29^th Leukerbad International Literary Festival

Literary Walk

On the Thursday before the festival, we invite you to hike through the Pfynwald nature reserve with a hiking guide and literary accompaniment from Patrick Holzapfel and Meral Kureyshi. You can leave your luggage in Leuk during the hike.
Tickets for the Literary Walk are only available in advance.

Thursday, 19 June 2025

Meeting place: 9:30 at the Leuk Train Station
Duration: pure walking time approx. 2 hours, approx. 100 meters in altitude, easy paths, end approx. 16:00 at Leuk train station
Gear: sturdy shoes, 1-liter liquids, sun protection
Fee: Fr. 70
Includes: packed lunch from the Mathieu bakery (without drinks)
The journey from the end of the protected area to Leuk is not included in the price. Luggage can be left at the Leuk tourist information office at Leuk railroad station during the hike.

The hike with a hiking guide and literary accompaniment from Patrick Holzapfel and Meral Kureyshi leads through the Pfynwald conservation area. From Leuk, we hike through one of the most varied landscapes in Switzerland. Alluvial forests, dry steppes, ponds and the famous 16 hills still exist today. Corinna Bille, Maurice Chappaz and Rainer Maria Rilke have already written about them. This diversity can be seen in the flora, fauna and quite simply in the chirping of the crickets.

“Now we have discovered the forests (Forêt des Finges) full of small lakes, blue, greenish, almost black—what country has so many details in such a large context; it is like the final movement of a Beethoven symphony.”

Rainer Maria Rilke to Nanny Wunderly-Volkart, July 15, 1921

On the way back, we stop at the Hôtel de Ville in Sierre, where Rilke discovered Valais.