5 Things to do in Walensee

Walensee is an unforgettable Swiss alpine lake, a short drive or train ride east of Zurich, and part of the holiday region known as “Heidiland”, named after Johanna Spyri’s world-famous Heidi story.

The imposing steep vertical cliffs rising out of the northern side of the lake is part of the Churfirsten mountain chain while the other side of the lake is the popular winter sports and hiking region of the Flumserberg.

5 Things to do in Walensee

Boat Ride

A boat ride is always a great way to explore a lake in Switzerland.
Unfortunately, the GA or Half-price card is not valid on the boats on Walensee.

We started our day by taking the boat from Weesen to Au.
After a short hike, we later took the boat from Quinten to Betlis. This cost us CHF 15.70 per person.

Tip: Kids (from 6 – 16) ride free on the first Saturday of every month.

Hiking

You can do many hikes along the lake. With three small kids we opted to do the short 20 minutes hike from Au to Quinten followed by a longer hike from Betlis to Weesen.

It was an easy hike from Au to Quinten. We walked along vineyards with gorgeous views of the lake on our left.

Quinten is an incredibly steep part of Switzerland reaching from 419m above sea level (mean level of the Walensee) to 2193m above sea level. It is also one of Switzerland’s car-free towns that is popular with tourists due to its almost Mediterranean climate. Reachable only by boat or on foot, it is well protected from the cold north winds allowing certain types of grapes, kiwis, figs and other southern fruits to grow here.

There are a number of fantastic looking restaurants by the boat pier. Had the boats been more frequent, we’d certainly have stopped for some food and drinks there.

We took the 20 minutes boat ride from Quinten to Betlis in order to skip the tougher hike in between which had steep inclines. We could see the mighty Seerenbach Falls (nearly 720 meters high) as we approached Betlis from the boat.

The lady in the boat told us that a cave system was discovered behind the walls a number of years ago. The only way to get there was to dive six meters deep into the lake to get there.

Getting off in Betlis, we passed by some serious picnickers with their foldable picnic tables, chairs and tablecloths as we headed up towards the Restaurant Burg-Strahlegg in search of some refreshments.

We did a small detour to Burgruine Strahlegg much to the kids’ delight.

The service at the restaurant was incredibly (and I REALLY mean incredibly) slow but the kids loved the playground and 2 year old Kion enjoyed chasing after the chickens. Unfortunately, the menu here was rather basic – salad, cheese and sausages, and to the kids’ dismay, no fries.

After the nice break and having enjoyed some really good homemade potato salad, Alpine cheese and drinks with a view, we started making our way back down towards the lake.

From there we walked west towards our car that was parked in Weesen. The walk was flat and easy.

As it was a little brutal because of the hot sun, we made a few small stops so the boys could touch the water and give them the little burst of energy.

Walking through the tunnels truly helped give us some cold respite from the hot sun.
Not to mention of course, the most beautiful views of Walensee.

Overall, it was a great hike with the kids. I look forward to doing it from Au all the way to Weesen someday.

Grilling

The fun part about being in Switzerland is grilling outdoors with world-class views. We grilled early on in the day at the grillplatz between Au and Quinten.

As the men were busy trying to start a fire (which unfortunately failed as it had rained the day before and it was impossible to find any dry sticks and wood), the kids had fun climbing along the rocks by the lake.

Unfortunately, it started to rain when we started to grill, and we quickly ran for shade at a little hut before making our way onwards to Quinten.

Swimming

There were many spots we saw with people swimming along our hikes. However, the spot that made the biggest impression on me was Lago Mio. Just look at the crystal clear waters!

Visit the largest Theme Playground in Switzerland

The “Spielerlebnis Walensee” concept presents six themed playgrounds on the shores of Lake Walensee. They are connected by the ferry line and by an adventure game – help solve the mystery of a sunken ghost ship.

Sadly, we only had time to enjoy the playground in Weesen.

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It was a fantastic day out on Walensee. We were told that a good time to come back is in the autumn for the chestnuts in Murg.

Have you been? I’d love to hear any other things to do in Walensee that you might know of.