Family and Kids
Family Travels: hike with your children (Part II)
PART II
3. Hike: Rapperswil to Bäch (Flat)
I enjoyed this walk with a group of mothers, who all had their children in a stroller. It is perfect as it is almost completely flat.
Drive to Rapperswil or take the regional train. From the Jacobsbridge, located just next to the university and to the train-station, it took us just an hour to reach to the town of Pfäffikon.
The bridge is a great place to watch various fish and bird nestings.
At the end of the bridge, you will see a light. Cross the street and follow the sign for Pfäffikon. You will pass a playground and a pick-nick area.
It is straight on to the train-station of Pfäffikon. You will reach a beautiful closter.
Continue following the rail road track to Freienbach. On the way, you can stop at different playgrounds or outdoor swimming areas called Badis. You just need to cross the railroad and go to the lake.
To Freienbach, it takes about 50 minutes. From there, follow the signs for Bäch. There is a steep incline. At the playground near a residential area on the right inside, you need to start walking through the forest.
You will have to go shortly into the woods, which will lead you down and up into an alpine field. For about a quarter of an hour the way is a bit difficult for strollers.
Again you will go quickly into the forest and this leads you into the town of Bäch. From the train station you can go back home or to Rapperswil to pick up your car.
This easy walk takes about 2h25 minutes.
4. Hike: Restaurant Büel (875 meters – 2,870 feet) to Mt Etzel/Kulm
(1,090 meters – 3,876 feet)
We had heard how nice it was at the top of Mt Etzel and decided to hike without knowing anything about the path.
We left the parking lot at Etzelpass at lunch time, hoping our son would sleep.
So we walked up on a paved road, following the signs for Mt Etzel until we had to choose between right and left. We picked the right.
It was not an easy way up there, but we survived the steep inclines, stony, tree roots and grassy trails and having to lift our son and stroller a couples times.
We passed beautiful fields with green grass, cows, a forest and a view of the lake of Sihlsee.
When we arrived, it was all worth it. Our son had a wonderful playground designed for all ages and us a self service restaurant to have a bite to eat.
We paid 32 CHF for 2 cervelats with bread and one portion of fries with some drinks.
After lunch, we enjoyed the view of the Zurich lake and mountains.
We used a different path down, but we did not save much time and the first trail was more scenic.
This walk takes about 2 hours.
5. Hike: 13 km (8.07 miles) around the lake of Wagital (flat)
This last walk is the easiest and probably the most beautiful one of all but also the longest!
It is done completely on the road, but cars can only drive up 40 km/hr (25 mph). The few cars we saw were old collecter cars touring peacefully around the lake.
We left the village of Innerthal in direction to Hinterbrüch at 12:15 p.m. when our son fell asleep and we came back at 4:35 p.m. It is difficult to know exactly how long it took because when our son woke up, we stopped quite frequently.
If you don’t prepare a pick-nick basket, be aware that for almost two hours you will only find one restaurant on the way, Restaurant Cardinal.
We arrived at Ziggenbucht after an easy walk of 1:05 p.m. passing cows, sheeps, a little of forest and green pastured fields. The view over the Wägital lake and mountain peaks was breathtaking.
On the way we stopped and bought some homemade mountain cheese, Alpkäse. The price for a kilo was 3 times more expensive in the restaurant we later stopped at across lake.
After almost two hours non-stop we had a small break at the restaurant AU. We just had time to have a beer and a hot chocolate when our son woke up after more than a 2 hour nap.
It was time for him to have something to eat. He loved the fresh cut mountain cheese. We stayed on the grass and watched fishers and campers grilling.
Further away, you will pass a small chalet selling ice creams, candies, sandwiches and drinks. The Wagital mountain peak reminded us of old Western movies.
We reached Schrä-Innerthal at 3:50 p.m. The sun started going down and it was getting colder. Our son was getting restless in the stroller and a little bit bored. Unfortunately for him, we did not see any animals as we did in the morning.
We crossed a narrow and short bridge and later a larger one. The last 15 minutes before reaching Innerthal went by quickly. As the sun was going down even more, the views of trees with the leaves changing colors, were just indescribable.
There is a good playground just at the parking.
Count at least 3hr15 minutes for this walk.
