Weinfelden means wine fields in German, and in Switzerland, the Canton of Thurgau, there is a small town with this name. Not surprisingly, vineyards surround it, and the town’s hiking wine itinerary passes through them.

A promising start to any wine trail itinerary, surely. Additionally, this particular trail promised a wine education path, and diverse opportunities to sample wine along the way. So, making my way to the trailhead in the center of Weinfelden, set on the banks of the Thur River, I was intent on hiking the trail as well as learning about and tasting the local wines.

Switzerland is very rural, in spite of its well-known cities like Geneva, or Zurich or Bern, to name a few. While the cities may have an international feel to them, the towns of Switzerland seem more like villages. I was reminded of this as the trail cut through the old center of town, with its curving roads, and simple but substantial older buildings. The weekly market filled one road, and the items for sale were not the cheeses, wines or carved wood products found in towns where open air markets are now a novelty, even for the locals. This one displayed children’s clothes, underwear, toys, and… toilets. While still in town, the trail then meandered along a gravel path, laid between opposing backyard gardens. This was one of several here, and in other Swiss towns, well away from traffic and very well used. The term cow path came to mind.

 

Being a small town,  I was in the countryside within a kilometer.  Here, the cows were in the lower fields closer to the river, on lush green grass . But the trail rose into the hills, away from the lower fields, and into the “wine fields.” Schloss Weinfelden tops one of the hills. It makes for a nice photo opportunity, but otherwise is not accessible to the public.

 

A nice touch along this section of the trail through the vineyards was the educational tables. These expounded on the grape varieties, the annual cycle of viticulture, old wine presses, etc., but only in German, as Thurgau lies definitively within the German-speaking area of Switzerland.

 

But the language of wine is international, and does not need much translation, so I was on safer ground once I reached the first of several wineries. Geschlossen (closed)…or, Geoffnet (open) von 1600-1800 Freitags (or pick any one day of the week, but not Sundays, holidays or Mondays). So, even with minimal German skills, I quickly realized there would be no wineries to visit during my hike that day.

 

But no worries, there was the wine safe. This was a unique variant on a dispensing machine set in a bank vault. Dug into the hill, the door guarding the local treasures was electronically secured by a code – purchased for a price at the trailhead (the train station). No other option (such as paying with a card or actual money, either Swiss or Euros, as in a dispensing machine) was available. If only I had understood that. Sadly, I left the little sheltered area, with its lovely view to the high Alps, which just as sadly, were barely visible that morning.

 

The little hamlet of Ottoberg came not too long afterward, followed by an even tinier hamlet, Boltshausen, before the trail flattened out amidst fields of grain and rows of fruit trees. It was a pretty, peaceful route by which to reenter the town, where all the restaurants had just closed after the allotted two-hour lunch time.

The fields of wine trail was a pretty and easy hiking trail in a beautiful setting, which with good timing/advanced planning, would also afford several opportunities to try the local wine. I would go back to rehike this trail with friends in a heartbeat – but, unfortunately, I don’t have time!