Must-see attractions in Switzerland

  • Stein Am Rhein, Switzerland - October 2019: Preserved historic buildings at Rathausplatz, a town square in old small city of Stein Am Rhein, Switzerland.; Shutterstock ID 1551347360; purchase_order: 65050; job: ; client: ; other:
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    Rathausplatz

    Northeastern Switzerland

    Often hailed as Switzerland’s most beautiful town square (no mean feat!), the elongated Rathausplatz often elicits little gasps of wonder because it's so…

  • Tourists on Titlis Cliff Walk, a suspension bridge at Mount Titlis in Engelberg, Switzerland.

    Mt Titlis

    Central Switzerland

    Central Switzerland's tallest mountain, Mt Titlis, is known for the world's first revolving cable car. This was completed in 1992 and is still one of the…

  • Vorstadt street in Schaffhausen.

    Vorstadt

    Northeastern Switzerland

    Schaffhausen is often nicknamed the Erkerstadt because of its 171 Erker (oriel bay windows), once a status symbol of rich merchants. Some of the most…

  • Castello Visconteo in Locarno, Switzerland.

    Castello Visconteo

    Locarno

    Named after the Visconti clan that long ruled Milan, this fortified 15th-century castle’s nucleus was raised around the 10th century. It now houses a…

  • Cable Car at Aletsch Glacier, Switzerland

    Fiesch & Eggishorn Cable Car

    Valais

    The Aletsch Glacier is a mind-boggling sight and riverside Fiesch on the valley floor is a top place to access it. From the village, ride the cable car up…

  • KKL culture and convention centre and Museum of Art in Luzern.

    Kultur und Kongresszentrum

    Lucerne

    French architect Jean Nouvel’s waterfront arts and convention centre is a postmodern jaw-dropper in an otherwise historic city. Inside, the tall, narrow…

  • Bern Old Town with Gothic Munster (Cathedral) in background.

    Münster

    Bern

    Bern’s 15th-century Gothic cathedral boasts Switzerland’s loftiest spire (100m); climb the 344-step spiral staircase for vertiginous views. Coming down,…

  • The ornate decorations of the St. Gallen Cathedral Interior.

    Dom

    Northeastern Switzerland

    St Gallen's twin-towered, mid-18th-century cathedral is only slightly less ornate than the world-famous Stiftsbibliothek library nearby. The cathedral…

  • Pedestrian zone Obere Hauptgasse in Thun, Switzerland.

    Thun Altstadt

    Bernese Oberland

    It’s a pleasure to wander Thun’s attractive riverfront Old Town, where plazas and lanes are punctuated by 15th- and 16th-century townhouses. A stroll…

  • Schadau Park and castle on the shore of Lake Thun, Switzerland.

    Schadau Park

    Bernese Oberland

    These beautiful botanical gardens spread along the shores of Lake Thun, with sublime views to the snowcapped Jungfrau range on clear days. The grounds…

  • Winter in the Swiss Alps, Flumserberg, St.Gallen, Switzerland

    Flumserberg

    Northeastern Switzerland

    For a little Alpine fun, take the winding mountain road to Flumserberg, perched high above the lake and facing the impenetrable rock wall of the…

  • Chandolin, Switzerland

    Chandolin

    Valais

    The village of Chandolin, high above the valley floor on the eastern side, entices skiers with 75km of broad, sunny runs and fairy-tale panoramas. It is…

  • The cable car to the Diavolezza glacier.

    Diavolezza

    Graubünden

    This cable car, with its own station on the Bernina Line (Bernina Diavolezza) and a huge car park at its base, whisks passengers up from 2093m to…

  • Swiss tectonic arena Sardona with Glarus Thrust in Switzerland.

    Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona

    Northeastern Switzerland

    Centred on the peak of Piz Sardona, this nature reserve has held Unesco World Natural Heritage status since 2008. A geologist's dream come true, it's one…

  • View of Celerina, the Upper Engadine Valley and the four Upper Engadine Lakes from inside the Mouttas Muragl Bahn funicular train, waiting at the top station Muottas Muragl.

    Muottas Muragl Bahn

    Graubünden

    This fun old funicular railway, the first in the Engadine Valley dating from 1907, takes its passengers up over 700 vertical metres to Punt Muragl (2454m)…

  • Trift Hanging Bridge

    Triftbrücke

    Bernese Oberland

    The Hasli Valley is laced with 300km of signposted walking trails. A huge hit is this 170m-long, 100m-high suspension bridge, Europe’s longest and highest…

  • The village of Foroglio in Bavona valley, Switzerland.

    Val Bavona

    Ticino

    A smooth road follows a mountain stream through this valley, where narrow meadows are cradled between steep rocky walls. Its tightly huddled stone and…

  • Signpost at Simplon Pass.

    Simplon Pass

    Valais

    This mountain pass (2005m) links Brig with Domodossola in Italy. In the middle of the 17th century, Kaspar von Stockalper used it for bringing salt by…

  • Sunrise at Mont Fort

    Mont Fort Sunrise

    Valais

    Nothing stirs the soul quite like seeing the sun rise from the top of Mont Fort, at a panoramic 3329m. The Médran cable car offers departures on Thursdays…

  • Vevey and lake Geneva, as seen from the funicular ascending to Mont Pelerin.

