Why this ride
179 km from Wetzikon to Wetzikon, about 3 h 05 of riding. On the way it passes Grosse Stadt Kleiner Hafner, Riedmatt, Seematte and back through Riedmatt.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Robenhausen and Seematte
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 179 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 05
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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
Grand Tour of Switzerland
For 25 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
- 25 km
- Named road
- Grand Tour of Switzerland
Riedmatt → Seematte
25 km on Riedmatt → Seematte.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 25 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Grosse Stadt Kleiner Hafner.
2. Grosse Stadt Kleiner Hafner
Zürich's lake has been a home for much longer than the city's banks suggest. The names Grosse Stadt and Kleiner Hafner belong to prehistoric settlement sites in the shallows of the Seebecken, the lake basin where the water meets the old town, and they are part of the UNESCO listing of prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps. Farmers and fishers built villages on stilts here between roughly 4,000 and 800 BC, and the lake mud kept their traces. The site is underwater, so you cannot see it, but you can stand on the Utoquai or the Alpenquai promenade and imagine it.
Read the complete Grosse Stadt Kleiner Hafner write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Grosse Stadt Kleiner Hafner comes up 26 km in. 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
52 km in you reach Riedmatt. Next is Seematte.
4. 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
Seematte, about halfway. Next is back through Riedmatt.
5. 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
back through Riedmatt sits at 104 km, about halfway. Next is back through Grosse Stadt Kleiner Hafner.
6. back through Grosse Stadt Kleiner Hafner
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Grosse Stadt Kleiner Hafner write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Grosse Stadt Kleiner Hafner comes up 130 km in. Next is Robenhausen.
7. 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
Robenhausen closes the day.
Leg by leg
Robenhausen to Grosse Stadt Kleiner Hafner
Robenhausen → Grosse Stadt Kleiner Hafner is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Grosse Stadt Kleiner Hafner to Riedmatt
Grosse Stadt Kleiner Hafner → Riedmatt is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Riedmatt to Seematte
Riedmatt → Seematte is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Seematte to back through Riedmatt
Seematte → back through Riedmatt is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Riedmatt to back through Grosse Stadt Kleiner Hafner
back through Riedmatt → back through Grosse Stadt Kleiner Hafner is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Grosse Stadt Kleiner Hafner to Robenhausen
back through Grosse Stadt Kleiner Hafner → Robenhausen is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.