Lake Zurich: Swimming, Boats & the Perfect Summer Day

Lake Zurich (Zürichsee) is the city's great gift to itself — a 40-kilometre-long glacial lake stretching from the city centre southeast into the canton of Schwyz, with the Alps visible on clear days and a waterfront that the Swiss have used for swimming, sailing, and general summer wellbeing since the 19th century. The lake is not a backdrop to the city; it's a functional part of it. Zurichers swim in it, sail on it, and treat its banks with the same casualness that Londoners use parks.

The Badi culture is central to lake life: the traditional lakeside bathing establishments (Strandbad, or Badi) are structures of wooden jetties, diving platforms, changing rooms, and kiosks serving beer and bratwurst that have operated since the early 1900s. The Seebad Enge and Seebad Utoquai are the two most centrally located; both charge a small entry fee, open from May to September, and fill with Zurich's entire population on the first warm Friday. The water quality is extraordinarily good — Zurich's lake water is so clean it's served (filtered) as drinking water in parts of the city.

Boat trips on the lake are operated by ZVV (the city transport network, the same passes work here as on trams): the round trip to Rapperswil, a medieval town at the far end of the lake, takes about 2.5 hours each way and is one of Switzerland's most scenic inland boat journeys. The shorter round trips from Bürkliplatz (central Zurich) through the lake bays take 1–1.5 hours and are a good way to see the lake without committing to a full day.

In winter the lake is occasionally cold enough to ice over — rare, but a city event when it happens. In summer, swimming in the lake from the city's bathing establishments is arguably the best free activity in Switzerland.