Walensee

The Walensee is about fifteen kilometres long and only a couple wide, and its character comes from the asymmetry of its shores. The north side is the wall of the Churfirsten, which rise to over two thousand three hundred metres from a lake surface at four hundred and nineteen - a rise of nearly 1,900 metres, much of it in steep cliff, so the villages on that side, Quinten and Betlis among them, have no road and are reached by boat or on foot. The south shore carries the railway and the motorway to Chur. Quinten has a microclimate warm enough for figs and grapes. The lake is up to 151 metres deep, and its name recalls the Walha, the Romance speakers who lived east of it in the early Middle Ages. Boats run the length of the lake in season, and the Seerenbach falls come down the northern wall near Betlis.

The landscape

• A wall nearly 1,900 metres high - the Churfirsten rising steeply from the water.
• Roadless north-shore villages - Quinten and Betlis, boat or footpath only.
• A warm pocket at Quinten - figs and vines on the sheltered north bank.
• Boats the length of the lake - the practical transport in season.

When to go

May to October. A day.

Practical notes

The south shore carries a motorway, so the classic view is from the water or the north side. Boats are seasonal and sparse out of summer. Quinten has very limited facilities. Winds funnel down the lake and can be strong.

Nearby

Seerenbach Falls are above Betlis; Amden is on the terrace north.

Key facts