Seelisberg is a small holiday resort with a stunning view of lake Lucerne. The Rütli meadow is also part of the municipality. The village can be reached by postbus or by a nostalgic funicular railway from the lakeside village of Treib (with boat station and bathing beach). In the Haus zur Treib, first mentioned in 1482, the five towns of the Old Confederation held 72 meetings. The historic stage starts in Chilendorf. The trail is lined with lovely vantage points, including the Marienhöhe, which can be reached through the Rütliwald forest, the first legally protected natural forest reserve in the canton of Uri. At the resting place, you enjoy the view of the Rütli, the Kleine and Grosse Mythen as well as the Fronalpstock. The founding of the Swiss Confederation took place on the Rütli in 1291. The clearing, slightly elevated and not far from the lakeshore, was the place where the representatives of the original cantons swore the Rütli Covenant in 1291. This defined the joint action against the foreign bailiffs in their valleys.

Some 15 minutes later, you leave the forest and see the small Seelisberg lake further down the valley. In summer, you can swim here. There is also an idyllic camping site by the lake. The trail continues downhill on a paved road for about 20 minutes. From Brunni, there are more than a thousand well-laid steps down to Bauen. The village belongs to the municipality of Seedorf on the southernmost bay of the Uri part of lake Lucerne. Thanks to its sheltered location, Bauen enjoys a mild climate. Mediterranean plants such as palms, figs and banana trees thrive here.

Continuing along the shore - alternately on the road, on nature trails or through tunnels - you reach the beginning of lake Lucerne and the Reuss delta after another two hours. For more than five years, three islands were heaped up here with excavated tunnel material from the Gotthard massif. Together they are about the size of a football field. The last section follows the Reuss to Erstfeld, mostly on gravel roads. Before the opening of the Gotthard railway in 1882, traders with their horses passed by the village for centuries. At that time, however, it was hardly known. Only with the 57-kilometre-long Gotthard tunnel did Erstfeld become an important railway location. Large depot and track facilities were built to accommodate additional locomotives. This was the only way the heavy trains could negotiate the Gotthard ramp.