Drei-Seen-Weg

At a Glance

• Start / Finish: Basel, Minster / Payerne, abbey church; the Camino Ninja map ends at km 188.3 on the edge of town
• Length: 188.3 km
• Duration: 8 stages, averaging just over 23 km; 9 to 10 days at a relaxed pace
• Elevation: ↗ 5,158 m / ↘ 4,954 m
• Highest point: 1,288 m at km 63.6 on the Raimeux, between Rebeuvelier and Moutier
• Landscape: the Leimental and Birs valleys, Jura folds with gorges and pastures, the high plateau of Bellelay, vineyards on Lake Biel, the flat vegetable country of the Grosse Moos, and finally the Broye plain
• Waymarking: yellow diamonds and signposts, and between Basel and Biel also the green panel with the white 80 of the Via Jura
• Traces of St. James: the church of Péry, attested as a St. James church in 884; a pilgrim path along Lake Biel documented since the 14th century, according to the association; at the finish, the former Cluniac church of Payerne
• Accommodation: monastery and the Burg Rotberg youth hostel near Mariastein, Centre Saint-François and the youth hostel in Delémont, B&Bs and hotels in the Jura and Seeland, Avenches youth hostel, Maison des Cadets in Payerne
• Connecting routes: Baslerweg and Lindau – Héricourt in Basel, Himmelreich Jakobsweg ending on the Rhine at Basel, Verbindungsweg Mariastein – Willisau from Flüh and Mariastein
• Best time: May to October; in winter there is often snow on the Raimeux and the Bellelay plateau

Overview

The Drei-Seen-Weg is the western of the two Camino routes that start in Basel. While the Baslerweg heads straight for Bern, this one swings through the French-speaking Jura and past Lakes Biel, Neuchâtel and Murten. Along the way you change cantons eight times: Basel-Stadt, Basel-Landschaft, Solothurn, Jura, Bern, Neuchâtel, Fribourg and Vaud. Eight cantons, two languages and a town that has only belonged to the canton of Jura since January 1, 2026 – Moutier voted for the switch in 2021 with 54.9 percent.

The route is older than the cult of St. James. For long stretches it follows the Roman road that linked Augusta Raurica near Basel with Aventicum, today's Avenches, and it leads through the rock gate of Pierre Pertuis, above which a Roman building inscription still stands. Honestly, the first third asks a lot of you: between Basel and Biel lie a good three quarters of the elevation gain. After that it turns flat, wine-soaked and, on some days, almost too short.

Other Names

The association lists the route as Drei Seen Weg and as the route Basel – Jura – Drei Seen, and older materials also call it Basel–Payerne. In English you'll read Three Lakes Way, in French Chemin des Trois-Lacs. Because between Basel and Biel the route largely follows the national hiking route Via Jura, the signs there often show its number 80. Most places have two names: Delémont is Delsberg, Moutier Münster, Biel Bienne, Murten Morat, Avenches Wiflisburg, Payerne Peterlingen.

Who It's Ideal For—and Who It's Not So Ideal For

Ideal if you want to walk from the big city on the Rhine to French-speaking Switzerland in a little over a week and you love variety: a monastery in a cave, lonely Jura heights, wine terraces, a medieval ring wall and a Roman amphitheater. Ideal, too, if you want to brush up your school French – from Soyhières on, people greet you with "Bonjour."

Honestly, though, it's not for you if you expect cheap pilgrim hostels a day's walk apart: real pilgrim beds exist in only a few places; otherwise it's B&Bs, inns and hotels at Swiss prices. Not for you if long mountain stages are hard on you – the day over the Raimeux is almost 30 kilometers with more than 1,000 meters of climbing. And not for you if you're after solitude by the water: on summer weekends at Lake Biel you share the path with day-trippers and wine hikers.

