Unser Lääbe in Thalwil

The seventh stage of our walk took us from the medieval town of Rapperswil through the Canton of Schwyz and back up the western shore of the lake to Richterswil.

Rapperswil is situated on the narrowest point of Lake Zurich, at one end of the Seedamm causeway. Until recently, hikers had to walk alongside the busy rail and road traffic to reach the other side of the lake, but in April 2001 a wooden bridge was built for pedestrians. This revived memories of the original medieval bridge, which linked the two sides of the lake from 1358 until the causeway was built in 1878 and was an important stage on the path to the pilgrimage abbey of Einsiedeln.

At 841 metres the new bridge is shorter than its medieval predecessor (1450m) but still the longest wooden bridge in Switzerland. Walking across in the early morning light was a unique experience as we really felt like we were walking in the middle of the lake, with all the ducks and swans around us. Another nice touch is the integration of the Heilig Hüsli, a medieval chapel and the last remnant of the old bridge.

Leaving the bridge behind us, we came to Hurden, on the Schwyz side of the causeway. This former fishing village is home to many millionaires and gained notoriety when its restaurants considered themselves too posh to serve the simple ramblers who swarmed across after the new bridge was completed.

Having crossed the causeway, we arrived in the village of Pfäffikon and headed towards Freienbach. This village is at the centre of one of the richest communes in Switzerland (which also includes Pfäffikon and Hurden). It also has one of the worst maintained hiking systems: despite our map, we got lost three times due to wrong or missing signposts.

Above Freienbach we came to the Leutschen, the largest wine-growing area of Schwyz, founded by the monks of Einsiedeln. These vineyards offered us fantastic views of Lake Zurich as we made our way through them to Wollerau. From here we left the Canton of Schwyz behind us and took the Bilgeriwäg ("pilgrim's way") down into Richterswil. This old path originally led along the lake to the Abbey of Einsiedeln: there are still roads echoing its name in several other villages, including Rüschlikon and Thalwil. It was also a fitting ending to our journey which had begun on the pilgrims' bridge in Rapperswil.