Official announcement:

Government Councillor Willi Haag has officially opened the "Eastern Switzerland Top Bikes" in Hemberg. The network currently consists of ten long-distance mountain bike routes, each 38 to over 100 kilometers long, which are linked in such a way that half-day, day or multi-day tours can be put together. The "Top Bikes" form a 729-kilometre biking highlight that offers something for all tastes and ability levels.

The foothills of the Alps in Eastern Switzerland are ideal terrain for mountain bikers. This is evidenced not only by the 35 existing bike circuits with a total length of 1200 km in the canton of St.Gallen alone. In conjunction with SwitzerlandMobility and in cooperation with the regional planning groups, the canton of St.Gallen has now created the "Eastern Switzerland Top Bikes". They represent a network of currently ten long-distance bike routes that are linked together in such a way that they can be ridden as half-day, day or multi-day tours as desired. The most important linking points are in the Toggenburg and Heidiland tourist regions. Starting and finishing points are in Rapperswil-Jona, the Zurich Oberland (Wald), Winterthur, Appenzell, St.Gallen Fürstenland, Glarnerland and Graubünden. The network consists of 729 km of long-distance routes, based on SwitzerlandMobility and supplemented by cantonal long-distance routes.Only the most attractive routes for tourists were taken into account when defining the network. These open up the extensive arena of the Eastern Swiss Pre-Alps to bikers. The most beautiful viewpoints and routes, mountain inns etc. have been taken into account. In addition to boosting tourism, the network of "Top Bikes" is also intended to reduce the impact on nature by channeling its attractiveness. To reinforce this effect, additional flanking measures have been taken in areas that are sensitive in terms of nature conservation. The "Top Bikes" are designed as an open network. The aim is to expand the route network.The website www.top-bikes.ch shows, among other things, route maps and elevation profiles of the uniformly signposted and easy-to-find routes. The information can be used to put together individual stages via various connection points. All users of the "Eastern Switzerland Top Bikes" are wished an accident-free ride, fun and enjoyment in the beautiful landscape of Eastern Switzerland.

View the route map with the route network as a PDF