On this round trip we drive along quiet, sometimes narrow back roads and enjoy the landscape of the central Swiss cantons of Schwyz, Zug, Obwalden and Nidwalden as well as Lucerne, starting and ending in the canton of St. Gallen. Most of the route goes through rolling hills, briefly interrupted by the less famous passes. In addition to the magnificent landscape that we drive through, we are repeatedly treated to wonderful views of the mountains, the Alps and also the overview of northeastern Switzerland to the Black Forest and the Säntis.

I'm happy to give the route four stars. It's varied, leads through beautiful areas and also offers various sightseeing opportunities. The Etzel Pass, and especially the Ächerli Pass, are very narrow and sometimes very steep. This is only recommended for experienced drivers.

We start at Rapperswil train station in the canton of St. Gallen and drive straight onto the busy lake dam on the Schwyz side of Lake Zurich. Don't forget to look over the lake to the right when crossing, the view is magnificent. We change cantons, drive through the village of Pfäffikon in the canton of Schwyz (there is also one in the canton of Zurich) and take the narrow road to the Etzel Pass. If you want to enjoy the view over the lower, and later the upper, Lake Zurich, you can stop on the climb. Immediately after the top of the pass, the impressive view of Lake Sihl and the Hochybrig as well as the two Mythen mountains awaits. After just a short time, we drive through the historic, covered stone bridge at the St. Meinrad inn. It's worth taking a picture, there are very few similar bridges.

We drive briefly along Lake Sihl and then turn towards Sihlbrugg. There we then start the climb to the Ratenpass. This is not a driving challenge, but it is fun and leads into the third canton, namely the canton of Zug. A photo stop at the top of the pass is highly recommended, the view over Lake Ägeri is particularly beautiful and this time we admire the Mythen more from the western side. The path down leads to Unterägeri and along Lake Ägeri, back to the canton of Schwyz. In Morgarten it is worth stopping off at the information center about the historic battle of November 1, 1315 and being transported back to the Middle Ages. You can get a free access code online, which is sent via SMS, to get into the unmanned information center.

We drive briefly along Lake Zug via Sattel and Arth-Goldau, where there was a massive landslide in 1806, and then finally move into the canton of Lucerne. We reach Lucerne via hilly paths, which we have to cross. If you want to take your time to visit this most popular tourist city in Switzerland, you can make a longer stop here. The world-famous Chapel Bridge and many other beautiful places await your visit.
But we are only driving through, we still have a lot to do. After Lucerne we drive to the canton of Nidwalden, to Hergiswil, where one of the most famous glass factories and art workshops is located. It is worth visiting the "Glasi Hergiswil", as it is called here.

After this impressive visit, we briefly follow Lake Lucerne to Stansstad and Stans to Dallenwil. There we turn onto the narrow and sometimes very steep pass road to the Ächerlipass. This pass, which is still very unknown to motorized traffic, is an insider tip. A beautiful but sometimes challenging road is rewarded at the end with a wonderful view of the Stanserhorn and, a little later, of the Pilatus on the other side. At the top of the pass, we change "half cantons" and enter the canton of Obwalden. The ride down to Sarnen is much less strenuous and easier to take. We have barely reached the valley floor when we start the next climb. We head up to the Glaubenbergpass. Incidentally, a large motorcyclist blood drive takes place there every year at the end of June. Several hundred bikers have their blood drawn here. We treat ourselves to a delicious lunch in the restaurant just before the top of the pass.

We only do half of the journey down into the Entlebuch, the name of the valley of the Wyssemme and the little Emme, because we prefer to take the quiet road over the Rengg towards Emmen. Incidentally, we have been in the canton of Lucerne again since we reached the Glaubenberg pass. At Malters we cross the valley and then drive along small roads through the Lucerne hinterland. The route mostly runs along small side roads, at Rothenburg Station and later at Hochdorf we have to briefly take the main road and the extra traffic. We drive over small hills and paths through the Aargau corner, the Freiamt. There is another wonderful view on the Horgen for a photo stop. Of course you can also enjoy a coffee in the restaurant, we have planned the coffee stop a little later. Our route takes us to Mühlau and into the canton of Zurich.

We drive across the so-called "Säuliamt" and climb up to the Albis Pass near Mettmenstetten. At the top we take time for a well-earned coffee break. If you want to take a photo of the view over Lake Zurich, you should turn left into the car park shortly after the top of the pass; it's an ideal place to do so. We're soon past the few hairpin bends down and drive to the shore of Lake Zurich, which we follow to Horgen, where we take the ferry to Meilen. This runs every ten to twenty minutes, depending on the time of day. Motorcyclists should overtake the waiting line on the right and are always allowed to board and disembark before the cars. The cost of the crossing is cheap by Swiss standards and the ten-minute crossing is always like a short vacation. Of course, only if the weather is good ????.

From Meilen we go along Lake Zurich to Rapperswil, a short stretch through several villages and a few lakeside resorts that invite you to take a dip in the water. In Rapperswil, again in the canton of St. Gallen, we get stuck in a traffic jam for a while until we get to the train station. Unfortunately, this city is a bottleneck in terms of traffic, so there is a short stop-and-go at the end.