Historic shores: From La Neuveville to St. Peter's Island

The lakeside trail from La Neuveville to Le Landeron begins at the south side of the train station located on Lake Biel. The yellow-marked "Sentier du Lac" passes by the beach bath, campsite, and outdoor pool to the small port of Le Landeron. Due to the Zihl Canal, the connecting canal between Lake Neuchâtel and Lake Biel, you cannot continue directly along the lake and instead follow the canal for about 900 meters to the Pont de St-Jean bridge. After crossing the bridge, you pass the St. Johannsen prison and follow the "Uferweg" (lakeside path) signage back toward the lake. Soon Erlach is reached, a medieval town crowned by a castle. At the intersection near the Du-Port parking lot, opposite the restaurant of the same name, the roughly 4.5-kilometer Heidenweg begins, leading over the narrow land strip to the monastery with its restaurant and monastery hotel on St. Peter's Island. It is an additional five minutes to the Rousseau monument at the St. Peter's Island South landing stage. From the monastery, you ascend to the pavilion, keep left, and reach the St. Peter's Island North boat dock via a forest path, from where the scheduled boat returns to the starting point in 15 minutes.

Background: St. Peter's Island is actually a peninsula since the Aare river was corrected and the lake level was lowered. The St. Peter's Island-Heidenweg nature reserve is a nationally important habitat offering moorlands, floodplains, and amphibian spawning grounds for rare animals and plants, as well as a historic cultural site.