Burgäschisee Ost and Vingelz / Hafen

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Burgäschisee Ost

   Burgäschisee is a small, quiet lake on the border between the cantons of Bern and Solothurn, surrounded by reeds, woods and farmland. It would be easy to ride past without noticing, but it holds a secret: along its shores, archaeologists have found the remains of Neolithic villages built on piles, dating back more than five thousand years. The eastern shore site, Burgäschisee Ost, is one of the components of the Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps World Heritage site, listed by UNESCO in 2011. There is nothing much to see on the surface, as the remains lie underwater or in the soft ground, but the peaceful setting makes it easy to imagine the wooden houses, canoes and fishing nets of those early farmers.

   Read the complete Burgäschisee Ost write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Burgäschisee Ost is where the day begins. Next is Forêt de la Bettlachstock.

2. 2. Forêt de la Bettlachstock

   Above the watchmaking towns of Grenchen and Bettlach, the first chain of the Jura rises like a wall out of the Aare plain, and on its steep southern flank grows the beech forest of the Bettlachstock. In 2021 it became one of the Swiss components of the UNESCO Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe, a serial site that stretches across the continent to show how beech spread after the last Ice Age. What makes this patch special is that it has been left largely to itself for decades, on slopes so steep and rocky that nobody bothered to log them hard, and so the trees grow old, fall, rot and feed the next generation.

   Read the complete Forêt de la Bettlachstock write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Forêt de la Bettlachstock comes up about 33 km into the recorded legs. Next is Vingelz / Hafen.

3. 3. Vingelz / Hafen

   Biel and Bienne are the same city, one name in German and one in French, and street signs, conversations and even jokes switch between the two languages without anyone noticing. At its western edge, the lakeside district of Vingelz, with its small harbour, has given archaeologists remains of prehistoric pile dwellings in the shallow water of Lake Biel, and the site is one piece of the World Heritage property for pile dwellings around the Alps. The lake, long and narrow, lies at the foot of the Jura mountains, and its shores have been inhabited for thousands of years.

   Read the complete Vingelz / Hafen write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 62 km into the recorded legs you reach Vingelz / Hafen. Next is back through Forêt de la Bettlachstock.

4. 4. back through Forêt de la Bettlachstock

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Forêt de la Bettlachstock write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Forêt de la Bettlachstock, late in the day. Next is Burgäschisee Ost.

5. 5. Burgäschisee Ost

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Burgäschisee Ost write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Burgäschisee Ost. That is the ride.