Why this ride
354 km from Frauenfeld to Frauenfeld, about 6 h 07 of riding. It goes by way of Robenhausen, Riedmatt, Riesi and Sumpf. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Egelsee and Sumpf
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 354 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 07
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Egelsee → Robenhausen
This part of the ride is 47 km of Egelsee → Robenhausen.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 47 km
Grand Tour of Switzerland
For about 52 km this is Grand Tour of Switzerland, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it. Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 52 km
- Named road
- Grand Tour of Switzerland
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Egelsee
There is almost nothing to see at the Egelsee, and that is part of its charm. It is a small, reed-fringed bog lake in the rolling Thurgau countryside between Gachnang and Frauenfeld, and under its peat and mud lie the remains of a Neolithic lakeside settlement, timber piles and floor layers preserved for thousands of years because air never reached them. It is one of the many sites that make up the Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps on the UNESCO list, and unlike the reconstructed villages you find elsewhere, this one has been left in the ground on purpose. Archaeologists consider the soggy earth the best museum there is.
Read the complete Egelsee write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Egelsee is where the day begins. Next is Robenhausen.
2. Robenhausen
In 1858 a local man named Jakob Messikommer began digging in the peat bog at Robenhausen, on the southern end of the Pfäffikersee in the Zurich Oberland, and he spent decades uncovering a remarkably rich Neolithic pile-dwelling settlement. His finds, from stone axes to woven textiles and charred bread, travelled to museums around the world and helped make Swiss lake dwellings famous. Today Robenhausen is one of the components of the UNESCO Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps, though what remains lies underground in a protected wetland.
Read the complete Robenhausen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Robenhausen comes up about 47 km into the recorded legs. Next is Riedmatt.
3. Riedmatt
Zug has a reputation as one of the wealthiest places in Switzerland, a small canton of low taxes, glass office blocks and companies registered by the hundred. But beneath the surface, quite literally, lies a much older story. Along the shores of Lake Zug, archaeologists have found the remains of Neolithic and Bronze Age villages built on piles in the shallow water and marshy ground, and Riedmatt, near the border between Steinhausen, Cham and Zug, is one of the sites included in the Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps World Heritage listing. As with most such sites, there is nothing visible on the surface; the remains are preserved in the waterlogged ground.
Read the complete Riedmatt write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 99 km into the recorded legs you reach Riedmatt. Next is Riesi.
4. Riesi
Riesi is a stretch of shoreline at the northern end of the Hallwilersee, a long, narrow lake in the Aargau Seetal, between the villages of Seengen and Boniswil. It is a peaceful place of reeds, meadows and walking paths, and below the water and in the marshy ground lie the remains of prehistoric pile-dwelling settlements, part of the World Heritage list of such sites around the Alps.
Read the complete Riesi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Riesi, about halfway. Next is Sumpf.
5. Sumpf
Zug-Sumpf was a Bronze Age village on the northern shore of Lake Zug, near the mouth of the river Lorze between Cham and Steinhausen, and the waterlogged ground preserved wooden floors, posts and objects for over three thousand years. Excavations in the twentieth century recovered pottery, bronze tools and even remains of food, and the site sits on the World Heritage list as part of the prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps. Some of the finds are displayed in the museum of prehistory in Zug. Today the site lies under modern buildings and meadows, and only the name, which means swamp, recalls its watery origin.
Read the complete Sumpf write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sumpf sits at 143 km, about halfway. Next is back through Riesi.
6. back through Riesi
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Riesi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Riesi comes up about 215 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Riedmatt.
7. back through Riedmatt
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Riedmatt write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 255 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Riedmatt. Next is back through Robenhausen.
8. back through Robenhausen
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Robenhausen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Robenhausen, late in the day. Next is Egelsee.
9. Egelsee
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Egelsee write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 354 km.
Leg by leg
Egelsee to Robenhausen
Egelsee → Robenhausen is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Robenhausen to Riedmatt
Robenhausen → Riedmatt is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Riedmatt to Riesi
Riedmatt → Riesi is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Riesi to Sumpf
Riesi → Sumpf is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Sumpf to back through Riesi
Sumpf → back through Riesi is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Riesi to back through Riedmatt
back through Riesi → back through Riedmatt is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Riedmatt to back through Robenhausen
back through Riedmatt → back through Robenhausen is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Robenhausen to Egelsee
back through Robenhausen → Egelsee is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Egelsee and Kehrsiten · 388 km
- Riedmatt and Technikum · 86 km
- Sumpf and Technikum · 90 km