The Sbrinz Route

The Route

For centuries this was the shortest trade link between central Switzerland and Italy. Muleteers carried goods south over the passes, and the hard Sbrinz cheese of central Switzerland, which keeps for years, was one of the main loads. Today the route crosses the Alps on natural paths, old paved mule tracks held up by dry-stone walls, arched bridges and steps cut into rock, past the glaciers of the Grimsel and down into the Valais and the Val Formazza. Public transport reaches the whole route, so you can walk single stages.

Säumerfest and the Mule Caravan

The season opens with the Säumerfest on the village square in Sachseln, Obwalden. In 2026 it opened at 11:00 on Saturday 22 August with a muleteers' inn, a craft market, donkey and pony rides and music from the Val Formazza, with Sbrinz, Bratchäs and muleteers' coffee on sale; the mules and their handlers arrived at 12:00. On Sunday there was a muleteers' service with yodelling at 10:15, and at 15:00 the caravan left for Domodossola.

The caravan hiking week, 23 to 30 August in 2026, follows the mules from Sachseln over three passes to Domodossola, where it is met with a medieval town festival. It was fully booked for walkers in 2026; the registration form for 2027 is already on the association's site.

Guided Autumn Week

The association also runs an eight-day guided walk with pack animals, from 27 September to 4 October in 2026, starting at Grafenort and crossing the Jochpass via Engelberg, Engstlenalp and Guttannen. It costs CHF 1,680 with half board in double rooms (CHF 35 a night single supplement) and includes a guide, luggage transport and an optional visit to the Walser museum in Ponte.

Sbrinz in Lucerne

Sbrinz AOP is still made in about 25 valley and alp dairies in central Switzerland. In Lucerne's St. Karli district, a warehouse built in 1926, partly below the level of the Reuss, ripens up to 60,000 wheels standing on edge. Taste Sbrinz at the Käsefest Luzern in October.