Hiking the Trans Swiss Trail – Stage 11 Worb to Lützelflüh
Stage 11 of the Trans Swiss trail is an 18 km hike (with 640 m ascent and 640 m descent) going from Worb to Lützelflüh. The trail description says it takes you through typical Emmental landscape of rolling hills and steep gullies with fantastic views of the Alps and Jura. Although it was a bit too hazy for fantastic views of the Alps and Jura – we could only just barely make them out against the clouds – the hills and gullies were green and beautiful. Along the way, we picked up two differente cheeses from self-service kiosks, a semi-hard one (incredibly good) and a goat cheese, as well as some very refreshing raspberry sorbet from a third kiosk. This was both a pretty and a pretty delicious hike. Very enjoyable.
| Where: | Worb to Lützelflüh Canton Bern, Switzerland |
| Train/Bus: | Zürich HB -> Worb – 1 hr 46 min Lützelflüh -> Zürich HB – 1 hr 34 min |
| What: | Trans Swiss Trail – Stage 11 Worb to Lützelflüh Yellow trail markers – Trans Swiss Trail Route 2 |
| Skill: | Medium – About 5 hrs Length 18 km, Ascent 640 m, Descent 640 m |
| Stage 1 – Porrentruy to St-Ursanne Stage 2 – St-Ursanne to Soubey Stage 3 – Soubey to Saignelégier Stage 4 – Saignelégier to St-Imier Stage 5 – St-Imier to Chézard-St-Martin Stage 6 – Chézard-St-Martin to Neuchâtel Stage 7 – Neuchâtel to Murten Stage 8 – Murten to Laupen Stage 9 – Laupen to Bern Stage 10 – Bern to Worb Stage 11 – Worb to Lützelflüh Stage 12 – Lützelflüh to Langnau i.E. Stage 13 – Langnau i.E. to Eggiwil Stage 14 – Eggiwil to Schangnau Stage 15 – Schangnau to Sörenberg Stage 16 – Sörenberg to Giswil Stage 17 – Giswil to Flüeli-Ranft Stage18 – Flüeli-Ranft to Stans Stage 19 – Stans to Seelisberg Stage 20 – Seelisberg to Erstfeld Stage 21 – Erstfeld to Wassen Stage 22 – Wassen to Andermatt Stage 23 – Andermatt to Passo del San Gottardo Stage 24 – Passo del San Gottardo to Airolo Stage 25 – Airolo to Osco Stage 26 – Osco to Anzonico Stage 27 – Anzonico to Biasca Stage 28 – Biasca to Bellinzona Stage 29 – Bellinzona to Tesserete Stage 30 – Tesserete to Lugano (Comano) Stage 31 – Lugano (Paradiso) to Morcote Stage 32 – Morcote to Mendriso |
Getting There
The Trans Swiss Trail is best done with public transportation as each stage starts and ends at different points. Stage 11 picks right up where stage 10 left off – the Worb Dorf train station. Note: Make sure to go to Worb Dorf, not Worb SBB. These are two different stations and going to Worb SBB will add another 2k to your hike or another half hour to your travel time, as we found out the hard way.
While this hike ended up being tasty, it started with a bit of a disappointment. At the end of stage 10 right near the train station, we had spotted Gelateria Worb, a gelato and crêpe place. My plan was to start this stage with some crêpes. Sadly, (despite being listed as open on google maps), it was closed when we arrived. Not wanting to start our hike on an empty stomach, we instead picked up a couple of sandwiches from the bakery (Meier Beck-Shop) across from the train station. These turned out to be quite good (lovely fresh bread) and while not crêpes, still satisfying. After eating lunch, we headed out on the trail.
The Trail
After walking through some of the residential areas of Worb, the trail began winding its way up the hill behind Worb castle. The castle views from afar on stage 10 were much better than those from this stage. For the most part, the castle is behind trees and you don’t get much of a view of it. This makes sense as it is a private residence. As we continued on the trail, we looked back at the view to see just the very small tip of the tower visible against the hazy mountains. After leaving Worb behind, the trail alternated between fields and forests as it climbed the region’s hills.
The cows in Switzerland always have great views from their pastures. After snapping a picture of the cows (and the view), we were were back in the forest.
After leaving the forest, the trail continued to wind its way up the hill, mostly following the road. When we passed the farm in the second picture above, we picked up our first cheese of the day – the semi-hard one that was so good.
Sometimes, it is a bit obvious that the farmers aren’t thrilled about the trail cutting across their land. If you look at the first picture below, you can see that the trail is a narrow passage between two electric fences. We were careful to not get zapped, despite being distracted by the fantastic open views.
At about the half-way point in the trail, we came across the Käserei Schönbrunnen. No cheese here despite the name, but there was a self-service freezer with ice-cream and sorbet. The raspberry sorbet had a bright intense fresh raspberry flavor that was just so refreshing!
The first half of this trail was pretty much a consistent gradual climb. Now, past the half-way point, the trail began to wind its way back down the hills. While it was too hazy to get good pictures of the mountains, in person, it was possible to distinguish the mountains from the clouds. As pretty as these views are, I can imagine how much prettier they would be on a clear day.
Although I did not take a picture of it, we also passed another self-service cheese kiosk, where we picked up a fresh goat cheese. While not as good as other goat cheeses we’ve gotten along hikes (the one we found hiking the Gemmipass was amazing), this one was still pretty good. Then, just when the hike was starting to feel a bit too long, at about kilometer 16 or so, we could see the town of Lützelflüh ahead.
Getting Back
After a short meander through town, we came to the Lützelflüh train station and the end of our hike.
While stage 11 wasn’t my favorite stage so far, it was a really nice hike. The landscape of rolling hills and valleys was very beautiful and it also included one of my favorite things about Swiss hiking – finding new and unique cheeses to try. On to stage 12!
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