Rhein-Reuss-Rhôneweg

At a Glance

• Start / Finish: Disentis/Mustér Abbey (Graubünden) / Abbey of Saint-Maurice (Valais)
• Length: 242.8 km
• Duration: 12 stages, averaging just over 20 km; two weeks with a rest day and a weather buffer
• Elevation: ↗ 7,014 m / ↘ 7,757 m
• Highest point: 2,462 m at km 52.0 on the Furka, between Realp and Obergoms; the Oberalp Pass sits at around 2,044 m
• Landscape: the Surselva and the source of the Rhine, the Urseren Valley, high mountains on the Furka, larches and wooden villages in the Goms, rocky steppe and vineyards in Central Valais, the castle hills of Sion, the gorge at Saint-Maurice
• Waymarking: opened in 2018; signposted as Pilgerweg Rhein-Reuss-Rhone
• Traces of St. James: St. James on a side altar of Sion Cathedral, a reclining pilgrim apostle in the Church of St. Mary in Reckingen, Jacobean details in the Church of St. Vigilius in Sedrun, the Rue Saint-Jacques and pilgrim hospice in Saillon
• Accommodation: hotels, inns, and B&Bs, youth hostels in Hospental and Sion, the guesthouse at Disentis Abbey; hardly any dedicated pilgrim hostels
• Connecting routes: Jakobsweg Graubünden (shared from Disentis to Sedrun), Tessiner Anschlussweg (shared between Andermatt and Hospental), Via Francigena (Switzerland) (shared from Martigny to Saint-Maurice)
• Best time: July to mid-October for the whole route; the Rhône Valley from Brig onward also works in spring

Overview

The Rhein-Reuss-Rhôneweg links two monasteries that are both older than Switzerland itself, and in between, the headwaters of three rivers. The Rhine rises at the Oberalp Pass, the Reuss flows past Andermatt, and beyond the Furka the Rhône begins at the Rhône Glacier. The route then follows it all the way to Saint-Maurice: first through the high-lying Goms, then through the broad, sunny Rhône Valley, where at Salgesch the language tips from Valais German into French.

It's a young route. It opened on July 4, 2018, simultaneously in Ritzingen in the Goms and in Andermatt, at a cost of 180,000 francs, backed by municipalities, the canton, the federal government, tourism organizations, and the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn. Upper Valais hiking guide Peter Salzmann, who developed the route, put his reasoning like this: “Unsere religiösen Bauten sind kleine Museen.” (“Our religious buildings are little museums.”) Upper Valais alone counts some 300 churches and chapels—one for every hundred residents. The most honest number, though, comes from the guest house at Disentis Abbey: of around 11,000 overnight stays a year, fewer than 50 are pilgrims. So you'll have plenty of chapels here—and not much company.

Other Names

Officially, the route is called Pilgerweg Rhein-Reuss-Rhone; Peter Salzmann's pilgrim guide calls it the Alpen-Jakobsweg (Alpine Way of St. James), and in French you'll read Chemin Rhin-Reuss-Rhône. The names along the way change with the languages: in Romansh, Disentis is Mustér (from the Latin monasterium, monastery), the Rhine is the Rein, and in Upper Valais the Rhône is the Rotten. Below the language border, Sitten becomes Sion and Siders becomes Sierre.

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

Ideal if you want mountains and art history in equal measure: two classic Alpine passes, Baroque churches in almost every village of the Goms, fortified churches and ossuaries in the Rhône Valley, and at the end an abbey with 1,500 years of history. Also ideal if you're coming from the Jakobsweg Graubünden and want to keep heading west, or if you're a pilgrim bound for Rome who wants to cross the whole arc of the Alps once.

Honestly, though, it's not for you if you expect a hostel network like in Spain: cheap pilgrim beds are the exception, and you'll mostly sleep in hotels and inns at Swiss prices. It's not for you if you only have time in May or late October—that's when there's snow on the Oberalp and the Furka, and you'll be taking the train over the passes. And it's not for you if you're after mountain solitude the whole way: between Brig and Martigny you'll walk many kilometers on the flat valley floor alongside the Rhône, the highway, the rail line, and industry; Central Valais is one of the driest regions in Switzerland and one of the hottest in summer.

