Herzschloope Napf & Seetal: the highlights of the “Luzerner KulTour” at a glance

Advertising: Contribution in cooperation with the four Lucerne rural regions

Loop by loop, the “399” route winds its way through the branching valleys of the Napf region, living up to its name. On our second bike tour this year, we followed the heart loops Napf and Seetal and cycled in three daily stages over the most beautiful hills of the four Lucerne rural regions from the UNESCO Biosphere Entlebuch to Lenzburg in the Seetal. Beautiful panoramas, defiant castles and palaces, charming farm pubs and idyllic villages – the “Lucerne Cult Tour” has numerous highlights in store! Which ones you can particularly look forward to, I’ll show you in this post.

From Escholzmatt to Lenzburg – discover Lucerne’s rural regions by bike

Around 168 kilometres and 3,700 metres in altitude – these are the key data of the “Lucerne KulTour”. Thanks to e-bikes, the panoramic route can be enjoyed despite a route that only varies between “very hilly” and “super hilly”. Or rather: Without the many meters of altitude, the loop-rich bike tour would be poorer for some beautiful views and rapid descents. We have divided the route into three stages. Starting in Escholzmatt in the middle of the UNESCO Biosphere Entlebuch, we followed the hills of the Entlebuch for about 30 kilometers to Romoos on the first day of the Napf Heart Loop (route no. 399).

On the second day, the “queen stage” took us on a panoramic 80 kilometers over the Menzberg to the Willisau region and from there on to Lake Sempach. The remaining 60 kilometres of the third stage largely follow the Seetal heart loop (Ostast, route no. 599) and offer a completely different backdrop in terms of landscape. The following map shows you the route of the “Lucerne KulTour” as well as the sights along the way in detail.

“Lucerne KulTour”: These 9 highlights await you along the way

When routing the heart loops, the focus is on scenically attractive routes. With the “joining” of two particularly promising heart-loop daily stages (heart loop Napf Entlebuch – Willisau and heart loop Seetal Ostast) and an entertaining connecting piece on the heart route 99, we have picked out a real “tenderloin”. Following the route signposting of the Heart Loop/Heart Route, the “Lucerne KulTour” leads loop by loop into the heart of Lucerne’s rural regions. The following nine highlights await you at the side of the track.

1. Gold Rush at the Great Fountain

After pedaling along the mountain ranges of the Entlebuch for almost 30 kilometres of Route 399, the charcoal burner village of Romoos appears in front of us. In and around Romoos, however, not only is the tradition of charcoal burning continued to this day, but gold is also diligently mined. The former postal bus driver Gsto Unternährer played a key role in shaping the “gold rush” on the Napf and offers guided half-day gold panning tours. Not only is a sense of achievement guaranteed (yes, I actually mined a fine, glittering piece of gold myself), but you also learn all kinds of other exciting things about the branched river system at the Napf. And when you trudge through the Great Fountain equipped with Gsto, rubber boots and shovel, there is also a touch of adventurous spirit. “That’s why it’s called Napfgold experience,” Gsto says with a laugh when I ask him about it.

The regular tours last three hours (including walking to the river and back), include gold panning equipment, a guided tour by a local guide and a guarantee of finding pure bowl gold. Cost: 50 CHF for adults, 30 CHF for children (boots can be rented for 4 CHF extra). You can find more information here: Napfgold Experience

2. Scenic overnight spot on the Schwesteregg

If you divide the bike tour like we did, you can either spend the night at the Hotel Kreuz in Romoos or pedal a few meters further uphill to the sister egg. In addition to a pub, there are two wooden igloos on this farm above Romoos for two people each and a 1A view over the hills of the Entlebuch.

3. Crisp altitude difference to the Menzberg

While the first day of touring between Escholzmatt and Romoos/Schwesteregg already included one or two crisp climbs, today’s stage over the Menzberg to Willisau is about the really “galley” ascents. But first of all, we take a ride from the “Holzwäge” viewpoint (a place of excursion above Romoos) down into the valley of the small Fontanne Schuss for the serpentines up to the Menzberg. And even though we have to pedal hard, we enjoy the view that opens up to us up here and stretches from the Säntis to the snow-capped Bernese Alps.

4. Winding drive to the herb village of Hergiswil

As is well known, duty is followed by freestyle and that’s exactly what the descent into the secluded Änziwigger Valley feels like after the “conquest”. Resembling a rodeo ride, the next ascent is not long in coming and we follow a beautiful gravel path over the Grausberg up to the flanks of the Luther Valley. The local area is completely “uncharted territory” for me and accordingly the discoveries are all the more appealing. A particularly beautiful section of the route leads from the Churzhubelegg above Luthern to the idyllic herb village of Hergiswil. Here it is worth making a short stop in the village of Chäsi to buy one or the other local herbal product as provisions along the way. Alternatively, it is not far from here to the town of Willisau, where the original Willisauerringli can be tasted in Café Amrein.

