Schaffhauser-Zürcher-Weg

At a Glance

• Start / Finish: Blumberg (Baden-Württemberg) / Rapperswil-Jona on Lake Zurich; the Camino Ninja map ends at km 111.6 in the old town
• Length: 111.6 km, the first 6 to 12 km or so in Germany, the rest in the cantons of Schaffhausen and Zurich
• Duration: 5 stages, averaging just over 22 km; with an overnight stop in Flaach or Buch am Irchel, 6 days
• Elevation: ↗ 2,079 m / ↘ 2,367 m
• Highest point: 919 m at km 10.9 on the Randen, close to the border
• Landscape: Jura limestone and dry meadows on the Randen, the Rhine valley with the Rhine Falls and the Rhine loop, vineyards on the Irchel, forests around Winterthur, moorland at Lake Pfäffikon, and finally views of the Obersee
• Waymarking: in Switzerland along the yellow-signed hiking trails, shell markers not continuous
• Traces of St. James: Count Eberhard von Nellenburg, founder of Allerheiligen, recorded as an 11th-century pilgrim to Santiago; old pilgrim inns; the pilgrim bridge of 1358 to Hurden; the Hospitaller commandery of Bubikon
• Accommodation: youth hostels in Schaffhausen and Rapperswil-Jona, the Pilgerherberge Rapperswil (25 CHF with pilgrim passport), otherwise B&Bs, inns, and hotels
• Connecting routes: Via Jacobi and Via Jacobi Bregenz in Rapperswil-Jona, Thurgauer Klosterweg as far as Feuerthalen, Neckar-Baar-Jakobsweg in Blumberg, Lindau – Héricourt between Schaffhausen and the Rhine Falls
• Best time: April to October; that's also when the Pilgerherberge Rapperswil and the museum at the Ritterhaus Bubikon are open

Overview

The Schaffhauser-Zürcher-Weg is a feeder route, and an honest one: it links southern Baden-Württemberg to the Swiss pilgrim network and ends not in Santiago but in Rapperswil, where the Via Jacobi carries on across Lake Zurich to Einsiedeln. In between, five days pack in a remarkable density of sights: the Allerheiligen minster in Schaffhausen, the Rhine Falls, the baroque monastery on the island of Rheinau, the old town of Winterthur, Kyburg Castle, and finally the Ritterhaus Bubikon. The route only opened as a continuous trail in 2015; the initiators around Leo Schmid traced the old line partly through inn signs – "Engel", "Sternen", and "Dreikönige" (Angel, Star, Three Kings) were once pilgrim hostels.

Right at the start there's a punchline from railway history. The Sauschwänzlebahn, whose viaduct you see at Epfenhofen, was built by 1890 with spiral loops and tunnels through the edge of the Black Forest because it was expressly forbidden to cross Swiss territory – a military project designed to avoid the shortcut through the neighboring country. Two hours later, you simply walk across. Honestly, though, the Zurich lowlands that follow are no wilderness trail: from Winterthur on, the land gets more built-up, and some stretches run on asphalt and alongside railway tracks.

Other Names

On Camino Ninja the route is called the Schaffhauser-Zürcher-Weg, which is also how the route descriptions of the Swiss Ways of St. James list it. At its opening and in the association's route guide it goes by the shorter Zürcherweg, and the brochure is titled "Jakobsweg Blumberg – Schaffhausen – Rapperswil". French-language association pages call it one of the feeder routes of the Chemins de Compostelle en Suisse. Because the first kilometers to Schaffhausen are identical with the Thurgauer Klosterweg, stage portals also use the double name Zürcher- und Klosterweg for the Blumberg–Schaffhausen section.

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

Ideal if you want to walk from southern Germany into Switzerland and on toward Einsiedeln without first traveling to Lake Constance. Ideal if you want to see a lot in a week: two monastery towns, a waterfall, two castles, a commandery, and a lake at the end. And ideal as a trial run before a longer pilgrimage, because almost every stage town has a train station and you can stop at any time.

Honestly, though, it's not for you if you expect a network of pilgrim hostels: apart from Rapperswil there is no dedicated hostel, so you'll sleep in youth hostels, B&Bs, and inns and pay Swiss prices. Not for you if you're looking for solitude – after the Randen and the Irchel, the land between Winterthur and Wetzikon turns into suburban sprawl. And not for you if you need the shell at every junction: in Switzerland you follow the yellow hiking signposts for long stretches and need a map or app.