Route & Landscape

Disentis to Obergoms (km 0–62.7): From the abbey, the route climbs through the Surselva via Sedrun (km 9.4) and Rueras (km 11.7) to the Oberalp Pass at around 2,044 meters, where the Rhine flows out of Lake Toma and a lighthouse has stood since 2010. It drops down to Andermatt (km 31.9) and through the treeless Urseren Valley via Hospental (km 35.4) to Realp (km 42.3). Then comes the long climb to the Furka: at km 52.0 you reach 2,462 meters, a good 30 meters above the pass road, with views of the Rhône Glacier and the Bernese Alps. Via Gletsch, the route descends into the Obergoms (km 62.7).

Obergoms to Saint-Maurice (km 62.7–242.8): The Goms is a high valley at 1,200 to 1,400 meters, lined with sun-blackened wooden houses: Ulrichen (km 68.1), Münster (km 72.8), Niederwald (km 83.5), and Ernen (km 90.3) with its village square; Fiesch lies a kilometer off the route. Via Grengiols and Mörel-Filet, the trail drops to Brig (km 112.2), and from there you stay in the Rhône Valley: Visp (km 124.3), Raron (km 133.1), Leuk (km 152.9), past Salgesch to the language border and on to Sierre (km 163.2), then to Sion (km 186.3). Through vineyards it continues via Vétroz and Saillon (km 209.0) to Martigny (km 224.0), where the Rhône bends north, and through the gorge to Saint-Maurice (km 240.9). Many villages on the slopes of Central Valais—Miège, Savièse, Conthey, Chamoson, Leytron—lie just off the route, not on it.

Stages, Terrain, and Difficulty

We show the route in 12 stages; the distances come from the Camino Ninja map, calibrated exactly to 242.8 km. The first four days are mountain stages with short distances; from the Goms onward the days get longer and flatter. The Oberalp Pass lies between Rueras and Andermatt, the Furka between Realp and Obergoms.

1. Disentis → Rueras (11.7 km) — a short start through the Surselva via Sedrun, with time for the abbey in the morning.
2. Rueras → Andermatt (20.2 km) — about 650 meters up to the Oberalp Pass and the source of the Rhine, then down into the Urseren Valley.
3. Andermatt → Realp (10.4 km) — a flat half day via Hospental; save your strength for the Furka.
4. Realp → Obergoms (20.4 km) — the queen stage: more than 900 meters of climbing to the Furka at 2,462 meters, descent via Gletsch.
5. Obergoms → Ernen (27.6 km) — gently down the valley through the villages of the Goms via Münster and Niederwald.
6. Ernen → Brig (21.9 km) — via Grengiols and Mörel-Filet down into the main valley.
7. Brig → Gampel (27.1 km) — via Visp and Raron, the first long stage on the valley floor.
8. Gampel → Sierre (23.9 km) — via Turtmann and Leuk, crossing the language border at Salgesch.
9. Sierre → Sion (23.1 km) — via Saint-Léonard and Bramois to the cantonal capital.
10. Sion → Saillon (22.7 km) — through the vineyards on the north slope via Vétroz and Ardon.
11. Saillon → Martigny (15.0 km) — via Fully, short and warm.
12. Martigny → Saint-Maurice (18.8 km) — together with the Via Francigena through the gorge to the abbey.

None of the stages is technically difficult, but the passes call for sure-footedness, hiking boots, and a feel for mountain weather: thunderstorms, fog, and fresh snow are possible even in August. Down on the valley floor, it's the heat and the asphalt that wear you out. If you squeeze mountain stages 1 to 4 together, you'll save a day—but you'll be giving away exactly the part that makes this route what it is.

One Beheaded at the Start, 6,666 at the Finish

This route begins and ends at a martyr's grave. In Disentis it's the grave of Placidus, a Raetian landowner whom Victor, the praeses of Chur, had killed in the early 8th century; the murder became the legend of a beheading, and his grave became a monastery that the Frank Sigisbert is said to have founded with him. The community existed around 700, the will of Bishop Tello of Chur lists its property in 765, and today's Baroque complex was built between 1685 and 1704 to plans by Caspar Moosbrugger, who later built Einsiedeln. Disentis celebrates their feast on July 11.

