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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Oterswil / Insel Eielen and Seematte

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
179 km
Riding-time estimate
3 h 19
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.

Open this ride in CurveScout

Why this ride

From Rotkreuz it runs 179 km to Rotkreuz; allow about 3 h 19 of riding. The stops in between: Kehrsiten, Seematte and back through Kehrsiten. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,250 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.

Scenic road chapters

Lake Lucerne Axenstrasse

For about 51 km this is Lake Lucerne Axenstrasse, 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
51 km
Named road
Lake Lucerne Axenstrasse

Lake Lucerne Axenstrasse

Water arrives beside the road and stays for 34 km. The line follows the shore because there is nowhere else for it to go. Slow enough to look. The surface follows the shoreline, so the corners arrive where the water decided, not where an engineer did.

Chapter facts
Length
39 km
Named road
Lake Lucerne Axenstrasse

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Oterswil / Insel Eielen

    Lake Zug is the quiet one among the central Swiss lakes, long and slender, with the Rigi rising steeply from its southern end and gentle farmland and orchards rolling down to its northern shores. Around its edges, as around many Alpine lakes, people built villages on the shore in prehistoric times, and the remains of these settlements at places like Oterswil and the little island of Eielen are among the sites of the transnational pile dwelling listing inscribed by UNESCO in 2011. Under water and mud, wooden piles, pottery and tools have survived for thousands of years.

    Read the complete Oterswil / Insel Eielen write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Oterswil / Insel Eielen is where the day begins. Next is Kehrsiten.

  2. 2. Kehrsiten

    Kehrsiten is a small settlement on the southern shore of Lake Lucerne, at the foot of the Bürgenstock, a steep, forested ridge that juts out into the lake, and it feels almost cut off from the rest of Switzerland. A narrow road follows the shore from Stansstad, squeezed between the rocks and the water, and ends here; beyond, the cliffs of the Bürgenstock drop straight into the lake. For most visitors, Kehrsiten is the place where the boat from Lucerne stops and the Bürgenstock funicular begins, climbing steeply through the forest to the resort on top, which has been welcoming guests since the late nineteenth century.

    Read the complete Kehrsiten write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Kehrsiten comes up about 51 km into the recorded legs. Next is Seematte.

  3. 3. Seematte

    Lake Baldegg lies in the Seetal, the lake valley north of Lucerne, a gentle, green landscape of meadows, orchards and woods, with the lake in the middle and the hills rising on either side. Seematte, on the shore near Hitzkirch, is the site of prehistoric lakeside villages, built on piles over the water's edge thousands of years ago, and it was inscribed in the same 2011 listing that covers lakeside villages from France to Slovenia. As with most such sites, there is nothing to see above ground, but the setting is lovely, and standing on the reedy shore you can imagine the wooden houses and dugout canoes.

    Read the complete Seematte write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    about 90 km into the recorded legs you reach Seematte. Next is back through Kehrsiten.

  4. 4. back through Kehrsiten

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Kehrsiten write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    back through Kehrsiten, late in the day. Next is Oterswil / Insel Eielen.

  5. 5. Oterswil / Insel Eielen

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Oterswil / Insel Eielen write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Back at Oterswil / Insel Eielen. That is the ride.

Leg by leg

Oterswil / Insel Eielen to Kehrsiten

Oterswil / Insel Eielen → Kehrsiten is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Kehrsiten to Seematte

Kehrsiten → Seematte is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Seematte to back through Kehrsiten

Seematte → back through Kehrsiten is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Kehrsiten to Oterswil / Insel Eielen

back through Kehrsiten → Oterswil / Insel Eielen is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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