Highlights: Chur, Maienfeld (and nearby Heidi’s Home), views of Vaduz Castle and Liechtenstein.
Route 2: Section 3 (Chur 562m–Buchs SG 447m)
Stats from SwitzerlandMobility.ch (veloland.ch/en/routes/route/etappe/etappe-01268.html): 49km, elevation 300m (420m in opposite direction). Their site has the full profile.
Shares its entire path with Eurovelo 15, and from Sargans to Buchs with Route 9:09.
May 2022
This is the last section for this mini-vacation. The weather is not ideal as there is a 30km/h wind blowing against me and heavy clouds dropping some light rain here and there. But the ebike makes it possible to push through the inclement weather.
Left Chur (churtourismus.ch/?&L=4) (see 6:01 and 2:02) the path goes through the Rhine valley and its vineyards, hugged by steep mountains.
I think the nicest village crossed in this section is Maienfeld. Although many tourists come here to visit Heidi’s village (yes, it is precisely the world-famous children’s character), I detoured inside the historic village. Here there are some decorated medieval buildings, narrow alleyways and a tower now housing a restaurant.
Than, after a few gentle hills, the route descends to the Rhine’s banks.
From Sargans (which is off-path and covered in Route 9:9) to Buchs, the trail continues along the Rhine, in full view of Liechtenstein and its capital Vaduz at the foot of high mountains. Indeed, here the river marks the border between the 2 countries, and several bridges allow tourists to hop to the other side.
At Sevelen there is the only remaining wooden bridge (built in 1901) across the Rhine to Liechtenstein.
Here, particularly nice is the view of the Castle (13thcentury and extended in the 16th and 17th centuries) perched on the hills overlooking the capital Vaduz.
I arrived in Buchs SG right in time to catch the first of my numerous train connections for a 5+hr journey back home. In fact, I chose to skip the faster IC trains because those now require a bike reservation, and if the spot is taken then one cannot board it :(.
Links to Introduction and other Sections:
- BIKING THROUGH SWITZERLAND (with an electric bike)
- Route 2: Section 1 – Andermatt to Disentis
- Route 2: Section 2 – Disentis to Chur
- Route 2 (Rhine Route): Section 5 – St. Margrethen to Kreuzlingen
- Route 2: Section 6 – Kreuzlingen to Schaffhausen
- Route 2: Section 7 – Schaffhausen to Bad Zurzach
- Route 2: Section 8 – Bad Zurzach to Rheinfelden
- Route 2: Section 9-end – Rheinfelden to Basel
- Route 6: Section 1 – Chur to Thusis
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