Discover things on the cultural hiking tour along the Stockalperweg that you would never discover without a knowledgeable guide. Hiking guides share their knowledge and know the culinary, scenic and historical highlights of the Stockalper hike.
Each guided hike is unique. The hike leaders set different priorities.
Kaspar Stockalper saw himself as God’s favorite and profited from the Thirty Years’ War wherever he could. His old mule track over the Simplon Pass is peppered with money, salt, politics, religion, intrigue and blood. You just have to see the traces.
Arrival in Gondo, meeting point Hotel Stockalperturm at 13:00. In the afternoon visit of the gold mines in the wild and romantic Zwischbergental, where Kaspar Stockalper operated a mine in the 16th century. Gold panning in the Grosswasser (5 km, 300 m up and down, 2.5 h). Overnight stay in the historic Hotel Stockalperturm in Gondo, where the gold mining museum is also located.
From the smuggler village of Gondo we start through the imposing Gondo Gorge. Through a 300 meter long tunnel we cross the fortress of Gondo from the First and Second World War. Visit of the transport museum in the old barracks. Via Gabi we reach Simplon village (10 km, 620 m up, 3.5 h). “Liar” guided tour of the Walser village of Simplon Dorf and the museum in the Old Inn. Visit of the village dairy and the bakery where the Swiss famous Simpiler rye bread is baked.
We leave the agricultural Simplon village via a hundred-year-old glacier fall field. The partly paved path leads through airy larch forests and lush cattle pens. Rare plants thrive in the protected high moorland (9 km, 540 m ascent, 3.5 h). After checking into our room we visit the 9 m high Simplon eagle made of Gondo granite and the idyllic bathing lakes.
Along the roaring Taferna stream we reach the Taferna innkeeper Johannely Fy, who still has to serve her sentence for adulterating wine in the nearby glacier. In the floodplain “Grund”, where Taferna, Nesselbach and Ganterbach join to form the Saltina, Stockalper operated an iron mine. Through dry steppes and pine forests we reach the small town of Brig (12 km, 200 m up, 1550 m down, 5 h), where we are guided at the end through the huge Stockalper castle, which Kaspar Stockalper had built in the middle of the 17th century.
This adventure tour is specially designed for people who want and are able to get away from their usual environment with a week of active vacation.
Experience with the famous trekking guide Rolf Gruber the historic Stockalper route from Brig to Domodossola. On the tracks of Stockalper’s muleteers you will enjoy 7 unforgettable days of pleasure hiking from Valais to Piedmont. 3 passes, 5 valleys, 2 historic trading towns, past the glaciers of the Valais 4000, through chestnut forests and vineyards of the Ossola Valley and every day new surprises along the mule track. Unique and unforgettable experiences come true.
The trading town of Brig is the starting point of the legendary Stockalper route to Domodossola. Under Kaspar von Stockalper, this trade route achieved the rank of one of the most important and safest transalpine connections of its time. With the Stockalper Castle, the town offers an impressive building, which you should visit on the day of your arrival. With the “Little Simplon Express” you will travel through the old and new quarters of the Simplon town and thus discover many facades, even in narrow alleys. Stroll through the historic Stockalper Gardens on your own and take the opportunity to visit the technical marvel of the lift bridge over the Saltina. Thanks to it, a flood catastrophe like the one in 1993 should never happen again. In the evening, your hiking guide will be waiting for you for dinner together and to discuss the following day.
Leaving the town behind, your hiking guide leads you through the hamlets of Lingwurm and Brei to the beginning of the ascent through the pine forest of the “Brigerberg” on the old mule track. Impressively, the Saltina gorge, still unconquered today, lies to the right of the mule track. From Schallberg follows the descent to the “Grund”, once a separate municipality. From the dry steppe of Schallberg, the mule track now changes to the humid ash and spruce forest through the Taferna valley towards the Simplon pass. Before the last ascent, the old inn “zer Taferna”, surrounded by legends, greets you with its old stone walls. At the top of the pass, the Simplon eagle greets the hikers as a landmark.
A short route at first glance, but one that has a lot to offer. The hike begins in the moorland of the Simplon Pass plateau with an abundance of flowers and plants. The hospice, the “Alte Spittel” and the Barallhaus are the most striking buildings on the upper part of the day’s stage. Glacier-covered peaks provide a high alpine panorama. Hidden traces along the way and small hamlets tell the over 5000 year old settlement history of the pass. From Engeloch, larch forests alternate with alpine pastures and give you an idea that you are heading south. Simplon Dorf, at the foot of a late glacial moraine landscape, greets you with its special architecture and invites you as a stage stop to linger. The Ecomuseum, a very special village tour, as well as the bakery and alpine dairy invite you to visit. Redeem your voucher in the alpine dairy and bakery.
The descent to the hamlet of Gabi is partly on the old Napoleon road. After crossing the Laggina, the mule track leads into the impressive Gondo Gorge. In front of the entrance the stately Walser house of “Gschoru Erb” greets you. In the “Äbi” the ruined building bears witness to Stockalper’s life, which took a sudden turn with his escape. With the construction of the Simplon road, Napoleon’s civil engineers also conquered the Gondo Gorge with an army road. Witnesses of this achievement can be found as far as Gondo. Gondo as a smuggler’s and gold digger’s village awaits you with the Stockalter tower and the Saint Mark’s church from the 15th century. The stage destination, however, is in the picturesque Zwischbergental.
Zwischbergental, the valley of smugglers’ passes. The old smuggler’s path leads from the board to the alp Herd where the Waira alp cheese is still produced in the traditional way on the open fire. The smuggler’s path leads steadily uphill over the Alps Cagrande and Possetta to the Passo Monscera, the highest point of the week. In lieu of a pick-nick, we indulge in Piedmontese hospitality and appropriate delicacies at the Riffugio Gattascosa. The descent to Gomba takes us past Lago Ragozza to the first chestnut trees in Gomba, the stage destination.
The last day of hiking awaits you once again with many surprising moments. On the over 1000 year old Mulatiere (mule track) we descend from Gomba through the smugglers’ villages to the former fashionable thermal spa of Bognanco Terme. A visit to the Terme’s documentarium will give you an idea of how the chic of Milan used to come and go here. The Mulatiere continues through forests, abandoned farms and hamlets, through gorges, past houses that have been maintained with a great deal of idealism, to the village of Monteossolano and to Cisore above Domodossola. The oaks and chestnuts now give way to vines, fruit and fig trees. Domodossola, the small alpine town with southern charm, welcomes you with its artfully restored old houses, alleys and squares. A fine dinner and beautiful hotel rooms await you. But wait, an evening stroll through the old town and a cappuccino on the piazza, that’s just part of it.
Sleep in, leisurely breakfast and? Saturday is market day in the old town. Clothes, trinkets and much more is for sale. Somewhat hidden are the market stalls of the countrywomen, butchers, cheesemakers and beekeepers and craftsmen. Here you can find the real specialties, homemade. The UNESCO World Heritage Site “Sacro Monte Calvario” invites culture lovers for a morning visit, there where already Stockalper went into exile for years. A wonderful panoramic view of the plain and town of the Ossola Valley compensates for the short climb.
Return journey: the hotel is 2 minutes from the train station. Direct trains to Geneva, Bern, Basel, Zurich, St. Gallen guarantee a stress-free return journey. You will be home by Saturday evening at the latest. Sunday is reserved for you and Monday everyday life starts again, not without a secret thought of a past wonderful week with unforgettable moments.
