Sights in Switzerland
-
A
Mystery Park
This other-worldly theme park looms large on the outskirts of Interlaken, with expensive re-creations of a Mayan temple, Egyptian pyramid, Indian Vimana (mythical flying machine), Stonehenge and a highly visible 'Sphere'.
It's the brainchild of Erich von Däniken, the Swiss author of the 1970s bestseller Chariots of the Gods, and its displays (including crop circles in summer) are meant to get you thinking about aliens. Sceptics need not apply. There's a free shuttle bus from Interlaken Ost once or twice an hour.
reviewed
-
Emmentaler Schaukäserei
Watch Emmental cheese being made into 95kg wheels and taste it at the Emmental Show Dairy in Affoltern. Short videos explain the modern production process and how Emmental gets its famous holes, while cheesemaking as it was done in the 18th century happens once a day over an open fire in the 18th-century herdsman’s cottage.
reviewed
-
B
Spreuer Bridge
Further down the river, the Spreuerbrücke is darker and smaller than the Chapel Bridge, but its 1408 structure is entirely original. Lore has it that this was the only bridge where locals were allowed to throw Spreu (chaff) into the river in medi-eval times. Here, the roof panels consist of artist Caspar Meglinger’s movie-storyboard-style sequence of paintings, The Dance of Death, showing how the plague affected all levels of society.
reviewed
-
Stockalperschloss
Kaspar von Stockalper (1609–91), a shrewd businessman who dominated the Simplon Pass trade routes, built this whimsical palace and dubbed himself the ‘Great Stockalper’. Locals didn’t think he was so great and sent him packing to Italy. His palace remains with its baublelike onion domes and arcaded inner courtyard. It’s free to wander the main court (open 6am to 10pm April to October and 6am to 8pm November to March) and the baroque gardens with their quintessential parterres, fountains and clipped hedges.
reviewed
-
C
Chiesa di Santa Maria degli Angioli
The simple Romanesque Chiesa diSanta Mariadegli Angioli, against which a now crumbling former hotel was built, contains two frescos by Bernardino Luini dating from 1529. Covering the entire wall that divides the church in two is a grand didactic illustration of the Crucifixion. The closer you look, the more scenes of Christ’s Passion are revealed, along with others of him being taken down from the cross and his resurrection. The power and vivacity of the colours are astounding. Less alive is Luini’s depiction of the Last Supper on the left wall.
reviewed
-
La Maison Blanche
The neoclassical house with white facade and shiny roof, now known as La Maison Blanche, is prized as Le Corbusier’s first independent piece of work – and a notable break from the regional art nouveau. Architecturally unrecognisable as Le Corbusier to anyone familiar with his later work, it sat derelict in the leafy hilltop neighbourhood above La Chaux until 2004, when the modern architecture treasure was renovated, refurnished (with some original furnishings, such as the green canapé in the sitting room) and opened to the public.
reviewed
-
D
Fluntern Cemetery
Like many disgruntled pacifists, Irish writer James Joyce took refuge in neutral Zürich during WWI - although he managed to distinguish himself from most by writing Ulysses, one of greatest pieces of world literature, while here. Joyce returned to the city just before his death in 1941 and is buried in Fluntern cemetery.
There's a statue of Joyce on his grave, so you can't miss it. This is a lovely spot and while here, you could pop into Zürich's unusually pleasant zoo. Alternatively just wander up the Zúrichberg hill and gaze down on the city.
reviewed
-
Commune Libre du Neubourg et Alentours
Neuchâtel's so-called Commune Libre du Neubourg et Alentours - a good mate of Paris' Montmartre (a self-declared free commune since 1920) - boils down to a good excuse to party. Founded in 1979, it embraces a trio of Old Town streets - Rue de Neubourg, Rue des Fausses-Brayes and colourfully frescoed Rue des Chavannes, otherwise dubbed Rue des Peintres (Painters' St).