Route & Landscape

Blumberg to Rheinau (km 0–37.1): From the parish church in Blumberg the route heads east via Epfenhofen (km 3.9) onto the Randen, a limestone plateau of the Tabular Jura with dry meadows and beech forest. At kilometer 10.9 you reach the highest point at 919 meters, and somewhere between kilometers 6 and 12 you cross the border without a barrier. The descent passes Hemmental – the village lies just under a kilometer off the route – down to Schaffhausen (km 25.3). There you cross the Rhine to Feuerthalen (km 26.0) and Flurlingen (km 28.3) and follow the Zurich bank downstream to the Rhine Falls; Neuhausen (km 30.3) lies opposite, a good 700 meters off the route. Another seven kilometers bring you to Rheinau (km 37.1), where the Rhine wraps a double loop around the monastery island.

Rheinau to Rapperswil-Jona (km 37.1–111.6): The Rhine falls behind as the route crosses the Zurich wine country via Flaach (km 47.2) up onto the Irchel to Buch am Irchel (km 51.8, 533 m) and via Neftenbach (km 57.2) to Winterthur (km 63.8), whose center lies a good 600 meters off the route. Beyond the city it runs through the forests of the Eschenberg to Kyburg and up into the Zürcher Oberland: Russikon (km 82.7, 621 m), Pfäffikon (km 87.6) on Lake Pfäffikon, past Wetzikon (km 93.8) and Grüt to Bubikon (km 104.3) with its Ritterhaus. The last seven kilometers drop via Kempraten to the Obersee and Rapperswil-Jona (km 111.4); the map ends at km 111.6.

Stages, Terrain, and Difficulty

We show the route in 5 stages that follow the division of the association's route guide. Kilometers come from the Camino Ninja map, calibrated exactly to 111.6 km. The short second stage is intentional and leaves time for the Rhine Falls and the monastery island. If you prefer shorter days, split the third stage in Flaach or Buch am Irchel.

1. Blumberg → Schaffhausen (25.3 km) — the mountain stage: via Epfenhofen onto the Randen up to 919 m, the border, a long descent to Schaffhausen; few places to stop for food along the way.
2. Schaffhausen → Rheinau (11.8 km) — flat along the Rhine via Feuerthalen and Flurlingen to the Rhine Falls and on to the monastery island.
3. Rheinau → Winterthur (26.7 km) — through the wine country via Flaach, up onto the Irchel and via Neftenbach into the city; the longest stage.
4. Winterthur → Pfäffikon (23.8 km) — over the Eschenberg to Kyburg and through rolling hills via Russikon to Lake Pfäffikon.
5. Pfäffikon → Rapperswil-Jona (24.0 km) — along Lake Pfäffikon, via Wetzikon and Bubikon with its Ritterhaus to Lake Zurich.

Nothing here is technically difficult; the paths are wide and mostly easy underfoot. The first day is the tough one: it brings most of the climbing, and on the Randen there's nowhere to stop for a long time. After that, the elevation adds up more in many small waves. According to the stage descriptions, about a third of the route runs on asphalt or roads, mainly through the villages and towns around Winterthur and Wetzikon.

The Prior Who Abolished His Own Monastery – and Then Wrote Switzerland Down

The Ritterhaus Bubikon, seven kilometers before the finish, is considered the best-preserved commandery of the Order of St. John in Europe. It was founded between 1191 and 1198, with 1192 traditionally given as the founding year: Baron Diethelm V of Toggenburg gave the order disputed estates, apparently in part to rid himself of a quarrel; Reeve Rudolf von Rapperswil is named as co-founder – the lord of the very town where your walk ends. The foundation is documented by two undated charters and a donor painting bearing the year 1192. The order itself had begun as a pilgrim hospital, the "Hospital of St. John beyond the sea" in Jerusalem, and in Bubikon, too, caring for the poor was part of its mission.

