From the Black Forest into Thurgau: about 80 kilometers from Blumberg over Schaffhausen through gentle hill country to Tobel – a quiet Way of St. James through the monastery landscape of Thurgau.
The Thurgau Monastery Way begins in Blumberg in Germany's Black Forest, crosses the Rhine at Schaffhausen and then enters the canton of Thurgau. Over Stammheim and Frauenfeld it runs through gentle, rolling farmland to Tobel.
It's a calm, manageable route that shares the opening Blumberg–Schaffhausen leg with the Schaffhausen–Zurich Way and then branches off as the "Monastery Way" toward Thurgau.
Ideal if you want a short, gentle Way of St. James off the busy routes – through quiet Thurgau landscape, with monasteries and churches along the way, done in just a few days.
Less suitable if you expect high mountains, dramatic passes or lots of pilgrim traffic: the route runs through tidy hill country and small villages.
From Blumberg in the Black Forest the route crosses the Hohe Randen ridge to the Swiss border and on to Schaffhausen on the Rhine. From there it continues as the Monastery Way over Stammheim to Frauenfeld, the Thurgau cantonal capital on the Thur.
The final leg from Frauenfeld to Tobel runs through gentle hills – past the Stählibuck viewpoint, Sonnenberg Castle and through Lommis with its Church of St. James.
At about 80 kilometers with some 1,500 meters of climb, the Thurgau Monastery Way is gentle and comfortably done in about 3–4 days. The stages per the route description: Blumberg–Schaffhausen (about 27 km), Schaffhausen–Stammheim (about 21 km), Stammheim–Frauenfeld (about 15 km) and Frauenfeld–Tobel (about 17 km). The highest point is around 919 meters; the terrain is mostly rolling.
The route owes its name to the religious sites of Thurgau. Its destination is Tobel with its Knights of St. John commandery – a former house of the Order of St. John. Along the way, Lommis has a Church of St. James, a fitting stop on a Way of St. James.
The Thurgau Monastery Way ends at Tobel and is designed as a feeder route: near Fischingen it joins the Schwabenweg (Konstanz–Rapperswil–Einsiedeln), which leads to Switzerland's main axis, the Via Jacobi, and the pilgrim hub of Einsiedeln. From there the way continues toward Geneva and, via the Via Gebennensis, into France.
The best time is spring to autumn. Accommodation is in guesthouses, inns and pilgrim lodgings – a pilgrim credential is useful for stamps and lodgings. As the Via Jacobi in Switzerland, the route is waymarked with the number 4.
Switzerland is expensive. Budget roughly €60–100 per day for lodging and food; simple lodgings and self-catering lower the cost.
The starting point is Blumberg in the Black Forest; the finish at Tobel lies in Thurgau and is reached via the Swiss rail network.
The Swiss Ways of St. James are maintained by the association Jakobsweg Schweiz – Compostelle Suisse (formerly "jakobsweg.ch", renamed after its 2026 merger with "Les Amis"). The association waymarks and maintains the routes, trains pilgrim guides and publishes route booklets and the pilgrim credential.
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Bähnleblick Blumberg
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