St Peter's Island

St Peter's Island was a genuine island until the Jura water correction of the nineteenth century lowered Lake Biel by about two metres and left it connected to the shore by a low neck of land, so it is now a peninsula that everyone still calls an island. Jean-Jacques Rousseau spent about six weeks here in 1765 after being driven out of Motiers, and wrote about the stay in the Reveries of the Solitary Walker as the happiest period of his life - his room in the former priory is preserved and the building is now a hotel. Cluniac monks built the first priory here in 1127. The former island is about five kilometres long and rises some 45 metres above the lake; vines cover the slope, the woods are protected, and the walk out along the causeway from Erlach passes through reedbeds full of birds.

Highlights

• Rousseau's room - kept in the former priory, now a hotel.
• An island that stopped being one - joined to shore when the lake was lowered.
• The causeway walk from Erlach - through reedbeds and birdlife.
• Vines and protected woodland - the cover on the ridge.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Things to know

Boats are seasonal with early last departures. The island is small - two hours covers it on foot. The hotel restaurant is the only food and fills at lunch. Cars cannot reach it.

Nearby

Erlach is at the landward end; Biel and Neuchatel are on the lakes.

Key facts