Finding
things to do in Switzerland isn’t hard. It may be tiny, with a
population of just eight million, but Switzerland's cities pack in a lot
of sights, culture and activity. From UNESCO-protected medieval town
centres to world-class festivals, museums and music venues and of-the-moment independent shops,
restaurants and bars, Swiss cities combine a strong sense of history
and tradition with a thriving contemporary culture. It’s evident in the
former industrial area of Zurich West, now a hub for inventive
start-ups, the regenerated train depot in St Gallen, now a contemporary
arts centre, and the cellars of Bern’s Old Town, home to tiny bars and
artist workshops. Eating and drinking rivals hiking as the country’s
national hobby of choice, and Swiss cities are packed with restaurants reflecting
the country’s quadrilingual culture. All the while that rich, fertile,
highly photogenic landscape sits on the doorstep, beckoning you to a
lake, a river or a mountain top – which, given Switzerland’s famously
punctual public transport system, is only a short journey away.
1. Ride into Europe’s biggest waterfall
After starting life at the source in
Graubünden, the Rhine river passes through northern Switzerland before
continuing on its long journey to the North Sea. And what a palaver it
makes in Schaffhausen, where the water rushes over a 150m-wide stretch
of rock to create Europe’s biggest waterfall. A rather hypnotic site,
the Rhine Falls are Schaffhausen’s biggest attraction and the town makes
the most of it by offering visitors the chance to get up close to the
falls through boat trips, viewing platforms and an adventure trail. Take
a boat to the rock in the middle of the falls for a heart-pumping view
of the rushing water, or have dinner overlooking the falls at Laufen
castle. The centre of Schaffhausen is worth exploring too – its car-free
medieval Old Town is one of the prettiest in the country.
2. Visit the country’s most beautiful library
The university town of St Gallen was founded
by a monk in the 7th century, and its focal point remains the abbey
district, a UNESCO World Heritage site and a landmark of the city thanks
to its imposing Baroque cathedral. The highlight here is the
monastery’s incredible Rococo library, a museum piece in itself. Over
170,000 books and documents – some a thousand years old – are displayed
around the walls on wooden bookcases which stretch from the floor to the
ornate painted ceiling which must have been something of a distraction
to the Benedictine monks trying to concentrate on their reading
material. Outside the monastery, wander through the pretty pedestrian
streets of St Gallen’s Old Town, which now bustles with restaurants and
cafés.
3. Wander the streets of Bern’s Old Town
One of the prettiest and best preserved in
Switzerland, Bern’s Old Town is understandably UNESCO-protected.
Stretching from the train station to the bear park, the medieval cobbled
streets, ornate fountains and raised, arched walkways (called ‘lauben’)
are a photographer’s dream. Stop by the beautiful Zytglogge on the hour
to watch the mechanical figures on this 16th-century astronomical clock
whir into life. On the Bundesplatz, home of the country’s parliament
buildings, you’ll see kids playing in the pavement fountains in summer,
or tottering about the pop-up ice rink
in winter. Best of all are the cellars strewn along every Old Town
street which throw up artisanal workshops, independent shops and
idiosyncratic bars stuffed with character. Round off your day with a
drink or dinner at the Kornhauskeller,
a former grain store whose High Baroque architecture now houses a
wonderfully atmospheric restaurant. For a fun way to combine a trip
round the Old Town with food, take a fondükscha tour, where you’ll be
driven round the city in a rickshaw while tucking into a warming fondue.
In December, Bern’s Christmas markets and festive decorations make the Old Town even prettier.
4. Get snap happy in Winterthur
For an insight into Swiss life and culture, spend a day browsing the diverse collections at the Fotomuseum
in Winterthur. From displays dedicated to the work of 20th-century
master photographers to collections of documentary-style photography in
fashion, architecture and medicine, it’s easy to while away an afternoon
here. With so much competition for your attention in Winterthur (the
Fotomuseum is just one of 17 museums packed into this culturally rich
but manageably small city), standards are high.
5. Take a walk along Zurich’s lakeside promenade
The best way to get to know any city is to
people-watch, and the promenade in Lake Zurich’s Seefeld district, known
as the Zurich Horn, allows plenty of opportunity for that. It’s here
that people come to stroll, cycle, in-line skate (in practice for the
city’s regular mass skates), lounge about on the shore and have a dip in
summer. Watch street artists gather crowds around their trompe l’oeil
chalk drawings, pick up handmade jewellery at street stalls or sit on a
bench and scoff an ice cream. Rather incongruously, at the end of the
promenade there’s a pretty Chinese-style garden complete with colourful
pagodas, which was gifted to the city from the Chinese town of Kunming,
twinned with Zurich. A bit further on, stop at Tiefenbrunnen beach for a
swim in the lake and use of its water slides, diving boards and
children’s playground.
