Students at the technical university in Rapperswil study engineering on a lakeside campus, and beneath the shoreline in front of their buildings lie the remains of villages that people built on piles thousands of years ago. The site, named after the old Technikum, as the college was long known, is one of the prehistoric pile dwelling sites around Lake Zurich included in the UNESCO listing of 2011. Nothing is visible, but the idea that this shore has been home to people for so long gives a different perspective to a stroll along the promenade.
Rapperswil is one of the most charming towns on Lake Zurich. Its old town sits on a small peninsula, with narrow streets, arcades and colourful houses climbing towards the castle, a stout medieval fortress with three towers that looks out over the lake. It is known as the town of roses, with rose gardens planted around the old town, including one in the grounds of a Capuchin monastery. The castle long housed a museum dedicated to Polish history and culture, founded in the nineteenth century by Polish exiles, which tells a surprising story of the links between Switzerland and Poland. The town is also the winter quarters of the Knie family's Swiss National Circus, and its children's zoo is a favourite with families.
For riders, Rapperswil is a good base. The lakeside roads are slow and often busy, but the hills behind the town, in the Zurich Oberland and the Toggenburg, offer quiet roads with plenty of bends, wide views over the lake and the Alps, and villages with good restaurants. To the south, across the Seedamm, the roads climb into the canton of Schwyz, towards the Etzel, the Sihlsee and the passes beyond. The Ricken pass, linking the Linth plain with the Toggenburg, is a pleasant ride, with long, flowing bends.
Rapperswil and Jona, which merged into a single town, have fuel, shops and plenty of restaurants, many of them with terraces overlooking the lake. The harbour is busy with boats, and in summer, the lake steamers stop here on their way to and from Zurich. Remember the Swiss rules: strict speed limits, high fines and a vignette for the motorways. The weather can be changeable, with fog in autumn and winter, but on a clear day the views over the lake to the mountains are superb.