iCyclades - Cyclades Discovery Guide

These recommendations are selected according to our experience or to verified opinions of other travelers. You can trust them!

You can also share your own good addresses!

The "Small Twann" is the western part of the village, where we did not shoot panoramas. Our stroll will now follow the street "Im Moos" towards the centre of the village.

This path leads straight up into the vineyards, where you can follow a didactic trail with information panels that tell you many interesting things about wine and viticulture on Lake Biel. This trail leads in one hour to the vineyard museum in Ligerz, the winegrowing village west of Twann.

A little further up we see the junction of the Unterer Chapfweg, one of the many paths through the vineyards. On our left, the narrow path between the village houses is the Hingerdürewägli, which leads back down to the main street.

Chrosweg continues to climb through the vineyards towards the forest and the mountain. On the right, Unterer Chapfweg joins Rebweg (Vineyards Way), which runs through the vineyards and joins the main road just after the tiny hamlet of Wingreis on the road to Biel.

The path runs alongside the cemetery nestled in the heart of the vineyards, the only piece of land not devoted to wine growing. The vineyards cover the entire slope as far as the eye can see, right up to the edge of the forest.

Our stroll ends (or starts) here, just above the village. Behind us, the Chrosweg continues to climb through the vineyards. A little higher up, it joins a hiking trail that leads east to the gates of Biel and west to La Neuveville.

Here we are at the entrance to the picturesque old village, where we will escape the hustle and bustle of the nearby car and train traffic on this important axis at the foot of the Jura mountain range.

In the distance we can see the railway line and the lake. There Dorfstrasse joins the main road, but our stroll does not go that far, it passes by the church and ends a little higher up in the vineyards.

We will now climb the Chrosweg alley and visit the church on the way. If you continue further up through the vineyards, you can reach the Rebweg, the vineyard path, where you will have beautiful views.

Douanne is at the heart of the Lake Biel wine region, where more than 80 winegrowers cultivate around 220 hectares of vines, mainly planted with Chasselas, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, but also with more "exotic" grape varieties that are often only available in limited quantities (Malbec, Dolinoir, Saint Laurent)

You won't get lost in Twann: the village is really tiny and consists only of a cobbled main street between two walls of old winegrowers' houses packed tightly together.

The restaurants in Twann have a very good reputation, of course we have not tried them all but we can recommend this one, the Traube, where we tasted excellent dishes washed down with a magnificent local pinot noir.

These panoramic views were shot in June 2021, in the midst of the pandemic, when restaurants were allowed to extend their terraces along the street. A setting that added to the charm of the village and we hope that these terraces will continue to exist!

To the right, Bärelänti Lane leads off towards the main road which runs along the railway line, cutting the village off from the lake. Let's go straight on!

Our stroll continues towards the church at the end of the village, from where we can climb up to the vineyard path with its panoramic views over Lake Biel. A little further on we see the arched passageway that leads to the shore, where we will also take a short walk.

This arched passage is the Rathuslänti, which leads to the lake shore under the main road and the railway. Before taking a walk through it, we will continue to follow the main street to the church.

Twann (or Douanne in French) is in the heart of the vineyards on the northern shore of Lake Biel, which relatively unknown wines are no match for those of other Swiss regions. Here we are in front of the House of the Wine of Lake Biel, where you will find all the good addresses.

Squeezed between the lake and the vineyards leaning against the mountain, the village only reveals its charm if you take its only street. There is no need to stroll around the train station and its car park, even if you will see some beautiful buildings around.

Before becoming Dorfgasse ("Village Street") further on, this street is called Im Moos ("in the marsh"), recalling the time when Lake Biel, like the lakes of Neuchâtel and Murten, often overflowed and regularly caused flooding.

Viticulture, fishing and cattle breeding were once the main activities of the inhabitants of the village, whose main means of communication remained the boat until the opening of the Lake Biel road in the 1830s. Nowadays, viticulture, gastronomy and tourism have taken over.

A few hotels and restaurants, a small grocery shop, a good bakery, many cellars where you can taste the excellent local wines... what more could you want?

We are not yet at the pier of the shipping company... This boat, which looked brand new, did not seem to have a name yet...

At the landing stage, a boat from Biel cast off to head for the next landing stage, at Ligerz, before continuing its cruise towards Island Saint-Pierre (which we can see on its left), La Neuveville and Erlach.

This unnamed path is obviously part of this large vineyard estate but there is no prohibition so don't hesitate to take it to reach the village centre!

The ornament of this fountain is the former coat of arms of Twann. Since the merger of the municipality with its neighbour Tüscherz-Alfermée in 2010, the coat of arms has changed and the new municipality is called Twann-Tüscherz (Douanne-Daucher in French).

As the street names indicate, Twann is rather German-speaking and you will more often see the village called "Twann" than "Douanne" (in French). Officially, however, the northern shore of Lake Biel, at the foot of the French-speaking Jura, is bilingual. To the west, La Neuveville is 100% French-speaking and to the east, Biel is only 60% German-speaking.

The double road and rail connection between Neuchâtel and Biel has unfortunately cut Twann off from its shoreline. Here is one of the subways that allow you to go to the lakeside.

When you reach the lake via the Rathuslänti Passage, turn right to reach the small park, the playground and the boat pier.

In the small harbours, pleasure boats have of course replaced the fishermen's boats. Between Ligerz and Twann there are only three professional fishermen left.

We arrive at the small park next to a children's playground and to the landing stage where the boats of the Lake Biel shipping company dock.

Im Moos Street becomes Dorfgasse (Village Street) at the bottom of Tessenbergstrasse, which climbs towards Rebweg (vineyard path) with its sweeping views over Lake Biel. It is also up this road that you can go hiking in the picturesque Twannbach Gorge.

Our stroll starts here, at the end of the paying parking of the SBB station, the only place where you can park your car in Twann. To go to the heart of the village, we will join the street of "Chlyne Twann" (Small Twann) that you can see just opposite.

Here we are at the end of our virtual stroll, on the boat pier of Twann. On the right, you can see the subway that leads to the train station. On the left, before the passage, the shore path continues to Ligerz with, for 2km, an educational trail dedicated to the fishes of Lake Biel.

The church of Twann, formerly Catholic, was consecrated to Saint Martin in 1299. It is a massive building with an imposing frontal tower and a choir closed on three sides. It underwent major alterations after the Reformation, between 1666 and 1668, and again at the end of the 18th century.

Having become Protestant after the Reformation, the church has been stripped of all Catholic ostentation and the interior is very plain and, to be honest, rather disappointing.