5. Secluded spots in the Rottal

After Willisau we follow the signs to Route 99 in the direction of Sempach/Zug. The landscape here contrasts with the Chrächen and Höger of the Napf. Tree-lined sheltered ponds and ponds alternate with rapeseed and corn fields. After Buttisholz, the cycle path climbs again and leads past the Flüss chapel on the Ruswilerberg towards Sempach. Beautiful rest areas are definitely not in short supply on this section of the route. Be it at the Ostergau nature reserve, at the Soppisee or at one of the chapels between Ruswil and Buttisholz: In view of the many beautiful places, it could well be that you get off your bike more than once and treat yourself to a short break.

If you want to make a guaranteed shady stopover on hot summer afternoons, then I recommend you plan a detour to the area of Audience Golf Rottal. To do this, turn right in Rüediswil (not signposted as a cycle route) and follow the road to the hamlet of “Under Rot”. In addition to a 9-hole short game course (pitch & putt), where beginners are also welcome, the indoor mini golf course in particular offers a welcome cooling.

6. Idyll at Lake Sempach

It is worthwhile to divide the second day of the tour so that you can spend your lunch break in Willisau, then take a leisurely ride through the Rottal and arrive in Sempach in the early evening. With beautiful riverside paths, an attractively located swimming pool and a house-cleaned historic center, there is still one or the other to discover here. If you want to end the eventful day in an atmospheric way, you can follow the cycle path through the core and cycle just under three kilometres further along Lake Sempach to Eich. Here, the Seehotel Sonne attracts visitors with a fantastic location directly on the lake. The perfect place for a sundowner. And by the way, food is also very fine here.

7. Pit stop at the Sempach Ornithological Institute

You will probably feel the same way as I did on this bike tour. The second day was simply too full of sights along the way, so we whizzed past the Swiss Ornithological Institute without stopping. Now we make up for this at the start of the third day of touring. Since this is 60 kilometers less long than the second day, a visit to the visitor center is absolutely possible. The exhibition rooms are designed to be interesting and interactive and provide a lot of interesting information about the bird world. I recommend allowing at least an hour for the visit.

8. On beautiful side routes over the Lindenberg

Afterwards we take the last stage of our bike tour under our wheels. To do this, we first follow the signs of the Herzroute in the direction of Zug until we meet the Herzschlaufe Seetal (route no. 599) at Gundolinge. This leads us via Ballwil on another panoramic route over the Lindenberg mountain range. A varied route that offers a beautiful interplay between wooded sections and passages along open pastures with interspersed tall trees.

On this stage, be sure to plan a refreshment stop at the Nussbaum-Beizli in Oberillau (not far from the Horben viewpoint). A lovingly designed “bass restaurant” with an extensive range of self-service products. Another pretty spot awaits you near Schongau; the Kneipp facility including a small barefoot path on the renatured Erusbach.

9. The castles and palaces of the Seetal

The last 15 kilometres of the bike tour should make the hearts of fans of defiant castles and palaces beat faster. The Seetal Heart Loop leads past the (private) Hilfikon Castle to Hallwyl moated castle and ends in the medieval town centre of Lenzburg directly below the mighty hilltop castle. If you still have enough battery (or “pupf” in your legs) left at the end of the 60 kilometres, you can also pedal up to Lenzburg Castle by bike and visit it from the inside. This extra loop at the end is not only worthwhile for the view inside, but also for the impressive view down to the old town of Lenzburg. Unfortunately, luck with the weather left us at this point – but after three wonderful days of cycling, we don’t want to complain about this wet and happy conclusion.

Practical tips for your bike tour through Lucerne’s four rural regions

• You can find more tips and information about this and other beautiful cycling routes in Lucerne’s four rural regions here: www.luzern.com/veloveluzern
• The hashtag #velovelucerne is used to collect and share the regional cycling experiences.
• If you don’t want to do the tour with your own bike/e-bike or don’t have your own e-bike, you can easily rent one at Rent a Bike. The Heart Route bikes (which have a more powerful battery than the standard Flyers of the fleet) can be rented along our route at the Rent a Bike stations in Entlebuch, Willisau, Sempach and Lenzburg.
• There are battery charging stations along the way on the Heart Route and the Heart Loops – each of which is signposted. However, if you are on the road with the newer e-bikes and do not ride in “high” mode all the time, you should not have any major battery problems.
• We transported our own luggage with our own saddlebags. Even more comfort is offered by the luggage transport organized by Eurotrek.
• Velo-Challenge Lucerne Land: Collect your adventure points along the way and take part in the Velo-Challenge Luzern Land from May to September 2022.