Visiting Zurich but thinking of doing an excursion or two? I have an idea for you. 

Just a 40-minute train ride – or a scenic two-hour boat trip – from Zurich, Rapperswil is a quaint little town on the northern shore of Lake Zurich. It’s also known as the Rosenstadt (Town of Roses), thanks to its rose gardens with thousands of roses blooming every year between May and October. 

It wasn’t quite rose season yet when I visited earlier this year for a wedding, but we did do something incredibly fun for the bachelorette: a Foxtrail. For those of you who don’t know what a “foxtrail” is, it’s basically a scavenger hunt/outdoor escape room/puzzle game with clues hidden across the city. It’s available in a number of cities and regions in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The trail typically takes you to some of the most iconic landmarks and beautiful scenery in the area, so it’s a really fun way to explore a new place and spend quality time with your companions. 

Now I’m not going to spoil the game for you, but I will show you some of the sights on the way as we tried to solve a mystery – we had to follow the hints left by Fredy Fox to uncover a secret weapon. Mind you, the checkpoints here are not in the same order of the intended trail, probably because we were too impatient and ended up missing a few clues and having to run back and forth, up and down the hill a few times! 

Altstadt von Rapperswil (Old Town)

Even if you aren’t doing a foxtrail, the Altstadt (Old Town) is the best starting point for your day trip. It’s right by the train station and, while small in size with merely half a square kilometre, this is where many of the key sights are. The streets are lined with charming houses from late medieval, and in the centre are the Hauptplatz (Main Square) and the Rathaus (town hall). You may take a leisurely stroll along the lakeside promenade, or walk uphill to reach the castle and deer park.

Schloss Rapperswil (Castle) 

OK, who doesn’t like a castle, especially when it has a view like this? 

Perched atop a hill called Lindenhof, the castle was built around the end of the 12th century and used to house the Polish National museum for some reason. Sadly we couldn’t enter the inside of the building since it was closed for renovation until summer 2024. You can, however, visit the gardens and go all the way up to the top for impressive panoramic views of the town and the lake. 

What’s cool about Foxtrail is that it gives you private access to places you normally wouldn’t notice, or would just pass by thinking it’s a staff-only room. Without giving away too many details, we got the passcode to unlock this gate underneath the castle: 

Behind the door was a dark tunnel that led to the heart of the castle…It’s definitely not for the faint-hearted, and that’s just one of the hidden rooms along the way!

Hirschpark Rapperswil (Deer Park)

On the northern slope of the Lindenhof hill is a deer park, which actually celebrated its 150th anniversay in 2021. Now you may wonder, why in the world is there a deer park at this small castle? Well, it turns out that the founding of the town might have something to do with the docile animal. Legend has it that when a nobleman found a hind (female red deer) and two calves during his hunt, his wife convinced him not to kill them. Later, the doe came to thank the lady for her kindness, and the man saw a sign from the heaven and decided to build a castle on the rock there, alongside a small town on the southern slope.     

I think we’ve covered quite a few things in the Old Town in this post; next time, we’ll visit the other side of Rapperswil, so stay tuned!

Continue to Part 2