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Access: In Leymen, follow signs for Château du Landskrön. Leave the village, then return via an uphill road. At the crossroads, turn right onto Rue du Waldeck, cross the railway line, then turn left onto Rue Bellevue. After the housing estate, park near a chapel.
(S/E) Go up the road for 50 metres. Leave the road and take the signposted path on the left (blue rectangle). First pass a closed quarry, then go behind some houses. Stay on the signposted path and walk along a meadow. Landskrön emerges from the trees on the left. Then enter a hamlet.
(1) Go up to the left towards the castle (blue triangle). After visiting the castle, go back down the same path towards the hamlet.
(1) Turn left and ignore a turn-off on your right (the hamlet of Tannenwald - Switzerland - is on the opposite hillside). Continue straight ahead and pass house No. 12.
(2) At the sign indicating the border, turn left. Pass in front of house No. 15. After about 50 metres, turn right onto the wide gravel path leading towards the forest (do not go down towards the village of Fluh). At the entrance to the forest, take the path on the left.
Follow all the Stations of the Cross, from the first to the last (14th). Stay on the paved road until you reach the Mariastein farm buildings.
(3) Turn left towards the abbey church. Take the entrance on the left of the sanctuary to reach the chapel of the grotto. Go up the stairs and enter the Chapel of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows (Schmerzenkapelle), also known as the Reich Chapel of Reichenstein, on the left.
Retrace your steps, exit onto the forecourt and enter the abbey church. Leave the church and cross the square. Return to the Hotel du Jura.
(3) Go straight ahead on Paradiesweg. Cross the plateau towards a group of recent houses (yellow diamond).
(4) When you reach the housing estate, turn around for a beautiful view of Mariastein. Continue straight ahead along a straight path. Cross the border (blue triangle) and turn left. Cross a large clearing on a grassy path.
(5) 800m further on, descend to the right at the edge of the forest towards Leymen (blue triangle). At the fork, continue straight downhill towards Leymen and the Waldeck ruins.
(6) Further down, a path on the left leads to a shelter at the foot of a small spur topped by a section of wall at the end. These are the ruins of Waldeck Castle, dating from the 13th century and destroyed by the earthquake of 1356. Continue along the marked path (blue triangle). Descend along the edge of the forest towards the first houses of Leymen.
(7) At the crossroads, turn left and then right onto Rue Bellevue to return to the starting point (S/E).
Visorando member
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