11 best places to visit in Switzerland

Nowhere is perfect...but Switzerland gets pretty darned close. With its sky-piercing mountains and seemingly bottomless lakes, the “Playground of Europe” serves up outdoor adventures and sophisticated city breaks whatever time of year you visit.

Since the mighty Alps cover more than half of the country, Switzerland’s landscapes and towns look like they were dreamed up by a particularly imaginative child. We’re talking glacier-capped peaks, towering waterfalls, turreted castles of and lakes in almost surreal shades of blue.

Even the simple act of getting around in Switzerland can be a magical experience. Cable cars sway over plunging valley, while candy-red trains snake up mountains to improbable heights. Through it all, clanging cowbells ring out across hilly meadows that you can skip across with Heidi-like glee.

Switzerland’s culture-filled cities boast magnificent backdrops of vineyards, lakes and rivers, and the mountains are never more than a whisper away. Indeed, as natural beauty goes, Switzerland is off the charts – so what are you waiting for?

These are the 11 best places to visit in Switzerland.

1. Jungfrau

Best for outdoor activities

The idyllic Jungfrau region is the highlight of Switzerland’s mountainous Bernese Oberland. Sky-high peaks, colossal glaciers and thundering waterfalls amaze wherever you go. Grazing the 4000m mark are Switzerland’s “big three” mountains: the Eiger (Ogre), Mönch (Monk) and Jungfrau (Virgin), all immortalized in mountaineering legend.

Take a once-in-a-lifetime ride up to the everlasting snow at Europe’s highest train station, 3454m Jungfraujoch, reached via rail from Lauterbrunnen via Kleine Scheidegg. You can also hike, ski, sled or zip-line among mountains of myth in Grindelwald; enjoy waterfalls galore; and tackle every kind of extreme sport imaginable in Interlaken. The area around Jungfrau serves up the great outdoors on a blockbuster scale.

Planning tip: Rush through this region and you’ll regret it. Allow a week or more to explore in depth, if you have the time; it’s worth it. Good bases for Jungfrau adventures include the gorgeous villages of Wengen and Mürren.

2. Bern

Best for stepping back in time

While Bern (population 150,000) often pops up in those “I can’t believe it’s the country’s capital” kind of trivia questions, Switzerland’s first city deserves more love. The cobbled, flag-bedecked medieval Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage treat, with 6km of covered arcades, cellar shops, bars and fountains topped by fantastical folk figures, plus the eye-grabbing Zytglogge clocktower.

Framed by wooded hills and split in two by the Aare River, this red-roofed city looks good from pretty much every angle. It’s storybook stuff for kids, too, with resident bears and a mythical giant said to snack on children, immortalized in the wonderful if slightly terrifying Kindlifresserbrunnen fountain.

There’s no shortage of sights here, either: the Einstein-Haus is where the genius and Nobel laureate developed his theory of relativity, the Kunstmuseum exhibits an outstanding fine arts collectio, while and Renzo Piano’s wavy Zentrum Paul Klee – a celebration of the Swiss-born painter of dreamlike imagery – serves as Bern’s version of the Guggenheim.

Planning tip: In summer, the action moves to the water, with swimming, tubing, rafting and paddleboarding along the Aare River; bring your swimsuit. A rewarding float will take you from the Camping Eichholz campsite to the Marzili Lido, with knockout views of the Old Town.

3. Zermatt

Best for hiking, skiing and rock-climbing

No peak has more pulling power than the 4478m Matterhorn, a gnarled fang of rock that soars above the seductive, chalet-filled Alpine resort of Zermatt. Switzerland’s mountain icon is so beloved by the nation that it inspired the pyramid shape of Toblerone chocolate.

Climbers have been doing their thing up here since the middle of the 19th century, and it’s still a magnet for mountaineers set on challenging summit ascents in the Swiss Alps. Less ambitious visitors come to hike, ski and gaze over a sea of glaciers and 4000m peaks from the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise cable car station.

