Best walks in the canton of Zug - Part 5

Our author keeps her eyes open on a far-from-everyday path from Zug Railway Station towards the old town.

How many steps are there, in fact? Sometimes more, sometimes less – depending on your constitution. Either way, the steps by the Centro Italiano are the piéce de résistance of a walk from the railway station to the old town. As a rule, walkers usually choose the path along the lake. As a result, however, you will miss some very special parts of the city. Such as the above-mentioned steps and their surroundings.

Because nowhere else are two worlds so close to each other. Here are the rushing businessmen who rush in and out below the facade of the City Garden Hotel, which is shining in the sunlight. Then there are the more relaxed Italians, who drown out the football commentator in the "Centro", or who sit outside on cheap chairs, smoking. Once upon a time, they were the kings of this almost forgotten part of the city of Zug, playing boccia in an somewhat ramshackle hall.

But enough of memories. The above-mentioned steps lead to the Guggiwäldli wood. On the plateau behind it, you’re literally spoilt for choice: various steep paths lead either in the direction of the Loreto, to the Rothusweg or towards the terraced houses.

The steps by the "Centro Italiano", which seem almost unclimbable depending on how fit you feel, are at the heart of this walk.

If you’re feeling fit, you can choose the second path, and walk behind the children’s slide. And if you’re feeling particularly good, you should do this at new moon and without artificial light to help you. Because old rhyme "Over Stick and Stone” applies quite literally over the following 100 metres. A pair of reading glasses is witness to this, and as probably lost by a stumbling walker and looks back at you from the fence.

Sensation as a reward at halfway
Those who have mastered the route will be rewarded with the sight of an endangered species: a huge open space in the middle of the residential area! Millions of blades of grass instead of millions of kilograms of concrete on the ground! Almost half of the walk is done when you reach this sensation,.

Thera are no more special sights from here on. But if you keep your eyes open and find the passage from the Guggiweg to the Grünring, you will then pass the first house of the city of Zug that was only used as a kindergarten. It was inaugurated in 1939, and is still in operation today.

After the Grünring, the walker is again at a crossroads. The walk can be continued via the classic route over the Guggi, with a famous viewpoint. Today, however, the choice is for the Schanz. On the way there, you’ll pass a remarkable manor house on Löberenstrasse with a no less impressive outbuilding. The next street on the right is the Schanz, which leads around the Capuchin Tower (Kapuzinerturm). Thanks to the prohibition of cars and probably also the typically Swiss social checks, it’s pleasantly quiet here at any time of the day, before the hustle and bustle around the Postplatz disturbs your calm mood again.

Branching into the Kapuzinergässli
Quickly continue to the left into the Zeughausgasse, where there is only one-way traffic. Shortly before the next junction is reached, a covered staircase on the left comes into view. It is freely accessible and belongs to the Kapuzinergässli, which leads to the monastery church, which is also open to the public. At the end of the Gässli is the corner of the Ägeristrasse and the Löberenstrasse, and thus the final destination.

There used to be an opportunity here – at least if you’re a man. Because an almost legendary pissoir is embedded in the monastery wall. It once offered night owls the chance to relieve themselves of a few grams of ballast before taking the steep path to the higher quarters. Unfortunately, this too may soon be just a memory. Since the introduction of the corona protection measures, the pissoir has been made inaccessible as the social distance regulations couldn’t be maintained as the City of Zug informs on request. The reopening depends not only on the corona situation, but also on "constructional and technical" aspects. One can only hope that this walk will not soon become aimless.

In this series, our authors present their favourite route in the canton of Zug.