The real story begins in 1522. That's when Johannes Stumpf, a young Hospitaller from Bruchsal, becomes prior in Bubikon. He joins Zwingli; in spring 1525 the house is plundered; Stumpf pushes for the secularization of his own convent; by 1528 it is dissolved, and in 1529 the prior marries. And then he does what he's still known for today: in Bubikon he works on a chronicle of the Swiss Confederation, and a manuscript from 1535 bears the place name "Bubickon". In 1547/48 his "Gemeiner loblicher Eydgnoschafft Stetten, Landen vnd Völckeren Chronick" (Chronicle of the Towns, Lands, and Peoples of the Praiseworthy Confederation) appears in Zurich in two volumes with some 400 woodcuts – the first great book of Swiss geography and history. The man who abolished his monastery wrote Switzerland its memory.

The commandery survived as an administrative seat until the Grand Prior sold it in 1789 for 100,000 guilders to Hans Georg Escher, who passed it on to Zurich in 1790 for 108,241 guilders. Since 1936 the Ritterhausgesellschaft has looked after the buildings, and since 1941 they have housed a museum. In practical terms: plan the last stage so you reach Bubikon in the afternoon. The museum is open from April 1 to October 31, Tuesday to Friday 1–5 p.m., weekends 10 a.m.–5 p.m., admission 10 CHF (approx. 11 €) (as of October 2026). Inside you'll find the chapel with its murals, the order's coin collection, and an herb garden laid out on a medieval model.

Highlights Along the Way

• Epfenhofen Viaduct (km 3.9) — a 264-meter-long, 34-meter-high steel bridge of the Sauschwänzlebahn, built in 1888/89; the line opened in 1890 and has run as a heritage railway since 1977.
• Randen (km 5.5–18.9) — limestone plateau on the border, highest point of the route at 919 m at km 10.9; nearby, the Hagen at 912 m is the highest point in the canton of Schaffhausen.
• Allerheiligen in Schaffhausen (km 25.3) — Benedictine monastery founded in 1049 by Count Eberhard von Nellenburg, Romanesque minster, cloister with the founder's tomb, museum; in the garden, the Schiller Bell of 1486.
• Munot (km 25.3) — circular fortress above the old town, built from 1564 to 1589 on ideas by Albrecht Dürer; every evening at 9 p.m. the Munot watchman rings the little bell.
• Rhine Falls (km 30.3) — 23 meters high, 150 meters wide, around 600 cubic meters per second in summer; especially close-up from the Zurich bank at Schloss Laufen.
• Rheinau Monastery Island (km 37.1) — Benedictine abbey founded around 778, baroque church of 1710 with a twin-tower façade; dissolved in 1862, a psychiatric clinic from 1867 to 2000, a "music island" since 2014.
• Winterthur (km 63.8) — founded around 1200 by the Counts of Kyburg, with the town church of St. Laurentius and a string of major art museums.
• Kyburg Castle (stage 4) — first mentioned in 1079, Habsburg from 1264, Zurich's from 1424; a museum since 1865, the first castle museum in Switzerland.
• Lake Pfäffikon (km 87.6–93.8) — moorland; in Robenhausen, Jakob Messikommer discovered the pile-dwelling settlement in 1858, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2011.
• Ritterhaus Bubikon (km 104.3) — Hospitaller commandery from 1192, museum with chapel and herb garden.
• Rapperswil (km 111.4) — castle from the early 13th century, home of the Polish Museum since 1870, old town on the lake.

The Bridge of 1358: Where Your Route Hands Over to the Via Jacobi

Rapperswil owes its status as a pilgrim hub to one builder. On July 24, 1358, Duke Rudolf IV of Austria had the first oak piles driven into the lakebed, and two years later a wooden bridge about 1.4 kilometers long to Hurden was finished. Merchants used it as much as pilgrims bound for Einsiedeln and pilgrims of St. James on their way to Santiago. The loose planks were deliberately left unnailed: a storm was supposed to carry off only boards, not the bridge. In 1551 the stone Heilig Hüsli ("little holy house"), a bridge chapel, was added; in 1878 the causeway replaced the bridge, and the chapel stood alone in the water for 123 years. Since April 6, 2001, an 841-meter wooden boardwalk has once again led across.

What this means for you: your route ends in Rapperswil, but the next step is already built. If you still have energy at the finish, walk the few minutes to the boardwalk in the evening and look at where tomorrow's path goes – across the lake, past the Heilig Hüsli, to Hurden.