    Mont Pélerin

    Vevey

    Ride the GoldenPass funicular from Vevey (Sfr14, 11 minutes, every 20 minutes) through vineyards to the village of Chardonne, and onwards to the foot of…

  • The old town of Appenzell.

    Altstadt

    Northeastern Switzerland

    Set against a backdrop of rolling hills that rise to rugged mountains, Appenzell's Altstadt is Grimm fairy-tale stuff. The carved gabled houses that grab…

  • Moiry Glacier in the Swiss Alps.

    Moiry Glacier

    Valais

    This glacier, although only about 5km in length, is extremely impressive, about 12km south of Grimentz. PostBuses make the journey to the road-end, where…

  • The world's highest revolving restaurant on the Allalin glacier.

    Allalin

    Valais

    Year-round, the underground Mittelallin funicular climbs to an icy 3500m where the world’s highest revolving restaurant on the Allalin glacier basks in…

  • Corippo

    Corippo

    Ticino

    Blink and you'll almost certainly miss this pint-sized hamlet, which looks as though it would topple down the terraced hillside with the slightest puff of…

  • Alpine village Zinal in the Pennine Alps, Val d' Anniviers, Switzerland.

    Zinal

    Valais

    At 1670m, Zinal is 12km south of Vissoie, at the end of the Val d’Anniviers. While Matterhorn climbers start from Zermatt, a valley to the east, climbers…

  • Historical square and houses of the old town of Poschiavo.

    Poschiavo

    Graubünden

    This lovely little village of 3500 sits at 1014m and is the main town of Val Poschiavo.Known for its impressive 19th-century architecture, its Old Town is…

  • The Pro Nature Center for the Great Aletsch Glacier region at the Villa Cassel.

    Centre Pro Natura d'Aletsch

    Valais

    A summer-must in Riederfurka (2065m), a chairlift ride or 20-minute walk uphill from Riederalp (1925m), is this Alpine garden and exhibition on local…

  • Saint Bernard museum at Martigny, Switzerland.

    Musée et Chiens du Saint-Bernard

    Valais

    A tribute to the lovably dopey St Bernard, this museum next to Martigny's Roman amphitheatre includes real-life fluff bundles in the kennels. You can join…

  • Grimsel Pass, Switzerland

    Grimsel Pass

    Valais

    From the tiny Valais village of Gletsch (1762m; 10km to the Furka Pass), a steep 6km hairpinned road climbs north to the mighty Grimsel Pass (2164m),…

  • A hiker explores the Aletsch glacier.

    Aletsch Glacier

    Bernese Oberland

    Jungfraujoch commands a phenomenal view of the largest glacier in the Alps: the 23km Aletsch Glacier, which powers its way through peaks hovering around…

  • Summer morning on Oeschinensee Lake.

    Oeschinensee

    Bernese Oberland

    Mountains rise like natural ramparts above the impossibly turquoise Oeschinensee, where you can fish, stroll, swim or hire a row boat. A cable car takes…

  • Village of Cevio

    Cevio

    Ticino

    The centrepiece of Cevio is its vibrant 16th-century Pretorio (magistrate’s court), covered in the family coats-of-arms of many of the area’s rulers,…

  • Swiss Knife Valley Visitor Center, Victorinox brand store and museum.

    Swiss Knife Valley Museum

    Central Switzerland

    This teensy museum displays historical knives from prehistoric, Roman and medieval times, including folding precursors to the Victorinox classic. Touch…

  • Typical wooden houses Sankt Martin, Walser settlement, in Calfeisental, Switzerland.

    St Martin im Calfeisental

    Northeastern Switzerland

    Located at 1350m, this stuck-in-time Walser-speaking hamlet is great for slipping off the map for a while, with its ludicrously picturesque cluster of…

  • Seerenbachfälle, waterfall in Switzerland.

    Seerenbachfälle

    Northeastern Switzerland

    This series of three colossal waterfalls, thundering 585m from top to bottom, is fuelled by underground rivers running through the mountain rock from as…

  • Church and old houses of mountain village Soglio, Switzerland.

    Soglio

    Graubünden

    Soglio (1090m), a hamlet of 300 near the Italian border, faces the smooth-sided Pizzo Badile (3308m). Segantini claimed it was 'the gateway to paradise'…

  • Rhine Falls with Laufen Castle in Neuhausen am Rheinfall.

    Schloss Laufen am Rheinfall

    Northeastern Switzerland

    Looking proudly back on 1000 years of history, the medieval Schloss Laufen offers a close-quarters view of the Rheinfall cascade. You can buy a ticket at…

  • An aerial view of the Isole di Brissago in Ticino, Switzerland.

    Isole di Brissago

    Ticino

    Marooned in the glimmering waters of Lake Maggiore, this tiny pair of islands is famous for its botanic gardens designed in the 19th century. Magnolias,…

  • Restaurant on the Harder Kulm

    Harder Kulm

    Interlaken

    For far-reaching views to the 4000m giants, take the eight-minute funicular ride to 1322m Harder Kulm. Many hiking paths begin here, and the vertigo-free…

  • People in a gondola of the Stanserhorn Cabrio cable car.

    CabriO

    Lake Lucerne

    This impressive double-decker cable car lets you head up top out into the open air for spectacular views as it whisks you over 1100 vertical metres from…

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