Switzerland Guide

Weg der Schweiz (Swiss Path)

The Rütli meadow is the starting-point for the long-distance Weg der Schweiz (Swiss Path) walking route, inaugurated in 1991 as part of the 700th anniversary celebrations of the founding of the Swiss Confederation.

The scenic trail, which circumnavigates the Urnersee to Brunnen, is almost 35km long, walkable in two days of roughly six hours each (with a midway overnight stop in Flüelen or Altdorf, or is easily dividable into smaller chunks. Sections are: Rütli to Bauen (11km up and down; 3hr 30min); Bauen to Flüelen (a flat 10km; 2hr 45min); Flüelen to Sisikon (reasonably flat 8km; 2hr); and Sisikon to Brunnen (climbing and dropping 8km; 3hr). Distinctive yellow route markers – a Swiss cross incorporating an arrow – point the way (ignore whichever way the stylized arrow faces and follow the signpost's directional finger instead). Boats shuttle between Rütli, Bauen, Isleten, Flüelen, Sisikon and Brunnen, and trains run between Flüelen, Sisikon and Brunnen, enabling you to pick and choose which sections you fancy. Tourist offices around the region stock English guides to the route.

The idea behind the path is to provide a lasting reminder of the state of the nation in 1991. Marked stones along the route identify the 26 cantons in the order in which they joined the Confederation, with each canton allotted a length of the path proportionate to its population: meticulous attention to detail has calculated that every 5mm of the trail represents a single Swiss citizen. So the initial climb from the Rütli takes care of Uri, Schwyz, Nidwalden and Obwalden (who were co-founders in 1291, and are all lightly populated); then there's a section of 1.6km representing Luzern (which joined in 1332); then 6.1km, the longest section for the most populous canton, Zürich (1351), and so on.