This The path is flat, easy and mostly away from car traffic, good for families. The path is often in the forest, passing many picnic and grilling spots along the way. Although it follows the river, the path is on the other side of embankment, so you actually can’t see the river, which was a little disappointing. But we still liked the ride would definitely recommend it.My boys and I biked along the Aare river in late April and we quite liked it.
| Location: | Central Switzerland |
| Start: | Aarau train station |
| Address: | Wildegg train station or Brugg train station |
| Car: | Parking near Schwimmbadstrasse 7, 5000 Aarau 45 mins from Luzern or Zurich, 1hr from Bern |
| Train: | Aarau train station 30 mins from Zurich, 50 mins from Bern, 1hr from Luzern |
| Trail: | 14.8 km as shown here, about 2 hours with kids (shorter and longer options below) |
| Condition: | paved and dirt, flat, obstacle-free |
| Skill: | easy |
| Open: | year round, weather dependent |
Overview
This path along the Aare river starts in Aarau and ends in Wildegg down river (or you can ride another 10 km to Brugg).
For bikes: The official bike route is #8 Aare Route as shown below, from Aarau to Brugg about 24 km.
We did a modified version from Aarau to Wildegg, not on the official bike route but paths on the south & west side of the river that allowed bikes. There are a lot of paths along the river and it doesn’t matter much which paths you take. As long as they aren’t marked “Pedestrian only”, it’s ok to bike there.
The path is basically flat but with kids, I recommend riding downstream, since slightly downhill is easier than slightly uphill.
For pedestrians: The walking route is Route 42 Aargauer Weg, with a 22 km path from Aarau to Brugg. I would recommend the 8 km section from Aarau to Rupperswil, which passes through nature reserve. The shortest option would be Rupperswil to Wildegg, 4.5 km about 90 mins.
Getting There
Since the path conveniently parallels the train route, you can start and stop anywhere along the route.
We started in Aarau, parking at Freibad Schachen near the river and bike path. In retrospect, I wouldn’t do this again as the Aarau train station is quite far from the Freibad and up a big hill (it looked closer on the map). So at the end of our trip, we took the train back to Aarau, then had to take bus to the Freibad, making for a long trip home.
If you are biking, I would instead recommend parking at the Schönenwerd train station (one stop past Aarau, Bahnhofstrasse 4, 5012 Schönenwerd), which is right next to the river and bike path. It adds a bit to your ride, but is more convenient.
To get back to your car at the start of your ride, you’ll need to take the train back. The trains run generally once an hour. Here are the distances from Schönenwerd to train stations along the way:
- to Aarau – 5km
- to Rupperswil – 11.5 km
- to Wildegg – 15 km
- to Schinzbachbad – 19 km
- to Brugg – 25.km
Bike Route Details
From wherever you start your ride, follow the #8 Aare Route signs to ride on the official bike route. From the Schönenwerd train station, the bike route is one block north of the train station on Baumstr and Aarestr.
Here are some of the signs you’ll see. Keep to the #8 sign to be on the official path.
We stayed on the south side of the river, not the official path, and the path looked like this.
After riding through the forest, we saw a sign saying part of the trail was pedestrians only. So watch out and be courteous if you make a mistake, like us. There were plenty of places to stop for a break and throw rocks or feed the ducks.
Here’s an example of where the bike path diverges from the walking path. On the left, the red and white circle sign means no wheeled traffic, including bikes. Bike take the path shown below on the right.
We crossed a lot of bridges along the way.
This was the prettiest part of the ride, even though we couldn’t see the river on the other side of the embankment on the left.
We passed several picnic areas with fire pits. I didn’t see firewood, but I could have missed it.
Close to Wildegg.
We planned to bike to Brugg, but my boys aged 7 and 10 at the time were tired. So we quit halfway at Wildegg, which has a train station. We parked our bikes at Wildegg, road the train back to Aarau to get the car, then drove back to get the bikes. I could have taken the bikes on the train, but I was nervous loading three bikes by myself.
I hope to go back and ride more of this route.
See more family bike routes in Switzerland