Detour: Fancy popping over the mountains for an Italian pranzo (lunch) or putting one snow-booted foot in Switzerland and the other in Italy? Just go for a ride on the cloud-grazing cable car from Zermatt to Testa Grigia: the views from the top are (almost) out of this world.

4. Basel

Best for art

Basel deserves more attention than it gets. Straddling the Rhine, this city has everything going for it: world-class art in some of the country’s best galleries, a happening food scene, an upbeat cafe culture and avant-garde buildings bearing the hallmarks of Pritzker Prize–winning architects.

Allow several days to take in the city center, where must-sees include the fine-art collection at the Kunstmuseum, the Renzo Piano–designed Fondation Beyeler art museum and the Vitra Design Museum by Frank Gehry, just across the border at Weil am Rhein in Germany.

Linking the latter two cultural showstoppers and skipping back and forth across the border is the Rehberger-Weg, a 5km, 24-stop art trail best explored on foot or by bike.

Planning tip: Basel rewards those who look beyond the trophy sights. Make time for sundown drinks by the river or a wild swim in the Rhine. Rent a Wickelfisch (a fish-shaped waterproof bag) at the tourist office, don your swimming suit and go with the flow, as you float downstream past the city’s landmarks.

5. Bellinzona

Best for piazza dining

With a trio of medieval castles perched on hilltops with wide views of the Alps, charming Bellinzona in Ticino is like an espresso shot of la dolce vita in southern Switzerland. You’ll find a generous splash of Italian food and flair in its historic center – a tangle of flower-draped alleys, Renaissance churches and cafe-rimmed piazzas that brim with life, laughter and clinking wine glasses.

Detour: Bellinzona’s castles should top any wish list. In particular, the medieval stronghold of Castelgrande can be drawn out into a whole-day trip (bring water, comfortable shoes and a picnic). From the ramparts, views reach out across vine-streaked, castle-studded hills.

6. Jura Mountains and Lac de Neuchâtel

Best for road-tripping

Along the French-Swiss border, the forested Jura Mountains are a true natural wonder. This peaceful region has a special beauty that is all its own. Expect whispering meadows, ancient forests, rocky outcrops overlooking a trio of mountain lakes, and slow-paced villages and valleys that have hardly changed in centuries.

We recommend exploring on a road trip. Start at the Jura Vaudois Nature Park for hikes with Lake Geneva views and Gruyère cheese tastings at rustic Alpine huts. Then swing north to Lac de Joux, the watchmaking village of Le Sentier, and Vallorbe – honeycombed with Switzerland’s biggest (and most impressive) limestone caves.

Detour: Tag on a trip to Lac de Neuchâtel and you can bathe in thermal waters at Yverdon-les-Bains, tiptoe off the map in Val-de-Travers (birthplace of absinthe), and visit the crescent-moon canyon of Creux du Van. The cultured town of Neuchâtel is a fitting climax, with its lavishly turreted château.

7. Geneva

Best for a cosmopolitan city experience

In Switzerland’s western corner, crescent-shaped Lake Geneva (Lac Léman to Francophones) is a joy to behold, with its mountain backdrop, spirit-lifting views, vineyards and shoreline necklaced with castle-crowned towns. Yet the lake’s best feature might be the city that lies at its southern tip.

Fronted by the rainbow-kissed Jet d’Eau fountain, famously cosmopolitan Geneva makes an excellent launchpad for exploring the region, with big-hitting museums and galleries to absorb, botanical gardens to stroll, lidos to swim, cafes to hang out in and bright-yellow mouettes (water taxis) ferrying locals across the water – surely one of the world’s most scenic commutes.

Detour: From Geneva, it’s a quick boat or train ride to Lausanne, which culturally gives Geneva a run for its money with its Plateforme 10 arts district. Nearby are the lovely terraced vineyards of the UNESCO-listed Lavaux wine region and flower-draped Montreux, host to one of the world’s most famous jazz festivals, with the picture-perfect Château de Chillon right on its doorstep.

8. Appenzell and Northeastern Switzerland

Best for a bucolic rural experience

Though it lacks the in-your-face drama of the high Alps, northeastern Switzerland nevertheless delights in its own serene, deeply rural way. With its dairy country unraveling to meet the mountains, and half-timbered, mural-adorned towns, this small region is perfect for a family vacation with a hit of culture and gentle adventure.

