Around Lake Zurich

Zurich spreads around both banks of the northwest end of Lake Zurich. Carved by glaciers millions of years ago, the lake is quite deep –- nearly 500 feet –- and hence rarely freezes in the winter. In Zurich, the lake drains into the Limmat River (above).

Lake Zurich, known to locals as Zurichsee, is formed by the Linth River with headwaters in the glaciers of the high Alps to the south of Switzerland’s largest city. The water is very clean and is fed into Zurich’s water system after it’s filtered and purified.

The best views of the lake are from Uetliberg Mountain overlooking Zurich and the quickest way to get there is a short train ride from the Hauptbahnhof in Old Town. The top of Uetliberg features a 2,700-foot viewing platform and a restaurant.

Gina and I also took the boat ride around the lake, another fine way to view the picturesque villages and stately villas south of Zurich. The views of the city and the snow covered mountains were gorgeous.

On our trip to Lichtenstein and Heidiland, we stopped at Rapperswil, the City of Roses, on the south side of Lake Zurich. Besides its famous roses, Rapperswil features a quaint old town and is known far and wide for the Circus Knie, a family-run circus that has been traveling the country since 1919.

Zurichsee is clearly the focus of life –- both literally and figuratively –- in the canton of Zurich, as seen from the tower at Uetliberg (below), with the foothills and the headlands of the Alps in the background.