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Walking the Full Jakobsweg Route from Bregenz to Rorschach Through the Allgäu and St. Galler Weg

WanderingtheJakobsweg

New Member
Time of past OR future Camino
April 2023
Hi!

I've been walking the Jakobsweg through Bavaria and am planning to do the last 5 days through the Allgäu to Bregenz at easter and the St Galler Weg in early summer.

I'd like to w a lk the full route rather than have a "gap" between the route ending in Bregenz and then starting the St Galler Weg in Rorsach.

I know it's possible to walk from Bregenz to Rorsach as I've found the route on the jakobsweg.ch website, but the information is quite sparce.

I have a German guidebook for the route from Munich to Bregenz and another in the same series for Switzerland. However the 30km from Bregenz to Rorsach isnin either book?

Has anyone walked the "missing link"?

I'd love to know whether it's a pleasant route or whether it's all along busy roads and I'd be better off taking a boat from Lindau or just taking the train and starting "fresh" with the St Galler Weg without trying to link by foot!

Editing to say there's a book on the Jakobsweg.ch site shop called the Rorsach Ast which descibes the route starting from Bregenz, so I'm ordering that! On the off chance anyone else needs this information I'll leave it here!

Many thanks and buen Camino
 
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Hi,
as you can see on this map, Rorschach (spelling!) is a sidebranch (Ast) not directly located on one of the main Jakobswege. The main routes go from Bregenz via Lustenau to Appenzell and on –, or from Konstanz directly to Einsiedeln. The way from Rorschach will lead to St. Gallen, an important Pilgrim spot, to get there:
  • Walk from Bregenz to Rorschach along the shores of Bodensee (lake Constance), this is what you are probably looking for.
  • Or simply cross the lake by ship, there are numerous itinneries, e.g. from Bregenz via Langenargen, from Lindau or Wasserburg, etc., check out Bodenseeschiffahrt.
The route you describe will lead to Einsiedeln, an ancient Pilgrimage destination on its own; from there, the Via Jacobi leads in a variety of alternative routes to Geneva and on to the Via Gebennensis, the Via Rhodana, etc, to the final destination of Santiago (see http://www.jakobswege-europa.de/wege/, I am sure you are familiar with.)

Buen Camino
 
Thank you! That's fantastic information. I will look at the route via Lustenau - for some reason I'd got the impression that the St Galler Weg was the only or most logical unbroken route.

The guide I'm following at the moment suggests getting a boat to Konstanz and starting the Swiss leg from there, but I am (irrationally perhaps, but I'm not sure walking the Camino is entirely rational anyway...) determined to walk the whole route without "cheating" by taking any other method of transport. This is doubly irrational on my part as I'm returning home for long stretches between legs of a few days on the route (I'm going to be doing 5 day stretches from now on for practical reasons, but I've only done a maximum of three days together so far) but I always restart exactly where I left off - for some reason this is important to me

I can see the route on the map, I just wanted to read a description - sometimes walking along a lake shore is vastly less idyllic than it sounds. Also as it's 30km I was curious about facilities along the way (cafés, bakeries, toilets... The worst is a semi urban wasteland obviously).

I've found that there is a guidebook available on the .ch site-shop which I hadn't initially seen (it's not on Amazon or other Camino shops I've looked at) so hopefully I'll get the descriptions and information I want there.

Buen Camino!
 
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I've just looked at your map - the way via Lustenau looks better at first glance! I wonder why on earth it's totally absent from the German guidebooks I have (it's not in Schweiz: Jakobsweg vom Bodensee zum Genfersee, but also not mentioned in the "what's next" paragraph at the end of the Der Weg ist das Ziel Jakobsweg München - Lindau mit Variante nach Bregenz).

Can you suggest a guide with that particular route in it? I'll have another look on the swiss Jakobsweg site shop...
 
Being Swiss, I have no clues regarding the Swiss Jakobswege, never occurred to me to walk locally ,

I recommend that you specifically browse Swiss sites (ending with .ch) for more info. A word of caution: With the exception perhaps of the Grand St.Bernhard route on the Via Francigena to Rome and to a lesser extend the pilgrimage to Einsiedeln, (also look up outdooractive), the Swiss Jakobswege and pilgrimages are almost forgoten these days and there is very little infrastructure for pilgrims, – especially accomodations ! – and even modest hotels are relatively expensive.
Here's a tip: 'Naturfreunde Schweiz' is a membership-association that runs some 70 houses (Herbergen) that offer very inexpensive beds, many also serve meals. These Herbergen are open to non-members too, albeit at a higher price. Depending on your plans and length of stay in Switzerland, it may pay off to become a member. Unlike on the Spanish Camino, guests can stay for days, even weeks, ideal for family holidays.

