The Alpenpanoramaweg is one of the Swiss national hiking routes, signposted as number 3. It should not be confused with the similarly named Alpine Pass Route, and the character is quite different. This Alpenpanoramaweg is much lower altitude, much easier hiking, and aims to provide views of the Alps (from the North) rather than cutting a path through the heart. Nevertheless, the name "Alpenpanoramaweg" is translated into English on some websites as "Alpine Panorama Trail", which sounds quite similar, especially if either is reduced to the initials APR / APT.
Number of Days: | Variable, maybe 25-30 |
Approx dist: | 505 km (314 miles) |
Climb: | 19200 m (11.9 miles, or 2.2 Everests) |
Descent: | 19200 m (11.9 miles, or 2.2 Everests) |
Highest point: | Kronberg, 1670 m |
Lowest point: | Lac Léman, 390 m |
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The Alpenpanoramaweg from the Bodensee (at Rorschach) to Lac Léman (at Genève). |
This Panoramaweg route also crosses Switzerland from East to West (or in the opposite direction, obviously) but north of the Alpine Pass Route.
Starting from Rorschach on the shores of the Bodensee (Lake Constance), it traces a route southwestwards past the Walensee, Zürichsee and Zugersee into central Switzerland, passing through Luzern (Lucerne) by the Vierwaldstättersee. Then it passes South of Bern into canton Fribourg and crosses the language barrier, looping through Gruyères on its way to Lac Léman. Reaching the lake near Vevey, it then follows the northern shore of the lake past Lausanne and Nyon to reach Genève (Geneva / Genf) after around 500 kilometres.
This route is then quite a bit longer than the Alpine Pass Route but much lower (it never goes above 1700 metres) and with overall slightly less climb and descent. Whereas a typical day on the Alpine Pass Route might involve an arduous climb to a pass and a descent into the next valley, on this panoramaweg you're often strolling through farmland, along ridges or through forests with hopefully some panoramas out over the plains to the north or to the Alps to the south.
The route is well signposted in both directions using the green patch on the yellow signposts. Of course there may be temporary diversions in force at various times, due to forestry, maintenance or shooting activities along the way — in this case the diversion (Umleitung) should also be clearly marked but may obviously add some extra distance to the hike.
Obviously with a route of this length, there are many ways to vary the route, to just do certain sections of the route, to take diversions in order to find appropriate accommodation and so on. One way to plan your version of the route is to use the Trek planner to specify what distance / climb / descent is comfortable for you, where you want to spend the night and where you want to break up your journey into separate trips.
In terms of accommodation, there's everything from sleeping on hay in draughty barns to four-star hotels. Especially in the western half though, the route makes detours around places you might want to spend the night (for example, Vevey). In this case you can use one of the plentiful bus stops to get into the centre, and get the bus back to the trail the next morning.
Also I'd recommend to be flexible with your start and end points. If you're coming by train to Rorschach, then there's not much point in going westwards to the Hafen just because that's where the signposts start — just start from Rorschach. You can conveniently dip your feet in the Bodensee there if you wish to start with a ceremony.
Similarly, I don't feel that it's vital to end at Genève train station. If you want to just get to the Bodensee, then aim for Vevey or Montreux. Or if Lausanne is a convenient end point as far as long-distance trains go, then make that your end point.