Highlights: beautiful sites between Brugg and Aarau (see 5:03)
June 2020
Stats from SwitzerlandMobility for route 8:07 (https://www.schweizmobil.ch/en/cycling-in-switzerland/routes/route/etappe-0910.html): 43km, 260m elevation (300m in the opposite direction). The altitude is around 350m.
Yeah! With this final part I completed Aare Route 8, a journey that I started more than 3 years ago in April 2017. And this is my 4th completed National Bike Route after the Rhone Route 1, the Jura Route 7, and the North-South Route 3.
The souther part of this section, from Aarau to Brugg, coincides with Route 5:03, which I covered in May 2018, and so I skipped today.
But to extend the trip and make it more diverse I drew a loop with start /end in Brugg. It comprises segments of 3 routes:
- Brugg-Koblenz (route 8:07 for 22km)
- Koblenz-Bad Zurzach (route 2:08 for 7 km)
- Bad Zurzach- Brugg (route 77:03 for 20 km).
Overall it is an easy ride, barely putting a dent in my battery, but not one of the most beautiful segments .
In Brugg AG, Canton Aargau, (www.schweizmobil.ch/en/services/places/ort-0510.html) I spent some time touring the old town (see also 5:03).
The village (whose name means Bridge) was founded by the Habsburgs as a strategic settlement at the confluence of 3 rivers: Aare, Reuss and Limmat. The dynasty moved here in the middle of the 13th century from Habsburg. Brugg remained their main site until they transferred to Austria.
The Schwarze Turm (black tower), built in the 12th century, sits right on the river, at the entrance of the town.
Another landmark is the elaborate 17th century facade of the Lateinschulhaus (Latin school).
A beautiful historic site nearby, well worth a visit (but seen previously in 5:03), is the complex of the gothic Königsfelden Friary, built in the 1300s (very important collection of European medieval glass painting) (https://www.schweizmobil.ch/en/sehenswuerdigkeit-0381.html ) and the nearby Vindonissa Legionnaires camp (https://www.schweizmobil.ch/en/sehenswuerdigkeit-0384.html ). Both can be of interest to children.
Left Brugg, the path follows the river Aare, winding between developments and crop fields, without a particularly picturesque scenery.
In Koblenz, Route 8 as well as the river come to an end. Here, the Aare enters into the Rhine forming a large open water basin at the border with Germany (Custom check-point), where the Rhine river draws a natural border.
Then I continued eastward along the Rhine (route 2:08) to Bad Zurzach.
In Bad Zurzach I turned south to return to Brugg via route 77:03 (https://www.schweizmobil.ch/en/cycling-in-switzerland/routes/route/etappe-0892.html).
But before leaving town I got a glimpse of Verena Minster, a church built in 1600s in honor of St Verena (4th century). The saint, buried here, is one of the most important in Switzerland. The site is also a stop for pilgrims to the grave of St. Verena.
Route 77:03 to Brugg is more pastoral than the previous sections, but with a few intense hills.
Links to Introduction and other Sections:
- BIKING THROUGH SWITZERLAND (with an electric bike)
- Route 8 : Section 1 – Gletsch to Meiringen
Route 8: Section 2 – Meiringen to Spiez - Route 8: Section 3 – Spiez to Bern
- Route 8: Section 4 – Bern to Biel / Bienne
- Route 8: Section 5 (Biel-Solothurn)
- Route 8: Section 6 (Solothurn–Aarau)
- Route 5: Section 3 – Kloten to Aarau
- Route 2: Section 8 (Bad Zurzach–Rheinfelden)
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