Enjoy planning
 
Wow thank you for the Naturfreunde link!

I'm not really worried about lack of infrastructure - on the 215km of the North Munich Jakobsweg I've done so far I've only met two other people walking the route (although of course others may have been - in the two cases we recognised one another by the guide book). At the point I've got to now the way is signed well, but for the first four stages I saw a maximum of two or three understated small muscle symbols and no further Jakobsweg specific information per stage. I've so far only managed to stay in one Pilgerherberge (where I was the only guest, though I was there mid week due to shift work and the host said that they get busy on summer weekends). I've called several others listed in my guide book but they all told me they were no longer operating. I've stayed at farms and a strange worker's hostel and one restaurant/ Wirtshaus with rooms so far.

I'm using the jacobsweg.ch site but will certainly look at all your other links, many thanks!

Ps. I really recommend walking your "home" Jakobsweg- I've really enjoyed walking from my door and have even gone backwards away from my door in the wrong direction a couple of stages, though I don't count those as part of my Camino. I'm also going to walk a separate feeder branch from central Munich which joins my North Munich route in a couple of weeks, because I can do that without staying away overnight (coming home by train from the end of each leg).
 
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a brilliant map app is SchweizMobile. the basics are free (and already quite extensive). the Jacobi weg is on it, with stage info etc and the map is just great. Always use it for walks (and bike rides).
 
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When I walked in Switzerland, I took the route from Konstanz ( I was coming from Nuremburg) through Einsiedeln. Daily route details including lodging in my blog (link in sig block).
 
Thanks Kitsambler! I definitely want to walk from Bregenz not Konstanz (coming from the Allgäu). I've got a tiny little Bregenz to Rorschach Ast guidebook from the Swiss Jakobsweg site now.
 
WanderingtheJakobsweg said:
the Swiss Jakobsweg site
Click to expand...
The Swiss are extremely well-organized about their hiking! The websites, with their associated maps and lodging lists, are detailed and current. The trails themselves are well-marked and well-maintained. The only perils are the "time quotes" on the signage and the expense. I found when a sign said " Destination X 15 minutes" it was more likely 45 minutes for me. You will have to find your own calibration, of course. As for expense, the small groceries are very well stocked, and putting together a robust picnic for your evening meal is easy and much less expensive than restaurants. I found most routes went around towns, rather than through them (unlike the German practice) - so you'll likely need to leave the route in order to reach lodging and supplies. Get one of the Swiss Jakobsweg map apps to help with that.
Also, I found the German-speaking Swiss would rather speak English than French, and the French-speaking Swiss would rather speak English than German. Gute Reise!
 
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klimmo said:
a brilliant map app is SchweizMobile. the basics are free (and already quite extensive). the Jacobi weg is on it, with stage info etc and the map is just great. Always use it for walks (and bike rides).
Click to expand...
Thank you for this very good tip, indeed, this app is probably the best for walkers. (The correct URL is map.schweizmobil.ch and the direct link to Jabobswege is ViaJacobi) the basic maps are free – and quite sufficient for most purposes – the membership costs CHF 35.00 p.y. and allows drawing individual personal treks. The scalability of maps is outstanding and when you scale down closer, it is spiked with "street views" (pictures helping orientation on the way).
The reasons for me not buying a membership yet are:
  • For a tourist Country, it sorely lacks an English version (incorrect, I just found out; German, French, Italian, and ....English can be selected. Sorry for my oversight.
  • The indicated Accommodations – especially on the walking maps – are few and tend to be on the expensive end. While Switzerland tends to be expensive generally, affordable alternatives like "Naturfreunde" exist but are hard to find.
 
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The Swiss pilgrim association maintains a current list of all available accommodation, including private stays and Sleep-in-straw, with contact info, here: https://viajacobi4.ch/informations-pratiques/les-hebergements/

The site camino-europe.eu seems to be a new portal effort including all routes in Europe. They do cover the Swiss routes, and the section from Bregenz, along with a link to a printable accommodation list (Unterkunftsliste) is here: https://camino-europe.eu/de/eu/switzerland/jakobswege-schweiz/rorschach-einsiedeln/
 
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I think it's brilliant, pleased you're happy. My only reason for paying is to have the maps offline. In the higher parts of the alps, network can be spotty, and it saves battery time.

Weird that the app isn't in English, as they have an English website. https://www.schweizmobil.ch/en/switzerlandmobility-app-e.html

Btw, the swiss part of the VF is on the app too.
 
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I got a very positive and friendly feedback to my mail critic for nor listing enough budget accommodations, today from the creators of Schweiz mobil.
My apologies regarding the English version, which I somehow failed to see: you are correct, it's there https://www.schweizmobil.ch/en/.
 
Curious as to their reply? More budget accommodations would be a great plus for the app.
 
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