Last Sunday S and I discovered the beautiful lakeside town of Murten in Canton of Fribourg, Switzerland, by pure chance. When our plan to go on a cycle tour around lake Murten fell through, we decided to take a stroll around town anyway and were quickly intrigued by what we found.
Just a few streets down from the Murten train station, the historic defence tower and wall still stands strong and intact around the town’s periphery.
Past the gate, we found a staircase leading up on to the defence wall for the public to access for free.
So we walked along the wall to find yet another set of stairs leading up to the defence tower.
So, we climbed up the stairs to find this magnificent view of the town and the lake.
I was particularly fascinated by their chimney pots. Just look at these things!
Then we slowly made our way across the crowd of people at the Sunday market and eventually ended up at the lake. The beautiful narrow streets were lined with rows of magnificently preserved buildings, but there were too many people and market stalls to take a photo that would justify the beauty of this place.
It was quite windy by the lake, so there were windsurfers and people out on yachts doing their thing on the water while kids were flying kites on dry land. I guess there will be a lot of people on the paddle boats too during summer.
I love the fact that both locals or tourists can enjoy strolling around Murten without feeling overwhelmed by each other. There is a continuous concrete walkway along the edge of the water which is wide enough for joggers, skaters and the like to share and enjoy the waterfront with walkers too. Always a big plus point for any lakeside town. Plus, there are free clean public toilets every where, particularly along the lake.
I could not have been more pleased that our cycling tour got postponed that day. It would not have crossed my mind to stop and take a look around otherwise. I found Murten to be a very charming place that is definitely worth a second visit with a pair of roller blades next time.
Anchor It Down Blog 
It’s beautiful. I once spent a day in Rotenburg in Germany and also did the wall-walk thing over there. I’ve always wanted to return there with my wife so she could also see it, but perhaps Murten will bump it off the list now, if I can’t fit in both.
I do hope you guys can make it to both places. I haven’t been to Rothenburg yet. I’ll have to pop by on our next roadtrip to Germany 🙂 Thank you.