Route & Landscape

Basel to Biel (km 0–119.5): From the Minster you head through Birsfelden (km 3.2) and the Leimental via Therwil (km 12.9) and Flüh (km 18.6) up to Mariastein (km 19.5); Münchenstein and Oberwil lie just off the route. Via Kleinlützel (km 31.5) and Soyhières (km 39.7) you follow the Birs to Delémont (km 44.5). Then comes the big climb: via Courroux, Vicques and Rebeuvelier (km 57.4) onto the ridge of the Raimeux at 1,288 meters at km 63.6, and down to Moutier (km 73.0). Via Perrefitte and Les Ecorcheresses you reach the high plateau with the former monastery of Bellelay (km 91.1), then Tavannes (km 99.0), the Pierre Pertuis pass, Sonceboz-Sombeval (km 102.7), Péry (km 110.3) and, through the Taubenloch gorge area near Frinvillier, Biel/Bienne (km 119.5).

Biel to Payerne (km 119.5–188.3): On the north shore of Lake Biel you walk through the vines via Twann (km 128.7) and Ligerz (km 130.8) to La Neuveville (km 134.6); St. Peter's Island lies opposite in the lake and makes a side trip by boat or via the Heidenweg from Erlach. Via Le Landeron (km 138.1) and Erlach (km 143.0) you enter the Grosse Moos, Switzerland's flat vegetable garden, continue to Ins (km 149.2), over the Broye canal at Sugiez (km 156.4) and on to Murten/Morat (km 162.1) on Lake Murten. The last kilometers lead via Villarepos (km 171.5) to Avenches (km 174.9) and across the Broye plain to Payerne (km 187.4); Faoug and Domdidier lie just off the route.

Stages, Terrain, and Difficulty

We show the route in 8 stages; distances come from the Camino Ninja map, calibrated exactly to 188.3 km. The association divides the route more finely into 14 sections of 10 to 21 kilometers, for example with a stop on the Raimeux and in Kleinlützel – that makes sense if you want shorter days and can find the beds for them.

1. Basel → Mariastein (19.5 km) — Out of the city through Birsfelden and the Leimental, ending with a steep climb to the pilgrimage monastery.
2. Mariastein → Delémont (25.0 km) — Over the Jura heights to Kleinlützel, through the Birs valley past Soyhières and down into the capital of the canton of Jura.
3. Delémont → Moutier (28.5 km) — The queen stage: via Vicques and Rebeuvelier up the Raimeux, 1,288 m, and a long descent to Moutier.
4. Moutier → Tavannes (26.0 km) — Through Perrefitte and Les Ecorcheresses onto the Bellelay plateau, across Jura pastures to Tavannes.
5. Tavannes → Biel/Bienne (20.5 km) — Through the rock gate of Pierre Pertuis, via Sonceboz and Péry down the Suze valley to Biel.
6. Biel/Bienne → La Neuveville (15.1 km) — Vineyards, Twann, the church of Ligerz; short enough for a side trip to St. Peter's Island.
7. La Neuveville → Murten/Morat (27.5 km) — Le Landeron, Erlach, the dead-straight Grosse Moos with Ins and Sugiez, all the way to Lake Murten.
8. Murten/Morat → Payerne (26.2 km) — Via Villarepos into Roman Avenches and across the Broye plain to the abbey church; if you split the stage, sleep in Avenches.

The difficulty lies in the first five days. The descent from the Raimeux is long and slippery when wet, the Jura paths are often rooty limestone trails, while in the Seeland you walk a lot on farm tracks and asphalt. Sure footing is enough; there are no scrambling sections.

Paternus, Twice: A Roman Signed This Road

Between Tavannes and Sonceboz, at 827 meters, you walk through a rock. Pierre Pertuis, "the pierced stone," is a natural rock gate that the Romans widened because this is where the road from Augusta Raurica to Aventicum crossed the watershed between the Birs and the Suze. Above the north entrance the 3rd-century building inscription still stands, written out in full: "NUMINIBUS AUGUSTORUM VIA DUCTA PER MARCUM DUNIUM PATERNUM IIVIRUM COLONIAE HELVETIORUM" – "To the divine powers of the emperors: the road was built by Marcus Dunius Paternus, duumvir of the colony of the Helvetii." The colony is Aventicum, today's Avenches, which you pass on your last day.

Until the early 20th century, all traffic squeezed through the hole. Between 1914 and 1918 army engineers built a new pass road, inaugurated in 1932, and since November 1997 the A16 motorway has been rolling beneath you in a 2,100-meter tunnel. So you have the rock gate to yourself again.

