Soon winter will be here and our weekends will (hopefully) be filled with skiing. Therefore, we now focus on discovering places in the vicinity. Last weekend was warm and sunny, so we took the opportunity to go to Rapperswil- Jona, which promotes itself with a Mediterranean atmosphere. Apparently, a not inconsiderable part of Zurich's population thought the same, because all streets, restaurant terraces and glass kiosks of the historical centre were full of people. But what makes it such a popular destination?
For a start, Rapperswil is a very picturesque little town - even with the Swiss standards - with perfectly maintained old buildings and tree-lined promenades along the Lake Zurich. The castle which overlooks it all, from its location on small hill, could have made a fairly hostile impression, but it is softened thanks to the surrounding welcoming vineyards, deer enclosures and - not least - rose gardens which are still in bloom, even now in October.
The castle's history goes back to 1229 and nowadays, among other things, it serves as such Polish Museum because, during the years (1815-1918) when this country did not exist on the world map, exiled Poles invested in restoring and converting it into a temporary Polish National Museum.
We never went into the museum but contented ourselves with admiring the view – in the direction of the Lake Zurich it is beautiful, but what you see when you look out over the Lake Obersee, its wooden bridge (the longest in Switzerland ) and, in the background, the Alps in the canton of Glarus is completely unbeatable.
From Zurich you can easily reach Rapperswil-Jona by train (40 minutes from Hauptbahnhof) or by boat (1.5 hours from Bürkliplatz).
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Deutsche Version (kommt bald)
Svensk version
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Our other autumn holiday trips 2013 went to Munich and Stanserhorn.
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