Greifensee

The Greifensee is the second-largest lake wholly in the canton of Zurich and the one that was saved: proposals to drain it for farmland were fought off, and it has been protected since 1941, with the reedbeds and wet meadows around it as a nature reserve of national importance. That protection is why the shore is not built up in the way Lake Zurich's is. The circuit path runs about eighteen kilometres, level and mostly on the water's edge, popular with runners and cyclists from the city. Bird life is the substance of the place - herons, grebes, reed warblers and large winter waterfowl numbers - and there are hides. The small medieval town of Greifensee, with its castle and church, sits at the northern end.

What you actually see

• Reedbeds under national protection - the wetland saved from drainage.
• An 18-kilometre level circuit - the shore path right round.
• Bird hides - herons, grebes and heavy winter waterfowl.
• Greifensee town and castle - the medieval core at the north end.

When to go

April to October; winter for waterfowl. A day for the circuit.

Honest expectations

It is a city-edge lake and the path is busy with runners and cyclists at weekends. The reserve means much of the shoreline is off-limits to walk onto. Swimming is at the lidos, not everywhere. There are no mountains here.

Nearby

Uster is on the shore; Zurich is a short train ride west.