How Pilgrims Find Their Way onto This Path

Most come from the north, via Blumberg. Two routes end or cross here:

• Neckar-Baar-Jakobsweg — from Horb am Neckar via Rottweil and the Baar; if you walk it, you can carry on seamlessly in Blumberg.
• Thurgauer Klosterweg — the sibling route from Blumberg: the same line as far as Feuerthalen, then east through Thurgau to the Hospitaller commandery at Tobel.

In Schaffhausen and at the Rhine Falls the route also crosses the Lindau – Héricourt Way of St. James, which follows the High Rhine from Constance to Basel; between Schaffhausen and Neuhausen the two share a few kilometers along the river. If you're coming that way and want to head for Einsiedeln instead of Basel, switch onto this route in Schaffhausen.

Continue the pilgrimage?

Yes – that's the whole point of this route. In Rapperswil-Jona you meet the Via Jacobi, the main Swiss route from Lake Constance via Einsiedeln to Geneva, where it connects to the French routes. The next stage leads across the boardwalk to Hurden and over the Etzel to the monastery village of Einsiedeln. The Via Jacobi Bregenz from the Appenzell region also ends in Rapperswil-Jona, so from here on you'll rarely walk alone.

From Rapperswil it's still around 2,000 kilometers to Santiago de Compostela, as the initiators calculated at the opening. If you don't want to go that far: for many Swiss pilgrims, Einsiedeln is the first big goal, two days beyond the lake.

Preparation & Practical Information

Pilgrim passport and app. As on all Swiss Ways of St. James, you need a pilgrim passport (credencial) to stay in the pilgrim hostel and to document your journey; if the Compostela in Santiago matters to you, this is where you start collecting your stamps. 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 can get stamps in several churches along the way and at your 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 together your stages and plan suitable accommodation as you go.

Accommodation. There's a true pilgrim hostel only at the finish: the Pilgerherberge Rapperswil at Seestrasse 5, one dormitory with 12 beds, open from April 1 to October 31, arrival 4–7 p.m., cash only in CHF, no dogs. In between you'll find youth hostels in Schaffhausen and Rapperswil-Jona, B&Bs in Flaach, Buch am Irchel, Wetzikon, Grüt, and Bubikon, and hotels in Schaffhausen and Winterthur; the Reformed church in Pfäffikon arranges pilgrim lodging. In Rheinau and on the Randen the options are few – book ahead.

Season and border. The route walks well from April to October; on the Randen there can still be snow in March and November. There are no checks at the border, but bring ID anyway, and you'll need francs or a card that works in Switzerland.

What the journey will cost you

Switzerland is expensive, and you'll notice it from kilometer 12. The Pilgerherberge Rapperswil costs 25 CHF (approx. 26 €) with a pilgrim passport, 35 CHF (approx. 37 €) without, sleeping bag rental 3 CHF (approx. 3 €). B&Bs and private rooms along the way mostly run 30–80 CHF (approx. 32–84 €) per person, Winterthur has hostel beds from 35.50 CHF (approx. 37 €), and hotels in Schaffhausen, Winterthur, and Rapperswil start at 80 CHF (approx. 84 €) and up (all as of October 2026). Admission: Ritterhaus Bubikon 10 CHF (approx. 11 €).

Budget 80–130 CHF (approx. 84–140 €) a day for bed, breakfast, a supermarket lunch, and a hot dinner; with youth hostels and self-catering you can get by on 60–80 CHF (approx. 63–84 €). Honestly, the first evening in Blumberg is the cheapest of the week – there you're still paying in euros.

Getting Here

To the start. You reach Blumberg on the Ringzug (line RB 43) via Donaueschingen or Immendingen to Blumberg-Zollhaus station, then by bus into town. In the summer season the Sauschwänzlebahn also runs as a heritage railway from Weizen to Blumberg-Zollhaus. From Switzerland, the easiest way is via Schaffhausen and then by bus to Blumberg.

From the finish. Rapperswil-Jona is a hub of the Zurich S-Bahn with direct trains to Zurich, Winterthur, and St. Gallen; the ride to Zurich takes around half an hour to 45 minutes. Since almost every stage town has a train station, you can also walk the route in day sections.

• Swiss rail: sbb.ch — timetable and tickets
• German rail: bahn.de — connections to Blumberg-Zollhaus
• Info: jakobswegschweiz-compostellesuisse.ch — pilgrim passport
• Pilgrim hostel: pilgerherberge.ch — Pilgerherberge Rapperswil