The second Paternus waits at the finish. Payerne goes back to the Villa Paternia, the 3rd-century estate of Publius Graccius Paternus; in 961 the place appears in the charters as Paterniacum. So the Drei-Seen-Weg doesn't begin as a pilgrim path but as a Roman highway – with a Paternus's signature in the middle and a Paternus's name at the end. In practical terms: allow ten minutes at Pierre Pertuis; the inscription is readable from the path.

Highlights Along the Way

• Basel Minster (km 0) — consecrated in 1019 in the presence of Emperor Henry II, badly damaged in the earthquake of 1356, Protestant since 1529; the Gallus Portal from around 1150/1170 shows the Last Judgment, and Erasmus of Rotterdam, who died in 1536, is buried in the Minster.
• Mariastein (km 19.5) — the chapel of grace in a rock grotto, 59 steps below the monastery church; the legend of the rescued shepherd child is recorded in writing in 1442, and in 1541 the nobleman Hans Thüring Reich von Reichenstein survived a fall here. Benedictines since 1648, expelled in 1874, re-established in 1971, a basilica since 1926.
• Notre-Dame du Vorbourg near Delémont (km 44.5) — a pilgrimage chapel on a rocky spur, said by tradition to have been consecrated in 1049 by Pope Leo IX, a scion of the lords of Egisheim; just under 2 kilometers from the center.
• Moutier (km 73.0) — founded around 640 as a monastery in the "great valley"; Abbot Germanus died a martyr in 675; the Moutier-Grandval Bible, written in Tours around 840, has been in the British Library in London since 1836.
• Bellelay (km 91.1) — a Premonstratensian abbey founded in 1136, named, according to legend, after the wild sow that Provost Siginand was hunting: "belle laie," beautiful sow. Baroque church by Franz Beer, 1708–1714, cheese documented as early as 1192 – Tête de Moine comes from here.
• Pierre Pertuis (between km 99.0 and 102.7) — the Roman rock gate with Paternus's inscription.
• Péry (km 110.3) — first mentioned in 884, with a church of St. James; Protestant since the Reformation of 1530, the current building dates from 1706 with a Gothic core.
• Twann and Ligerz (km 128.7 and 130.8) — wine villages first mentioned in 1185 and 1178; since 2010 the Reformed parish has officially been called "Pilgerweg Bielersee" (Lake Biel Pilgrim Way). Friedrich Dürrenmatt set the opening of "Der Richter und sein Henker" (The Judge and His Hangman) in 1950 on the road above Twann.
• St. Peter's Island (opposite km 131.3, side trip) — given to Cluny in 1107, a priory until 1484; Jean-Jacques Rousseau lived here for six weeks in 1765 and later wrote: "De toutes les habitations où j'ai demeuré, aucune ne m'a rendu si véritablement heureux … que l'île de Saint-Pierre au milieu du lac de Bienne." (Of all the places I have lived, none made me so truly happy … as St. Peter's Island in the middle of Lake Biel.)
• Murten/Morat (km 162.1) — a ring wall you can walk; outside the town the Swiss Confederates defeated Charles the Bold on June 22, 1476, and around 10,000 Burgundians fell; the obelisk has stood since 1822.
• Avenches (km 174.9) — Aventicum, a colony under Vespasian around AD 70, at times home to more than 20,000 people, with 5.2 kilometers of city wall and an amphitheater for up to 16,000 spectators; in 1939 the golden bust of Marcus Aurelius was found here.
• Payerne Abbey Church (km 187.4) — founded around 961–965 as a Cluniac priory at the instigation of Empress Adelaide, an 11th-century church; after the Reformation of 1536 a granary, bell foundry, barracks and prison, restored from 2007 for around 20 million francs.