In Saint-Maurice it's the grave of Maurice and his Theban Legion: 6,666 Christian soldiers from Egypt who, according to legend, refused around 286 here at Agaunum to sacrifice to the gods of Emperor Maximian, and were executed man by man. Bishop Eucherius of Lyon wrote it down around 443 to 450, along with the line Maurice is said to have spoken to the emperor: “Milites sumus, imperator, tui, sed tamen servi, quod libere confitemur, Dei” (“We are your soldiers, emperor, but, as we freely confess, servants of God.”). Historians consider at most a cohort of just over 500 men plausible. One beheaded man at the start, 6,666 at the end: in between lie 242.8 kilometers and some 1,500 years of veneration.

Around 370, Theodore, the first known bishop of Valais, built a shrine over the graves; in 515 the Burgundian king Sigismund founded the abbey, and from 522 several choirs took turns singing the perpetual praise, the laus perennis, day and night. Augustinian canons have lived in Saint-Maurice since 1128, and the abbey is considered the oldest continuously inhabited monastery in the West. When Archbishop Sigeric of Canterbury returned home from Rome in 990, he noted “Sce Maurici” as the 51st stop of his journey. Peter Salzmann sums it up: “Saint-Maurice war die Eintrittspforte für Christinnen und Christen in der heutigen Schweiz.” (“Saint-Maurice was the gateway for Christians into what is now Switzerland.”) Practical tip: plan half a day for the finish—the abbey treasury with its early medieval reliquaries and the excavations at the Martolet beneath the cliff are only open on guided tours or at set times.

Highlights Along the Way

• Disentis Abbey (km 0) — a Benedictine abbey since around 700, Baroque church by Caspar Moosbrugger, and the fire of 1799 that destroyed the archive and library.
• Oberalp Pass and the source of the Rhine (between km 11.7 and 31.9) — Lake Toma as the source of the Anterior Rhine; the lighthouse from 2010 is a replica of the lower range light at Hoek van Holland, which marked the mouth of the Rhine for 70 years.
• Furka (km 52.0) — the highest point of the route at 2,462 meters, the watershed between the Reuss and the Rhône; on November 12, 1779, Goethe trudged over from Münster through deep snow and wrote of „der ödesten Gegend der Welt“ (“the bleakest place in the world”); that evening a Capuchin friar welcomed him in Realp.
• Gletsch and the Rhône Glacier — the predecessor of the Grand Hotel stood almost at the snout of the glacier in 1830; today it's a good walk to reach the ice.
• Ernen and Mühlebach (km 88.7–90.3) — a village square with painted houses; Matthäus Schiner was born in Mühlebach around 1465, became a cardinal in 1511, and led the Swiss Confederates into the Battle of Marignano in 1515.
• Brig (km 112.2) — the Stockalper Palace, built from 1658 to 1678 with its towers Kaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar, by the salt and Simplon trader Kaspar Stockalper; a pilgrim hospice is documented here as early as 1304. In the ossuary of Naters across the river, the inscription reads: “Was wir sind, das werdet ihr.” (“What we are, you will become.”)
• Raron (km 133.1) — the fortified church by Ulrich Ruffiner, built 1512 to 1517, with the grave of Rainer Maria Rilke against its wall, buried on January 2, 1927.
• Salgesch and Leuk (km 152.9–158.9) — in 1235 the Knights Hospitaller founded a hostel for pilgrims and travelers in Salgesch, and in 1655 Stockalper bought the commandery; Leuk has an ossuary holding thousands of skulls.
• Sion (km 186.3) — the Basilica of Valère with an organ from around 1430, considered the oldest playable organ in the world; in the cathedral, a St. James on a side altar.
• Saillon (km 209.0) — a medieval walled town with a Rue Saint-Jacques; on the slope is the Vigne à Farinet, three vines on 1.6 square meters honoring the counterfeiter Farinet, who died in 1880.
• Abbey of Saint-Maurice (km 240.9) — the end of the route, founded in 515, with its treasury and the excavations at the Martolet.