It has the free-thinking motto 'voir d'un œil sentir de l'autre' (look with one eye, feel with the other) scribed as a footnote on the unofficial street sign pinned up next to the official one.
reviewed
-
E
Einstein Museum
The world’s most famous scientist developed his special theory of relativity in Bern in 1905. Find out more at the small museum inside the humble apartment where Einstein lived with his young family between 1903 and 1905 while working in the Bern patent office. Upstairs, a 20-minute biographical film tells his life story, while displays elsewhere flesh out the story of the subsequent general equation – E=mc², or energy equals mass times the speed of light squared – which fundamentally changed our understanding of space, time and the universe. The heartbreaking story of his wife Mileva’s life provides a poignant contrast to his fabled scientific success.
reviewed
-
F
Kultur und Kongresszentrum
French architect Jean Nouvel’s waterfront Kultur und Kongresszentrum (KKL) is a postmodern jawdropper in an otherwise historic city. But don’t think a strikingly handsome face implies a superficial soul: the main concert hall’s acoustics are as close to perfect as humankind has ever known, according to many musicians and conductors who have performed here. The trick is that the tall, narrow concert hall, partly built below the lake’s surface, is surrounded by a reverberation chamber and has an adjustable suspended ceiling, all creating a bubble of silence. All the accolades showered upon the hall have raised the profile of the tripartite Lucerne Music Festival,…
reviewed
Advertisement
-
Château de Chillon
This extraordinary, oval-shaped castle was brought to the attention of the world by Lord Byron, and the world has been filing past ever since - they say the castle receives more visitors than any other historical building in Switzerland.
Occupying a stunning position on Lake Geneva, the 13th-century fortress is a myriad of courtyards, towers and halls filled with arms, period furniture and artwork. The landward side is heavily fortified but lakeside it presents a gentler face as a princely residence. Chillon was largely built by the House of Savoy and then taken over by Bern's governors after Vaud fell.
reviewed
-
G
Münster
The 13th-century Münster is a mix of Gothic exteriors and Romanesque interiors and was largely rebuilt after an earthquake in 1356. The tomb of the Renaissance humanist Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466–1536), who lived in Basel, lies in the cathedral’s northern aisle. In the crypt are remnants of the cathedral’s 9th-century predecessor. You can climb the soaring Gothic towers (Sfr3) in groups of two or more. The two chunky, red-stone, late-Gothic cloisters, mostly from the 15th century but with Romanesque vestiges, are linked by a broad hall, whose timber ceiling was once richly decorated.
reviewed
-
Ballenberg Open-Air Museum
For a fascinating insight into the rural Switzerland of yore, visit Ballenberg Open-Air Museum, set in 80-hectare grounds east of Brienz. Authentically reconstructed farming hamlets take you on an architectural stroll around Switzerland, with 100 century-old buildings from humble wooden huts in Valais to hip-roofed farmhouses in the Bernese Oberland. Demonstrations from bobbin lace–making to cow herding showcase Swiss crafts and traditions. Woodlands, medicinal herb gardens and animals (check out the shaggy black-nosed sheep) are also on site. Picnickers can buy wood-oven bread, homemade cheese and sausage at the shop.
reviewed
-
H
Kapellbrücke
You haven’t really been to Lucerne until you have strolled the creaky 14th-century Kapellbrücke (Chapel Bridge), spanning the Reuss river in the Old Town. The octagonal water tower is original, but its gabled roof is a modern reconstruction, rebuilt after a disastrous fire in 1993. As you cross the bridge, note Heinrich Wägmann’s 17th- century triangular roof panels, showing important events from Swiss history and mythology. The icon is at its most photogenic when bathed in soft golden light at dusk.
reviewed
-
Alpine Garden
The Alpine Garden on Schynige Platte (The Plateau) boasts over 500 types of flora. Take a cog-wheel train trip from Wilderswil to the 1967m (6450ft)-high plateau and be rewarded by magnificent views and an abundance of alpine flora, including Edelweiss. There's also a collection of thousands of toy bears at Teddyland.
Despite all this, the main attraction is the hiking and the views. The Panoramaweg is an easy two-hour circuit, while the trail to Grindelwald-First is one of the best in the region. If you're here in July or August, don't miss the moonlight hikes.