How Pilgrims Find Their Way onto This Path

Basel is a hub. From the north, the Himmelreich Jakobsweg from the Black Forest ends on the Rhine, and the Lindau – Héricourt runs through the city from Lake Constance heading west. If you start in Basel, you have two Swiss continuations:

• Baslerweg — the direct route across the Swiss Plateau to Bern
• Drei-Seen-Weg — the detour via the Jura, Lake Biel and Murten to Payerne

At Flüh and Mariastein the Verbindungsweg Mariastein – Willisau also branches off to the east; if you're coming from there, you join the Drei-Seen-Weg here or leave it toward Central Switzerland.

Continue the pilgrimage?

Yes, but with a gap in the map. On the Camino Ninja map the Drei-Seen-Weg ends in Payerne without another route connecting there: the main line of the Via Jacobi runs farther east via Fribourg, Romont and Moudon. The association does, however, list a variant of the Via Jacobi from Fribourg via Payerne to Moudon; on it you walk from Payerne to Moudon in one day and are back on the main line, which leads via Lausanne to Geneva. From Geneva the French routes continue toward Le Puy-en-Velay and Santiago.

If you stop in Payerne, take the train back via Fribourg or Lausanne.

Preparation & Practical Information

Pilgrim passport and app. As on all Swiss Camino routes, you need a pilgrim passport (credencial) to stay in pilgrim lodgings and monasteries and to document your journey; if you later continue all the way to Santiago, it lets you collect your stamps for the Compostela from Basel onward. It's best to order it online in advance so it reaches you in time for the start of your trip – from the Verein Jakobsweg Schweiz – Compostelle Suisse it costs 12 CHF (approx. 13 €) (as of October 2026). You get stamps in monasteries, parish offices and many accommodations. With the Camino Ninja App you have the map and track offline; the easiest way to plan the route is right in the app, where you put your stages together and plan suitable accommodation at the same time.

Accommodation. The association's list includes beds in Mariastein, Kleinlützel, Delémont, Perrefitte, Sonceboz, Biel, La Neuveville, Ins, Münchenwiler near Murten, Avenches and Payerne. In Moutier, Tavannes and Murten you'll find hotels but no pilgrim lodgings – book ahead there. The youth hostels in Mariastein and Avenches have seasonal opening times; check them before you set off.

Language and season. Between Soyhières and Biel and from Murten on, French is the everyday language; Biel is officially bilingual. May to October is the best time; in spring snow lingers on the Raimeux and around Bellelay, and in high summer the Grosse Moos and the Broye plain offer little shade. Since December 2024 trains no longer stop in Ligerz; replacement buses run there.

What the journey will cost you

Switzerland is expensive, and cheap pilgrim beds are rare. According to the association's accommodation list, the Mariastein monastery costs 30–50 CHF (approx. 32–53 €), the Centre Saint-François in Delémont 50–80 CHF (approx. 53–84 €), a B&B in Kleinlützel 90 CHF (approx. 95 €), B&Bs in Biel and La Neuveville 50–80 CHF (approx. 53–84 €), a private room in Ins 55 CHF (approx. 58 €), Münchenwiler Castle 50–80 CHF (approx. 53–84 €); hotels in Perrefitte and Sonceboz are over 80 CHF (over 84 €), hotels in La Neuveville around 80–150 CHF (approx. 84–160 €) (all as of October 2026; the list is undated).

Budget 90–150 CHF (approx. 95–160 €) per day for bed, breakfast and dinner; with youth hostels and a picnic from the village shop it's cheaper. On top of that come the association's pilgrim passport and route booklet at 12 CHF (approx. 13 €) each.

Getting Here

To the start. Basel SBB is one of Switzerland's largest train stations, with direct trains from Germany and France; from Basel Badischer Bahnhof and from Basel SBB the tram takes you to the Minster in a few minutes. Basel-Mulhouse Airport is on French soil, with a bus to Basel SBB.

From the finish. Payerne lies on the rail lines toward Fribourg, Yverdon and Lausanne; you're back in Basel with one change in a little over two hours. Murten, Avenches, Biel and Delémont also have train stations, in case you want to stop earlier or skip individual stages.

• Rail: sbb.ch — connections to Basel and from Payerne
• Route and accommodation: jakobswegschweiz-compostellesuisse.ch — association, pilgrim passport, route booklet
• Boat: bielersee.ch — Lake Biel boat service, including to St. Peter's Island