Golzernsee

Golzernsee, with a little beach by the big tree

This is an short, easy walk in the mountains to a small, pretty lake, where you can swim or just take in the view. Golzernsee is a small lake in canton Uri, about 1:30hr drive from Zurich, plus a short cable car ride and 25 min walk. The trail is relatively smooth and wide and stroller-friendly. There are a couple restaurants before you reach the lake, with excellent views of the valley, lake, and surrounding mountains. There are several grill pits next to the lake if you prefer to picnic. It's a lovely, easy day out with the kids. Now the details...


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First you drive toward the Gottard tunnel, get off the freeway at Amsteg and drive up a steep, windy (but short) one-lane road to Bristen (put this in your GPS). Drive all the way through town until you reach a large parking lot next to the roaring river (shown below). The cable car base station is here. The schedule says it only runs every half-hour and that it's closed for lunch. But the day we were there, it was so busy that it ran constantly all-day.



Then the easy 25 walk into the valley as shown below:


Here we are on the trail. We went on Swiss National Day (Aug 1), so it was a little crowded:


Along the trail, there were a couple stands selling crystals. Our kids bought some to add to their treasure chests at home.


Here's another view of the beautiful valley before reaching the lake.


We ate at Restaurant Golzernsee, which was exactly what you might expect from a Swiss mountain restaurant, no more, no less. The view, of course, was fantastic. They did have child plates with hot dogs or schnitzel.


And finally, the lake. Here the small "beach" which starts out very shallow, so your tots can wade around before it gets too deep. Before you walk down to the water, there is a public bathroom where you can change into your swimsuit.


We walked to the far side of the lake, where it was a little less crowded.


Here's the "beach" on the other side of the lake.


I have an irrational fear of swimming in lakes (it's dark and scary!) but the water was so wonderfully clear and refreshing that I was quickly won over. All the kids in our party had a great time splashing around in the shallow part and venturing out a little farther with floaties. I and my friend's 9 year old swam out into the lake, where there was a big rock we could stand on. We both thought this was pretty cool.


My husband found a big rock that we could jump off. The tots stayed by the shore and caught tadpoles.


Here are the kiddies searching the reeds for tadpoles and other treasures.


This is another view of the path, leading us back to the cable car.


Back at the bottom of the cable, we spent a few mintues throwing rocks in the river before heading home.