You reach the plateau on a cog-wheel train from Wilderswil, a short train ride from Interlaken Ost.
reviewed
-
I
Lion Monument
Danish artist Bertel Thorvaldsen's Lion of Lucerne (Löwendenkmal) was built in 1819-21, a big dying beast sculptured into a former sandstone quarry wall. When author Mark Twain saw it he said it was the 'saddest and most moving piece of rock in the world'.
The Lion Monument commemorates (as the plaque says in Latin) the 'loyalty and bravery of the Swiss' who 'fell in the line of duty' or 'survived the battle through the care and attention of friends' during the French Revolution in 1792 while defending King Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette and their children in Paris's Tuileries Palace. Some 800 Swiss mercenaries died while defending the palace, unaware that their royal…
reviewed
-
Faulensee
Ever wondered why the radio plays on deep in the heart of a tunnel? What lies above the surface in Switzerland is only half the story. Riddled with more holes than an Emmental cheese, this country is full of subterranean surprises, including the formerly top-secret bunkers at Faulensee built to house troops defending Thun, Spiez and the Lötschberg railway. During summer, they’re open to the public once a month. Cleverly disguised as farmhouses, the entrances to the bunkers are guarded by cannons and connected by underground tunnels in which you’ll find offices, laboratories, kitchens and cramped sleeping quarters. Tours last 1½ to two hours, and you’ll need warm clothing…
reviewed
-
J
Zytglogge
Called Zeitglockenturm in High German, it was once part of the city's western gate (1191-1256). It's reminiscent of the Astronomical Clock in Prague's old town square in that crowds congregate to watch it chime - and then wonder why. The clock's revolving figures begin twirling at four minutes before the hour, after which the actual chimes begin. Tours enter the tower to see the clock mechanism between May and October (contact the tourist office).
It's said the clock tower helped Albert Einstein hone his theory of relativity, developed while working as a patent clerk in Bern. The great scientist surmised, while travelling on a tram away from the tower, that if the tram…
reviewed
-
Blackmint – Distillerie Kübler & Wyss
From 1910, following Switzerland’s prohibition of the wickedly alcoholic and ruthlessly bitter aniseed drink, distillers of the so-called ‘devil in the bottle’ in the Val de Travers moved underground. In 1990 the great-grandson of a pre-prohibition distiller in Môtiers came up with Switzerland’s first legal aniseed liqueur since 1910 – albeit one which was only 45% proof alcohol (instead of 50% to 75%) and which scarcely contained thujone (the offensive chemical found in wormwood, said to be the root of absinthe’s devilish nature). An extrait d’absinthe (absinthe extract) quickly followed and in 2005, following Switzerland’s lifting of its absinthe ban, the…
reviewed
-
K
Lake Lucerne
If you're not averse to breathtaking mountain scenery - perhaps a glance or two at a shimmering expanse of water with majestic steep peaks of limestone hunched over the coastline, forests coming down to the shore filled with deer, chamois, foxes, and Alpine-native marmots; and fertile hillsides, meadows and valleys beyond - then this lake won't disappoint.
The lake's northern point is expansive; the southern spur (Urnersee) is more fjord-like and has special significance for the Swiss as it's home to the Rütli meadow where the country was, in a way, born. The southern springs (now marked by the Kaltbad) were discovered to have curative properties, as far back in 1885. You…
reviewed
Advertisement
-
L
Bern zoo
Take tram No 19 to Tierpark to get here.
reviewed
-
M
Flower Clock
Get snapped in front of the Flower Clock .
reviewed
-
N
Rosengarten
Up the hill from the tourist office and bear pits is the fragrant Rosengarten, where the view over the town is stupendous.
reviewed
-
O
Tinguely Fountain
Just south of Barfüsserplatz is the zany Tinguely Fountain, with all sorts of wacky machines spewing and shooting forth water. It is a foretaste of the madcap moving sculptures in the Museum Jean Tinguely.
reviewed
-
P
Bear Pits
Just across the Aare River are the Bear Pits. Though bears have been the entertainment at this site since 1857, it's really depressing to see such majestic beasts doing tricks for treats in such a cramped, concrete environment.
reviewed