valley bottom to this restaurant. We decided we didn't want to stop here for something to drink, as it being a lovely Sunday afternoon, there were a lot of people here! (As a side note, the summit of the mountain on the right is called Sunnig Grat, a summit we ascended to in October 2022, those photos are HERE). 

At 1:40 p.m. we headed back toward Mittel Arni to the cable car station. 

Another look into the Maderaner Valley on the other side of the Reuss Valley. On the first part of our loop we had walked via that farm below. 

A cool snowman!

Back at the cable-car station at 2 p.m. we had just missed the ride down to valley bottom which connected to our bus. Not wanting to wait too long in the fog below, we enjoyed the sun up here for a while longer. (We didn't want to stay too long because as time went on, more and more people would be wanting to descend, and only four people could travel on any one trip!)

At this point, at 2:15 p.m., it looked like the fog was moving onto the plateau anyway, so we decided to head back down, after enjoying three hours of sunshine up here!

Getting ready for the trip back down to valley bottom!

Crossing the bridge over the Reuss River on our way back to the bus station. We only had to wait about 10 minutes for the 14:44 bus for the 90-minute trip home. 

This is what our walk looks like on Google Satellite Maps. 

These are all the hikes we have done around the hillside between Erstfeld, Arnisee and Gurtnellen. 

Location of Lake Arnisee within Switzerland.