6. Explore Zurich West
Switzerland may not be a country you
immediately associate with the word ‘hip’, but look hard enough and
there’s definitely an alternative to its reputation as a place of lakes,
mountains and bankers' bonuses. One example is Zurich West, a
regenerated former industrial area of Zurich that is now a dynamic, arty
district heaving with independent shops, emerging designers and
youthful start-ups. For shopping, choose furniture with an industrial
bent at interior design store Walter, learn to knit at concept shop Senior Design Factory and grab yourself a custom-designed sweatshirt at Townhouse. At Viadukt,
numerous independent boutiques, cafés and delis are now nestled under
the arches of a late-19th century viaduct, while the covered market hall
plays host six days a week to a fabulous food market selling local
farmers’ produce and ready-to-eat snacks and drinks. If you’d rather a
sit-down lunch, bistro Im Viadukt
offers market-fresh dishes. For culture, head to the former
Lowenbrau-Areal brewery whose imposing red-brick building now houses
several museums and galleries including the Kunsthalle.
7. Have some down time in Lindenhof
The historic centre of Zurich is up on this
hill. Overlooking the Old Town, Limmat river and cathedral, the elevated
spot of Lindenhof is the former site of a Roman castle, around which
the city of Zurich grew. There are still remnants of Roman and medieval
settlements up here, earning its status as a site of national
importance. But these days people come here to relax rather than
ruminate on history. As an established recreational area it’s a good
place to head with a book or a dog for a sit or a stroll, while several
giant chess boards provide entertainment for players and spectators
alike.
8. Have a cultural afternoon in St Gallen
In stark contrast to the centuries-old abbey district, St Gallen’s Lokremise
proves that while the town is rooted in history, it’s a thoroughly
modern place too. Just a short hop from the main train station, this
urban contemporary arts centre was converted in 2010 from an early
20th-century circular train depot and is a rather funky addition to the
city’s cultural life. Housing a theatre, cinema, art gallery and
restaurant, it presents a rich array of shows, dance, film and music in
large spaces that allow plenty of room for artistic expression and
experimentation. Regardless of what’s on, the Lokremise is an
interesting place to hang out during the day, too. Get the measure of
the place by having lunch at the Lokal restaurant, whose tables spill
onto the outdoor terrace formed by the building that encircles it.
9. Get cultured in Lucerne
As the home of numerous festivals throughout
the year, the central Swiss city of Lucerne is a favourite destination
for classical music, jazz, blues and much more. Its ability to host such
events is boosted considerably by the KKL Luzern,
a huge arts centre on the waterfront containing a concert hall whose
architecture and acoustics ensure Lucerne’s place on the international
circuit and afford the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra a beautiful home. The
KKL is the centrepiece of the Lucerne Festival, whose summer, Easter and
autumn piano festivals attract big international names from the world
of classical music.
10. Catch Basel’s biggest show
Visit Basel in spring and you have to stop by Art Basel,
the oldest and most important contemporary art fair in the world, which
makes headlines every year for its record-breaking sales. Whether
you’ve got the necessary purchasing power or you’re simply there to
browse both the artworks and the jewellery-jangling clientele, a visit
makes for an eye-opening day out. After a busy day’s gawping, relax with
a drink in one of Kleinbasel’s numerous bars, such as the lovely Consum on Rheingasse, where you can sample Swiss and international wines and nibble on tapas plates of salami and cheeses.
11. Drift over the Rhine in Basel
The Rhine river is the heart and soul of
Basel. It divides the city neatly in two, and yet brings its inhabitants
together – whether to stroll along its banks, take to the water for a
summer swim, or have a drink in one of the numerous cafés and bars
strung along it. One of the best ways to experience the river is to
cross it on one of four tiny boats which ferry a handful of passengers
at a time between Grossbasel and Kleinbasel. These environmentally
friendly vessels are driven solely by the power of the river current,
making this both a noise-free and PC way to cross the Rhine. In the run
up to Christmas one of the boats, the Vogel Gryff at Klingental, gets
dolled up in sparkly lights to offer passengers a particularly jolly Christmas ferry service.
12. Join in Switzerland’s biggest party
Basel’s Fasnacht
must be experienced at least once. The biggest carnival in the country
isn’t for wimps – the partying starts at 4am on the Monday after Ash
Wednesday and carries on for three days straight. Roaming bands of
costumed and masked musicians will entertain you in the streets, while
thousands turn out to watch the parades, including one featuring Basel’s
children on the Tuesday. The festivities keep going until 4am on the
Thursday morning, after which time you are finally allowed to go back to
your home or hotel and sleep it all off.
