After cycle-sightseeing around Zurich, it was time to start our Rhine River Bike Tour in earnest – from the top! Literally. We needed to get up to Oberalp Pass where the Rhine River begins.
Because this is Switzerland, the best way to get anywhere, even a remote mountain pass, is by train.
>> TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Trains in Switzerland
- Flirting with Via Ferrata Diavolo
- Schöllenen Circular Trail (Schöllenenrundweg)
- Devil’s Bridge (Teufelsbrücke)
- Dinner in Andermatt
Trains in Switzerland
From Zurich Main Station (Zürich HB), we caught the Treno Gottardo (IR46), a train equipped with panoramic windows, bistro zones and family compartments that runs hourly from Zurich to Locarno, a town south of the Alps. We weren’t going all the way to Locarno, though. We’d be changing trains in Göschenen and going one more stop to Andermatt, the closest village to Oberalp Pass.
NOTE: InterRegio (IR) trains connect main urban centres and regional centres. They are faster than regional (R) trains that make all local stops, but they make more stops than InterCity (IC) trains. Someone on the SBB community board called IR trains “the workhorses of the Swiss long-distance network.”
Treno Gottardo sounds fancy, with its panoramic windows, but it’s a pretty regular train in Switzerland. They all seem to have panoramic windows. And why not? The scenery everywhere is stunning! Though the locals seem to be used to it.
We didn’t need to buy tickets ahead of time or reserve seats. We simply biked to the station, bought a ticket from a kiosk, found the clearly marked platform, folded our bikes, and waited for the train to arrive. Of course, it was right on time!
We boarded, put our bikes on the overhead racks…
… and settled in to enjoy the view.
An hour and 45 minutes later, we were in Göschenen where we transferred to a regional train (R44) to Andermatt, and in less than 15 minutes, we’d arrived!
Rather than heading straight to Oberalp Pass, we decided to spend the afternoon in Andermatt and see its main attraction: the Devil’s Bridge in the Schöllenen Gorge.
Flirting with Via Ferrata Diavolo
Our original plan was to walk to Devil’s Bridge and then do the nearby Via Ferrata Diavolo, a climbing route with wire ropes to clip into and iron “steps” and “ladders” (bars in the rock that serve as foot and hand holds). Online resources such as My Switzerland, the Andermatt-Sedrun-Disentis tourism site and even All Trails said this via ferrata was suitable for beginners. And it looked so cool! I even plotted out the route on Komoot.
However, the fact that there wasn’t a guided tour option and we had to bring our own equipment or rent it from a sporting goods store in Andermatt gave us pause. After more searching, I found a hostel called Basecamp Andermatt advising people not to do Via Ferrata Diavolo unless they have outdoor climbing experience. (And after Komoot redesigned its app this fall, it now gives this route a danger warning!)
Thus, we decided not to do it. We were going to be pressed for time anyway, and skipping the via ferrata meant we could make this a more relaxing hike. Here’s the route we ended up doing:
Calling this a “hike” is arguably an overstatement by Swiss standards. It’s really just a walk. But we are inarguably in the Alps!
Schöllenen Circular Trail (Schöllenenrundweg)
The official trail name is Schöllenenrundweg because it goes through the Schöllenen Gorge between Andermatt and Göschenen, which, as you may remember, is the town where we changed trains.
We considered biking it, but there are sections of the trail (notably the Military Tunnel) that aren’t accessible by bike, so we left the Bromptons in our hotel room. Though if we’d skipped the tunnel, it’s totally possible to bike this route. But it’s only an hour round trip by foot, so there really wasn’t any need to bike it. (Though, in hindsight, we could have biked from Göschenen to Andermatt instead of taking the train. An idea for a future trip!)
Not far out of Andermatt we came across this cute pedestrian tunnel under the highway (Gotthardstrasse).
However, it leads to a new development in Andermatt and is not the Schöllenen Trail to Devil’s Bridge. Note the little sign pointing right reads “Schöllenen” and in smaller print below “Teufelsbrücke”.
TIP: Hiking and biking signs in Switzerland are in the local language (in this part of the country, that’s Swiss-German), so if you only know what the sights are called in English, you might be a little lost.
I know now that if we were on bicycles, this pedestrian tunnel connects to the bike path that runs alongside Gotthardstrasse through the Urnerloch Tunnel. However, if you’re able to carry your bike down a flight of stairs, the trail is much more pleasant than being in a tunnel with cars!
In the photo above, note the red-and-white trail marker on the concrete structure – that’s the staircase that brings the trail down to Gotthard street level.
Before heading down the stairs, we stopped to look down at the highway and railway.
See the tiny red sign pointing to the highway part of the tunnel? Yes, it’s directing bikes to go that way.
Whereas all the hiking signs point into the person-sized door.
Notice how the hiking signs have time estimates to each place? I think these are much more useful than putting the distance in kilometres!
Devil’s Bridge (Teufelsbrücke)
The trail goes under the highway where, marked by this fun pitchfork, there’s a free museum of sorts that tells the story of the Devil’s Bridge.
As legend has it, the people of Uri recruited the Devil for the difficult task of building the bridge, and in exchange the Devil requested to receive the first thing to pass the bridge. Predictably, the Devil wanted a human soul, but the people tricked him and sent a goat instead!
At least that’s one version of the legend. And it explains the Devil and goat painted in red on the mountain beside the bridge.
NOTE: Underneath the Devil’s Bridge, which is now for cars (not people and goats), you can see the Schöllenen Trail heading in the direction of Göschenen. This is the part of the trail you can bike on!
Just past the pitchfork, we found the start of Via Ferrata Diavolo. Yes, this is all that marks this climbing route that heads STRAIGHT UP that cliff ridge from here. Yikes! Good thing we didn’t show up planning to climb it.
The Devil’s Bridge crosses the Schöllenen Gorge over the Reuss River far below. No wonder the bridge was so difficult to build!
Then we headed back to the Urnerloch Tunnel – big opening for motor vehicles, medium opening for trains, and tiny opening for pedestrians.
On the way back into Andermatt, we stopped to look the cog railway – this is what our train tomorrow would use to get up the steep mountainside to Oberalp Pass!
Dinner in Andermatt
We didn’t eat out much in Switzerland because it’s very expensive and the exchange rate for the Canadian dollar against the Swiss franc is pretty terrible. Usually, lunch and dinner consisted of pre-made meals from the Coop grocery store. But stores are closed on Sundays in Switzerland, so we had to eat out.
Andermatt is a very small town. We walked down its main street, past every restaurant that was open (about half a dozen), and after perusing the menu, decided to eat at The River House.
We made the right choice!
Up Next…
Tomorrow is the big day! The ride from the source of the Rhine River starts off with a screaming descent. So excited!
Rhine River Bike Tour – Other Blog Posts!
- DAY 1 – Rhine River Bike Tour: Cologne to Monheim (GERMANY)
- DAY 2 – Rhine River Bike Tour: Monheim to Dusseldorf (GERMANY)
- DAY 3 – Rhine River Tour: The Scenic Train to SWITZERLAND!
- DAY 4 – Cycle-Sightseeing in Zurich
- DAY 6 – Rhine River Bike Tour: SWITZERLAND – From the top! (Stage 1)
- DAY 7 – Rhine River Bike Tour: SWITZERLAND – Gorge(ous) views! (Stage 2)
- DAY 8 – Swiss Alps Hike & Toboggan
- DAY 9 – Rhine River Bike Tour: SWISS DOWNPOUR! (Stage 3)