In this part of the Columban Way through Switzerland and Austria we wanted to re-propose the route that the Irish monk and his 12 companions traveled from Bangor in Northern Ireland to Bobbio in Northern Italy at the end of the 6th century.
In these territories are only three places mentioned in the biography “Vita Columbani et discipulorum eius” by Jonah: in Switzerland Tuggen, on (then) upper Lake Zurich and  Arbon, and in Austria, Bregenz on Lake Constance. 
In tracing the route it was assumed that the monks followed the rivers and Roman roads. Therefore, from Basel the river Rhine to Koblenz, the Aare to Baden and the Limmat to Zurich (then Turicum). Tuggen could be reached from Zurich by boat or along the lakeshore. The group reached Arbon via the Ricken and Toggenburg and then probably by ship to reach Bregenz.
From Bregenz or southern Germany to Italy, several Roman roads were already in use through the Rhine valley and over the Alpine passes (Lukmanier, Splügen, Septimer). The most direct route chosen leads, through the Lenzerheide and the Septimerpass, to Chiavenna.