Vitznau — Vitznau, Switzerland
A private shore on Lake Lucerne, deep and clear from the first stroke.
The gardens run down to Lake Lucerne and the hotel keeps its own stretch of shore, with a ladder down from the platform into water that is deep straight away. The shoreline is open both ways, northwest toward Weggis, about four kilometres, or southeast toward Gersau, so the swim is as long as you want it. July and August are the window, around 20 to 23°C (68 to 73°F); outside high summer it is properly cold. Hold your line close to the shore and you stay clear of the lake steamers, which berth at the village pier a few hundred metres north, and watch for the hotel's own boats leaving the dock. The hotel is a destination in its own right, 47 suites and one of Switzerland's great wine cellars.
