About Lake Zurich by Mark Sukhija

The Lake Zürich Navigation Company (Zürichsee Schifffahrtgesellschafft (ZSG)) began running boat tours on Lake Zürich with a steamboat called Minerva. Now, with the fleet expanded to 17 ships including three flat bottoms plying the Limmat River and a pair of steamships, the Boat Company runs a variety of cruises on Lake Zürich - although the service is substantially reduced during the winter months.

One of the more enjoyable (well one of my favorite) trips is the "Grosse Rundfahrten" (the Big Round Trip) which takes a leisurely two hours to bring you to the historic town of Rapperswil at the other end of the Lake. If you've got an afternoon to spare in Zürich , it's a great trip to take lunch on and then explore Rapperswil

Several shorter cruises, including breakfast, lunch tango-cruises, BBQ, Jazz, Salsa, Oldies, Summer-brunch and Seenachstfest cruises pretty much ensure that any taste is catered for. Enquire at the ticket office directly at Bürkliplatz on the Lakefront or at the tourist information office in the main train station.

Zürich itself in, in actuality, at the end of Lake Zürich - the Limmat drains the water from the lake. The Linth Canal, which runs from Canton Glarus through Walensee and Schmerikon flows into Lake Zürich at the other end. The Limmatboot, flat-bottomed boats, operate on the Limmat river itself as far as the Landesmuseum (State Museum.)

Quick facts

View of Zürich from the top of Uetliberg - the house mountain of ZürichZürich / Rapperswil : 28.50 km
Zürich / Schmerikon: 39.0 km
Surface area: 88.66 km2
Volume of water in Lake: 4.00 km3
Widest point: Between Stäfa and Richterswil 3.85 km
Deepest point: between Herrliberg and Oberrieden: 143.00 meters
Average water level: 405.95 m above sea level

Recent posts

Rome - 14 things not to miss My personal advise on what to do and see in Rome
Mt Egmont and King Edward Park Mt Egmont seen from the King Edward Park playing fields in Stratford
Stratford Glockenspiel The Stratford Glockenspeil in Taranaki
The Antelope - the dog friendly pub The Antelope - your local, dog friendly, beer friendly pub
Ancient Rome - 8 must see highlights Must see ancient monuments around Rome
Antwerp - de Kathedraal Historical information about the gothic Antwerp Cathedral
Antwerp - what to do, see, stay and eat What to see, where to stay and eat in historic Antwerp
Austria - recommended places to stay Recommended hotels in Vienna, Salzburg and Bregenz

Further reading

European tourism and rail organisations - a quick reference - A reference guide to European tourism and rail organisations

Europe - Travel information from around Europe

Italy - 10 places not to miss - 10 places you shouldn't miss in Italy

Rapperswil - What a visitor to Rapperswil needs to know

Lucerne - 7 things not to miss - What not to miss in Lucerne

2012 Solar Eclipse - partial stages of the eclipse recommence - Video of third contact and the bgeinning of the partial eclipse during the 2012 eclipse seen from Port Douglas

Eclipse chasing - Essential total eclipse trip planning information from 2010 to 2019

Travel pictures - Pictures from my travels in Switzerland, Italy and New Zealand

Why chase solar eclipses? - Why I chase total solar eclipse all over the world

Antwerp - what to do, see, stay and eat - What to see, where to stay and eat in historic Antwerp

About Mark Sukhija

Mark Sukhija is a travel and wine blogger, photographer, tourism researcher, hat-touting, white-shirt-wearing, New Zealand fantatic and eclipse chaser. Aside from at least annual visits to New Zealand, Mark has seen eclipses in South Australia (2002), Libya (2006), China (2009) and Queensland (2012). After twelve years in Switzerland, Mark moved back to London in 2012. You can follow Mark on Twitter or Facebook