Free time between Rapperswil and Einsiedeln

In my hotel review about the Seedamm Plaza, I announced that I would go into more detail about the wide range of leisure activities around the hotel. Surprisingly, the leisure activities around Pfäffikon SZ cover everything from child-friendly to sporty to cultural and my small selection of favourites of course only gives a small insight and hopefully inspires you to go on discovery tours.

Alpamare

The Alpamare is one of the largest indoor water parks in Europe and is located in the immediate vicinity of the Plazas lake dam in Pfäffikon. The Alpamare is fun for both children and adults and I can confirm from my own experience that sliding fun is guaranteed with 11 unique slides. What I like about the Alpamare is that, in addition to the slides, it also has a river swimming pool, a wave pool and a wellness area with various adventure pools. Every water rate is sure to get its money’s worth here.

Wooden bridge Rapperswil-Hurden

I have already written a detailed report about this great wooden bridge here. The Hotel Seedamm Plaza is directly connected to the hiking trail in the direction of the wooden bridge Hurden. Just get out of the hotel and after a 45-minute walk over the wooden bridge you will reach Rapperswil. We walked this great trail again this time and enjoyed the phenomenal views and nature on the way.

Knies Children’s Zoo

Knies Children’s Zoo is located near Rapperswil train station. The zoo is completely geared towards the younger guests and offers a great adventure world for children in a manageable space. There is a petting zoo, you can ride ponies and elephants, see giraffes from above and watch the docile sea lions. Although not so “small” anymore, we ventured into the zoo last Saturday and were thrilled. I can recommend everyone to watch the sea lion show – very well done!

Attention, the entrance fee has to be paid in cash (tickets are not accepted and I was incredibly embarrassed that I had to search for my wallet for a whole five minutes and the queue behind us was getting longer and longer).

Historic town centre of Rapperswil

If you prefer culture and architecture to animals, you will be well served in the historic town centre of Rapperswil. Around the castle, which towers over the city, there are great old houses and murals to visit. Gourmets will not miss out either, thanks to the many cafés. I enjoyed my Black Forest cake and the coffee mélange in the castle café below the castle.

Einsiedeln Monastery

Only half an hour’s train ride from Pfäffikon is an important station on the Way of St. James – the Einsiedeln Monastery with the famous Chapel of Grace in which the Black Madonna is located. We visited the monastery after a hearty breakfast in the Seedamm Plaza and were incredibly impressed from the Chapel of Grace. Unfortunately, you are not allowed to take photos inside, but the monastery also looks pretty from the outside. By the way, if you walk through the monastery complex, you will pass the horses from the famous hermit breeding. In addition to the monastery, Einsiedeln also offers many themed trails and excursion opportunities around Lake Sihl, which I have already made a note of for a summer trip.

If you still think that the area around Pfäffikon has nothing to offer (which I almost can’t believe), you will find the Las Vegas of Switzerland within the Seedam Plaza, so to speak. There is a casino there and as you can see, we had our fun :).

Note: I was invited by the Hotel Seedamm Plaza – thank you very much for this. Nevertheless, my readers can be sure that I always represent my views and enthusiasm here.