• Iron staircase to the bastion, the highest point of the ruin, with a wide view over Dornach and the Birs valley
• Picnic space in the courtyard and the grounds around it, so packing lunch makes an easy outing
• Restaurant Schlosshof next door, in the castle's former farm estate, for a sit-down meal after the climb

Dorneck is a medieval castle ruin on a rock ridge above Dornach, between the Birs valley and the Gempen plateau. At 100 meters long, it is one of the largest castle sites in northwestern Switzerland.

Kids walk through three gates (stone cannonballs found in the rubble now decorate the inner one) into the central courtyard, then climb an iron staircase up the big bastion for the view.