We start at Aarau station and soon reach the town’s weir, where the cycle path gives way to a pedestrian walkway. A beautiful forest path leads us through Summergrien. In the hushed silence, it’s astonishing to think that the Telli housing estate is so close by. On the edge of the forest interspersed with streams, a bridge crosses the renatured Suhre estuary. The floodplain between Aarau and Wildegg covers 317 hectares, making it the largest continuous expanse of wetland in Aargau. Fittingly, the next hour’s hike passes various projects implemented here by the canton’s Alluvial Site Protection Park. Tweeting birds and croaking frogs accompany us during this section of the hike. It’s also fascinating to see how beavers help shape the landscape.

Passing by the Aarschächli lake, we hike along the Aare dam towards the Auenstein weir until the bridge in Rupperswil, which crosses the Aare and continues the route via the Aare island. It runs straight past the Jura Cement factory to Wildegg station. The townscape is dominated by Wildegg Castle, whose vines and baroque gardens are a few metres further up. Built around 1200 by the Habsburgs, it was owned by eleven generations of the Effinger family from 1483. Since 2011, the site has belonged to the canton. A forest path then leads towards the Chestenberg, the highest point of the stage. The forest nature reserve - and the forest ridge that follows with a view of Thalheim – is inhabited by species including the black woodpecker, recognisable by its distinctive call and rhythmic hammering.

Habsburg Castle can be seen from afar over the wide fields of Brand. Founded in 1030, it dates back to the origins of the Habsburg dynasty. The dual castle was the home of the most successful family in the Aargau region which, after rising in the late Middle Ages, went on to rule an empire with huge estates in Europe and colonies in America, Asia and Africa. As we leave the Raiwald forest and arrive in Brugg, a long and historic hike comes to an end. It's worth making a small detour here to see the nearby former Königsfelden Monastery.