ViaBerna

The stage starts in Aarberg which is situated on a sandstone hill. You leave the medieval town with its numerous inns on the stately 16th-century wooden bridge. To the left: the dominant buildings of one of Switzerland's two sugar factories. Here, locally harvested sugar beet is processed into Swiss sugar in autumn. You now pass a first weir with a power station. Some of the water is channelled into the old Aare at this point. Since the correction of the Jura waters, the main flow enters lake Biel via the large Aare-Hagneck canal.

As far as Niederried, the hike continues above the course of the river on forest roads, then a narrow path follows the course of the Aare. After the weir, the trail dips back into nature and runs along the banks of the Niederried reservoir. This is considered a nature reserve of national importance. Some 10,000 water birds spend the winter here. The diverse floodplain landscape in the dammed section of the Aare is home to eight plant and 77 animal species that are regarded as endangered. Beavers, tree frogs, grass snakes and herons, for example, hide between pools, backwaters, marshes and floodplain woods.

Dead trees protrude from the marshy area at the inflow of the Saane river. Thanks to the robust Scottish Highland cattle, agricultural use of these marshy meadows is still possible. The path winds through the thicket between the river and the marshland to the Saanesteg. You continue hiking upstream on a wide path, the decommissioned Mühleberg nuclear power plant requires a small detour. Along the now rushing Aare you reach the weir of the hydroelectric power station at the end of lake Wohlen. Electricity has been generated here since 1920. Since then, the dammed lake has also been an important recreational area; the overgrown banks and the wide expanse of water are the habitat of numerous animal and plant species. You now have to tackle the steep ascent to Fuchsenried. The trail leads up and down through the wooded slopes and hollows at the Wohlensee lake. A final ascent leads from Jaggisbachau to the finish of the stage in Frauenkappelen, which is situated on a plateau.