Begin in St Gallen, with a spin around its World Heritage–listed Stiftsbibliothek (Abbey Library), a feast of rococo art and architecture. Move on to folksy, ridiculously pretty Appenzell, popping into the Appenzeller Schaukäserei dairy to sample regional cheeses.

Muscling into the Alps to the south, head up to Säntis at 2501m for views embracing six countries, and then go to Werdenberg, a tiny speck of a medieval hamlet that is home to Switzerland’s oldest timber chalets.

Detour: Fit in a visit to nearby Vaduz, the princely, castle-topped capital of Liechtenstein on the banks of the Rhine. It’s the trailhead for the 75km (47-mile) Liechtenstein Trail, which offers the chance to hike around an entire country in the space of a single weekend.

9. Zürich

Best place for sampling the good life

Urban dynamo Zürich regularly leads international surveys of cities with the highest quality of life. Its numerous pleasures range from waterside bars on the banks of the Limmat River to the alley-woven Old Town. At the twin-spired Grossmünster church, founded by Charlemagne in the 9th century, the sun shines through an Augusto Giacometti–designed rainbow of stained glass.

Arts and culture lovers can browse the work of old masters at the outstanding Kunsthaus gallery or admire Le Corbusier’s boldly colored architectural creations at Pavillon Le Corbusier. The edgily post-industrial Züri-West neighborhood is home to the Schiffbau, which presents cutting-edge arts in a former shipbuilding factory.

Planning tip: In mid-August, Zürich throws one of Switzerland’s wildest parties, the techno-pumping Street Parade. Warm summer days also see locals swapping business suits for swimsuits at the city’s “Badi-Bars” – lakefront and riverfront pool bars with an upbeat party vibe. (Rimini is a good place to start.)

10. Swiss National Park

Best for wildlife (and wildflower) spotting

Switzerland has only one national park, tucked away in the southeast on the border with Italy. The 172 sq km Swiss National Park is the Alps in overdrive – a nature-gone-wild spectacle of high moors, forests, wildflower-dotted pastures, waterfalls, jewel-colored lakes and mountains as high as the sky. Here, ibex, chamois, marmots, deer, bearded vultures and golden eagles roam free.

Wildlife rules here, with human intervention kept to a conservation-driven minimum. Indeed, this mountainscape is so pristine, ancient and unaltered that dinosaur tracks are still regularly discovered. To explore, lace up your boots for some phenomenal hikes.

Top trails include the challenging 21km round-trip route from Zernez to the Macun lakes, where 23 pools of sapphire, azure and turquoise blue shimmer on a high-Alpine plateau with extraordinary views of the snow-capped Bernese, Silvretta and Ortler Alps.

Planning tip: Start off on the right foot by getting the inside scoop on walking trails and ranger-led guided hikes at the Swiss National Park visitor center in Zernez.

11. Lake Lucerne

Best for sunset promenades

On the shores of its namesake lake, Lucerne is a walkable dream of a city that has a magic all its own. You’ll feel it when strolling along the promenade as the sun sets in a blaze of gold and pink. You’ll sense it as you cruise across the lake to 2132m Mt Pilatus, where Wagner raved about the Alpine panorama and Queen Victoria trotted on horseback.

When you amble past the belle-epoque hotels lining its shores, the same views that captivated Goethe, Turner and other illustrious 19th-century visitors will hold you in their thrall. This small city punches far above its weight when it comes to culture.

Make time for the Kapellbrücke bridge across the Reuss River. And art treasures abound inside the Jean Nouvel–designed KKL arts center and the Sammlung Rosengart museum, home to a prized private collection of Picassos.

Local tip: If you have time, get out on the water – for the fjord-like, mountain-rimmed southeastern section of the lake gives a taste of Switzerland’s geographical and spiritual heartland. Boats ply the glassy turquoise waters to the meadow at Rütli, where the document that brought Switzerland into being was reputedly signed a few years into the 14th century.