Surroundings, Zug

To the southeast of Zug is the Zugerberg (988 m/3,242ft), with pleasant woodland walks and views of the Alps, particularly from the Hochwacht. It can be reached either by the direct road up the hill (9km/6mi) or by driving via Guggithal to Schönegg (3km/2mi) and taking the funicular (2km/1mi, eight minutes). On the top stands the Zugerberg Hotel.

5km/3mi west of Zug on the Lucerne road (No. 4) we come to Cham (421 m/1,381ft; pop. 6,500), at the junction of several roads. The church, built in 1786, has a slender steeple added in 1853. By the lake is the Schloss St Andreas, with a chapel of 1488 built on Carolingian foundations. The smart Villa Villette has, since 1988, been a meeting place and cultural center.

3km/2mi north of Zug is the little industrial town (textiles) of Baar (447 m/1,467ft). In the main street are the fine parish church of St Martin (14th C., rebuilt in 1771) with a massive Romanesque tower with a Baroque helm roof, and the Town Hall (1676). In the cemetery stands a Late Gothic chapel (1507). An attractive excursion (7km/4mi southeast) can be made over a hill covered with fruit-trees and the deep Lorzentobel gorge to the Höllgrotten ("Caves of Hell") with magnificent stalactitic formations.

The distance to Oberägen is 13km/8mi, to Schwyz 29km/18mi, 4km/2mi more than by the main road via Arth.Leave Zug on a secondary road which runs east to Thalacker and crosses the Lorze gorge on a high bridge. In 5km/3mi we reach Nidfurren (654 m/2,146ft). The road continues along the east side of the Lorze valley. 5km/3mi: Unterägeri (729 m/2,393ft), a busy little village and holiday spot at the north end of the charming Ägerisee (725 m/2,379ft; 5.5km/3mi long). The road runs along the northeast side of the lake.

About 3km/2mi from Unterägeri lies Oberägeri (737 m/2,418ft), a village of 3,500 inhabitants which is also a holiday resort. The road then crosses a low ridge which forms the boundary between the cantons of Zug and Schwyz, where, on November 15, 1315, the Battle of Morgarten was fought, marking the Swiss Confederates' first victory over the Habsburgs. On the shores of the lake is the Morgarten monument (1908), and on the pass are the Schlachtkapelle (battle chapel) of 1603 and a defensive tower of 1320.Then comes Sattel (827 m/2,713ft), on the road from Pfäffikon, which continues south to Schwyz (9km/6mi; bypass). Alternatively, take a road which branches off on the right in Sattel and winds its way down the southern slopes of the Rossberg (fine views of Rigi and the Mythen), passing through the hamlet of Ecce Homo (735 m/2,412ft; chapel of 1667) and the village of Steinerberg (629 m/2,064ft; pilgrimage church of 1570), and then continues past the scene of a great landslide at Goldau to Arth (11km/7mi).

The beautiful Zuger See or Lake Zug (alt. 417 m/1,368ft, length 14km/9mi, area 38 sq. km/15 sq. mi, greatest depth 198 m/650ft), extends south from Zug, its northern end surrounded by gentle hills, its southern end enclosed between the steep scarps of the Rossberg and the Rigi. 2.5km/1.5mi south of Zurich, on the east shore of the lake is Zug-Oberwil (420 m/1,378ft), attractively situated at the foot of the Zürichberg, along the foothills of which the road now runs.To the right, on the west shore, can be seen Schloss Buonas (15th and 17th C.) and the little village of Risch; then comes the Kiemen peninsula jutting out into the lake. After 4km/2.5mi you pass the Restaurant Lothenbach, where the stream of the same name flows into the lake (waterfall), then the road passes through two short galleries and finally reaches the summer resort of Walchwil, a popular lakeside resort in a picturesque situation amid chestnut groves. Beyond Walchwil the boundary between the cantons of Zug and Schwyz is crossed, and you continue along the foot of the Rossberg, with fine views across the lake to the Rigi; to the right is Immensee near the "Hohle Gasse" (hollow road), and straight ahead is Arth.

At the southern end of Lake Zug lies Arth (420 m/1,451ft; pop. 3,000), a little town which has grown up around an important road junction. It has a Baroque church dating from the late 17th C. The station of Arth-Goldau is the starting point of a rack railroad up the Rigi.

A Neolithic archaeological find and agricultural articles are available for viewing at the Buonas Local Museum. The museum is located in the 1785 cheese factory.