Bernese Oberland
This is the big one. At 3454m above sea level, Jungfraujoch is Europe’s highest train station: a once-in-a-lifetime trip, with views of the deeply…
Must-see attractions in Bernese Oberland
Bernese Oberland
Gazing over the mighty Reichenbach Falls, where the cataract plunges 250m to the ground with a deafening roar, you can see how Arthur Conan Doyle thought…
Lauterbrunnen
Especially in the early morning light, you can see how the vaporous, 297m-high Staubbach Falls captivated prominent writers with its threads of spray…
Bernese Oberland
Sitting on a hilltop and looking proudly back on 900 years of history, Schloss Thun is the castle of your wildest fairy-tale dreams, crowned by a riot of…
Lauterbrunnen
These glacier falls are a bang-crash spectacle. Inside the mountain, up to 20,000L of water per second corkscrews through ravines and potholes shaped by…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Brienz
This is the only steam-powered cogwheel train still operating in Switzerland, climbing up to Rothorn at 2350m, from where you can set out on hikes or…
Bernese Oberland
The formerly top-secret bunkers at Faulensee were built to house troops defending Thun, Spiez and the Lötschberg railway. During summer, they’re open to…
Wengen
Rising between the Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen Valleys, 2230m Männlichen has sensational views deep into the glaciated heart of the region. These are…
Interlaken
It doesn't get more Swiss than the alpenhorn, that fabulous-looking instrument often played by bearded Alpine men with ruddy cheeks and a good set of…
Bernese Oberland
Utterly entrancing in the still of early morning, with its perfect reflection of the white pyramid of Schreckhorn (4078m), this glacial lake is less than…
Grindelwald
Turbulent waters carve a path through this craggy glacier gorge. A footpath weaves through tunnels hacked into cliffs veined with pink and green marble…
Brienz
For a fascinating insight into the rural Switzerland of yore, visit this open-air museum, set across 80 hectares east of Brienz. Authentically…
Bernese Oberland
In summer the Allmendhubel funicular takes you above Mürren to a panoramic restaurant and the Skyline Chill relaxation area, where funky wave-shaped…
Bernese Oberland
Scenically perched on the lake, turreted Schloss Oberhofen was wrested from Habsburg control after the Battle of Sempach (1386) and now traces Bernese…
Brienz
Illuminating the fir forest like a spotlight in the dark, the misty Giessbachfälle plummet 500m over 14 rocky ridges. Europe’s oldest funicular, dating to…
Interlaken
Sculpted over millennia, the St Beatus Caves are great for a wander through caverns of dramatically lit stalagmites, stalactites and underground lakes…
Bernese Oberland
Swiss artist Marquard Wocher sketched out this panoramic painting – the world's oldest cyclorama of its kind – between 1809 and 1814, seizing inspiration…
Bernese Oberland
Less than 2km from Meiringen is the narrow, 1.4km-long Aare Gorge, where tunnels and galleries lead past milky-blue torrents and limestone overhangs. The…
Bernese Oberland
Tunnels of ice polished as smooth as cut glass lead through the so-called Ice Palace at Jungfraujoch, which offers a frosty reception at minus 3°C…
Bernese Oberland
The plaything of a wealthy Prussian baron and modelled on the chateaux in the Loire region of France, silver-turreted Schloss Hünegg is a feast of art…
Bernese Oberland
This turreted medieval castle is smothered in oil paintings of its former masters, the influential von Bubenburg and von Erlach families. But it’s the…
Bernese Oberland
From Kandersteg it's a scenic 5km hike up to the Blausee – named after its startling shade of blue – and its nature park. The restaurant on its shore…
Bernese Oberland
First mentioned in 762, this wonderfully atmospheric church on the banks of the Aare has a sensitively restored Carolingian tower and Romanesque nave. The…
Brienz
In town, mosey down postcard-perfect Brunngasse, a curving lane dotted with stout wooden chalets, each seemingly trying to outdo its neighbour with window…
Bernese Oberland
Atop the Schynige Platte plateau, the Alpengarten nurtures 600 types of Alpine blooms, including snowbells, arnicas, gentians, anemones and edelweiss…
Bernese Oberland
A head for heights is a prerequisite for this eyrie-like viewpoint at Birg. The glass-and-steel platform dangles above a precipice, providing dizzying…
Bernese Oberland
Next to Berggasthaus First at around 2200m, this new lookout platform, jutting out 45m into the void, provides heart-pumping views of the valley and…
Bernese Oberland
Sherlock fans won’t want to miss this museum in the basement of the English church in Meiringen. The highlight is a re-created sitting room of 221b Baker…
Bernese Oberland
A round trail takes in waterfalls and 80m-high cliffs at this dramatic glacier gorge. The walk back to Meiringen takes at least two hours, but hourly…
Interlaken
A nostalgic funicular trundles up to family-friendly Heimwehfluh for long views across Interlaken. Kids love the bob run down the hill – lay off the…
Bernese Oberland
The interactive Bond World 007 exhibition here at Schilthorn, where several scenes from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service were shot, gives you the chance to…
Schweizer Holzbildhauerei Museum
Brienz
Homing in on the tradition of woodcarving in Brienz, this museum contains the prized collection of the Jobin workshop, which has been in business since…
Bernese Oberland
This attractive 18th-century wooden chalet showcases exhibits on wine cultivation. The best time to actually taste local tipples is at the Läset-Sunntig…
Interlaken
This low-key museum sits on a cobbled, fountain-dotted square in Unterseen. The permanent exhibition presents a romp through tourism in the region with…