How Pilgrims Find Their Way onto This Path

The natural feeder route comes from the east: the Jakobsweg Graubünden leads from Müstair Abbey through the Engadine and via Chur into the Surselva, reaching Disentis; as far as Sedrun, both routes run on the same line. Walk it that way and you link the monasteries of Müstair, Disentis, and Saint-Maurice in a single line straight across the Swiss Alps.

From south and north, the Tessiner Anschlussweg crosses in the Urseren Valley: it comes from Locarno over the Gotthard and shares the stretch between Hospental and Andermatt with this route. Pilgrims from Ticino can turn west here. Most everyone else simply gets off the train in Disentis.

Continue the pilgrimage?

In Saint-Maurice you're on the Via Francigena (Switzerland)—actually, you have been since Martigny, because the two routes share the last 16.9 kilometers. That leads to a little twist for anyone heading to Rome: the Via Francigena runs from Saint-Maurice back to Martigny and then up through the Val d'Entremont to the Great St Bernard Pass. So you walk the last stretch again, in the opposite direction—or take the train for this section with a clear conscience.

Toward Santiago, the Via Francigena heads north to Lake Geneva; in Lausanne it crosses the Via Jacobi, which continues via Geneva into France. From there it's still many weeks on foot to Santiago de Compostela.

Preparation & Practical Information

Pilgrim passport and app. As on all Swiss Ways of St. James, you'll need a pilgrim passport (credencial) to collect stamps along the way, get pilgrim discounts, and later receive your Compostela in Santiago. It's best to order it online in advance so it reaches you in time for the start of your trip; the passport from Jakobsweg Schweiz – Compostelle Suisse costs 12 CHF (approx. 13 €) (as of October 2026). With the Camino Ninja App you've got the map and track offline; the easiest way to plan the route is right in the app, where you can put your stages together and plan suitable accommodation at the same time.

Season and passes. Realistically, you can walk the whole route on foot from July to mid-October; in snowy years, snowfields linger on the Oberalp and the Furka into July. The Furka pass road is usually closed from late October until May or June, and even after that the hiking trail isn't automatically clear. Check with the tourist offices in Andermatt or Realp before stages 2 and 4. The way out is easy: the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn runs over the Oberalp and, since June 25, 1982, through the 15.4-kilometer Furka Base Tunnel from Realp to Oberwald. In spring, you can skip the passes this way and start walking from the Goms.

Accommodation. Book ahead, especially in high summer, when hikers and pass drivers share the few beds in Realp, Gletsch, and Obergoms. Real pilgrim accommodation is scarce; ask at rectories and monasteries, ask B&Bs for pilgrim rates, and use the youth hostels in Hospental and Sion.

What the journey will cost you

Switzerland is expensive, and this route has no network of cheap hostels. Budget 80–130 CHF (approx. 84–140 €) per person per night with breakfast for an inn or hotel, and 40–70 CHF (approx. 42–74 €) for a B&B with a pilgrim rate; at Disentis Abbey, rooms run 110–130 CHF (approx. 120–140 €) with breakfast (as of October 2026). Simple pilgrim dorms at around 25 CHF (approx. 26 €) are the exception on Swiss Ways of St. James.

If you self-cater from the supermarket and have one hot meal in the evening, you'll spend 100–150 CHF (approx. 110–160 €) a day. Honestly, you'll save the most by picnicking at lunch—supermarket prices aren't far above German ones, but restaurant prices are.

Getting Here

To the start. You can reach Disentis/Mustér on the Rhaetian Railway from Chur in just over an hour, or from Andermatt on the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn over the Oberalp; the Glacier Express stops here too. The abbey is a few minutes' walk above the station.

From the finish. Saint-Maurice is on the SBB Simplon line, with direct trains to Lausanne, Geneva, Sion, and Brig; from Lausanne you can continue toward Germany. The abbey stands right next to the station.

• Swiss rail: sbb.ch — connections and tickets
• Passes: matterhorngotthardbahn.ch — Oberalp, Furka Base Tunnel, Glacier Express
• Pilgrim passport: jakobswegschweiz-compostellesuisse.ch — association and credencial