The cantonal capital of Uri is in Reusstal, south of the Vierwaldstättersee lake. A touch of Italianità is already visible in Altdorf’s architecture on the way to the Gotthardpass across the Alps. The legend of Tell, Switzerland’s national hero is omnipresent.

The villagescape is marked by impressive mansions as well as Palazzi built by returning mercenary leaders. One well-kept example is «Im Eselmätteli» (1684) with its ornate late-Gothic and rococo interior finishings. The parish church of St. Martin is regarded as the loveliest classical church building in Canton Uri. In 2007, Altdorf won the Swiss Heritage Society’s Wakker Prize for its landscape-compatible development and many admirable new buildings and renovations.

Altdorf is the setting for the apple-shooting scene in Friedrich Schiller’s «William Tell», in which the national hero shoots an apple from his son’s head on the orders of Gessler, the Hapsburg provincial governor. The Tell monument, a bronze statue by Zurich artist Richard Kissling, stands on the Altdorf market square, itself under a preservation order as a historical monument.

Altdorf is on the route to the Gotthard and the starting point for the Klausenstrasse through the Schächental valley and over the Klausenpass (1948m) to Linthal in Canton Glarus. Bürglen, Tell’s home village with a small Tell Museum, is at the entrance to the Schächental Valley. Altdorf has other museums: the Uri Historic Museum, the Haus für Kunst (art) and the mineral collection in the Chateaux A Pro.

An aerial cableway runs from Flüelen to Eggberge (1450m) with spectacular views of the Vierwaldstättersee lake and Canton Uri’s mountain world. In summer the area is an extensive hiking and biking region (Schächentaler Höhenweg to Klausenpass), in winter a family-friendly winter-sports region. The «Schutz-Wald-Mensch» (Protection-Forest-People) educational trail leads quickly down to Altdorf and gives information on the importance of the Bannwald forest to villages and inhabitants.

Above the town, the Allerheiligen Monastery dating from 1581 is Switzerland’s oldest Capuchin monastery. It was also the first Capuchin monastery to be built north of the Alps.

Highlights

• Eggberge – lovely vantage terrace above the Vierwaldstättersee lake, reached from Flüelen with a small aerial cableway.
• Energieweg Altdorf (Energy Trail) – round tour of places of power, aimed at inspiring people to actively appreciate the landscape and its individual charm.
• Schächental – good hiking trails in mostly untouched nature. The Schächentaler Höhenweg (high-level trail) and the Höhenweg (nature trail) are particularly recommended.
• Tell’s Chapel – according to Schiller, Tell’s jump out of Gessler’s boot took place here between Flüelen and Sisikon. Nearby, Switzerland’s largest glockenspiel: 38 bells play 20 melodies.