Lauter Riverside Walk & the Walk Park
The Lauter river and its artificial channel, the Walk, thread through and around Wissembourg in a way that makes the entire town feel like it is floating on water. The riverside path connecting the old town to the shaded Walk park is the local's daily ritual — and one of the loveliest short walks in Northern Alsace.
The Route
Start at the Pont du Sel in the old town, where the Lauter is at its most photogenic — flanked by medieval walls and half-timbered houses — and walk north along the right bank toward the Porte de Landau, a surviving medieval gate that frames the river like a painting. The path is flat, paved and accessible to pushchairs and cyclists.
Continue beyond the gate into the Walk park, a long green corridor of willows, poplars and wildflower meadows that follows the Walk channel for about two kilometres. In spring the meadows are thick with cowslips; in summer the shade is essential and families spread picnic blankets on the grass.
Swimming and Wildlife
Locals have swum in the Walk channel for generations. There is no official lido but a grassy bank near the old paper mill ruins serves as an informal swimming spot on hot days — water is clear and the current gentle. Check locally that conditions are safe before entering.
Kingfishers nest along the Lauter banks and are seen regularly between April and August — look for the electric-blue flash low over the water at dawn. Grey herons stand motionless in the shallows year-round, and otters have been recorded here in recent winters, a sign of the river's improving health.
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