13. View modern masterpieces at the Fondation Beyeler
The bonus of being a private art collector
is that no one can dictate your artistic tastes. The superb Fondation Beyeler
on the outskirts of Basel showcases the gloriously diverse preferences
of the late Hildy and Ernst Beyeler, art dealers whose private
collection was built up over 50 years. Now housed in a museum designed
by star architect Renzo Piano, it’s one of Basel’s top cultural
attractions. In the permanent exhibition, paintings by Monet, Picasso,
Lichtenstein and Bacon share space with rare tribal sculptures, while
its regular temporary exhibitions make this a place to return to again
and again.
14. Hop on a boat
As the region’s plaything, Lake Geneva (or
Lac Léman in local parlance) provides myriad opportunities for
entertainment, not least the chance to hop on a ferry and explore the
towns that sit on its vast shore. The Compagnie Générale de Navigation
provides the service, whisking passengers from Geneva and Lausanne-Ouchy
to destinations around the lake including Montreux and its striking
Chatêau Chillon, the medieval French village of Yvoire, and the famous
spa town Evian-les-Bains. Sitting on the sun deck of one of the CGN’s
beautiful old paddle steamers is a lovely way to travel and really
appreciate the vastness of central Europe’s largest lake. Plus if you’re
embarking at Geneva you’ll get a rather special view of the Jet d’Eau
as you cruise past. CGN also offers a variety of dinner cruises and
themed evenings, including an evening cruise with dinner prepared by
Swiss celebrity chef Philippe Chevrier.
15. Muse on the meaning of art
The term ‘art brut’ – literally ‘raw art’ –
was coined by Jean Dubuffet, a private collector who sought to collect
art from all over the world created by untrained artists on the fringes
of society. After several decades spent gathering up some 4,000 pieces
he donated it all to the city of Lausanne, and thus the Collection de l’Art Brut
opened in 1976. It’s hardly your average art gallery, but that’s what
makes it such a find. The difficult lives led by many of the artists –
some with social or psychological problems, others who languished in
prison – have resulted in drawings, paintings and sculptures that are
beautiful and eyebrow-raising in equal measure. It’s a great place to
spend an afternoon browsing its permanent collection, stroking your chin
and ruminating on the nature of art.
16. Join the crowds in Montreux
For a tiny place, the town of Montreux at
the eastern end of Lake Geneva certainly knows how to throw a party.
Quiet and unassuming most of the time, twice a year it attracts hordes
of people to two tremendously fun events. Firstly – and most famously –
for two weeks in July the Montreux Jazz Festival
transforms the place into the world’s premier live music venue with a
line-up of huge stars in jazz, rock, pop and much else. At Christmas the
crowds are back, this time to descend upon Montreux Noël, the town’s package of festive activities including one of the biggest Christmas markets in Switzerland, a mountaintop Santa’s grotto and a Christmas village.
17. Potter through Carouge’s age-old market
There’s never a bad time to hang out in
Carouge, Geneva’s Italianate district created by a bunch of architects
from Turin in the 18th century as an independent town. Its shuttered
townhouses are attractive, it’s packed with great restaurants and
nightlife (try Le Cheval Blanc and Le Chat Noir
for starters), and the area’s numerous independent shops and artisanal
workshops mean the shopping is, for the most part, way more interesting
than the chain shops in the centre of town. On Wednesdays and Saturdays
Carouge gets a further boost with the arrival of the market on the
lovely Place du Marché. Take a big bag and fill it with fruit and veg,
cheese, honey, fresh bread, flowers, wine and locally made treats.
18. See Lugano from on high at Monte Brè
19. Chill out in Locarno
As Locarno’s meeting place, market square
and people-watching hub, the beautiful Piazza Grande earns its keep year
round, but come at certain times and you’ll find an extra buzz about
the place. In winter the square hosts pop-up ice rink Locarno on Ice,
one of the country’s biggest ice rinks and a lovely place to hang out
of an evening watching the disco lights flutter over skaters as they
stumble and glide about the ice. In August, the square turns into a huge
outdoor cinema to welcome a crowd of 8,000 to nightly film screenings
as part of the longstanding Locarno Film Festival.
20. Tuck into a risotto in Ticino
The canton of Ticino is rather obsessed with
risotto, so it’s hardly a surprise that the creamy Italian rice dish
forms a central part of the area’s Rabadan
celebrations every February. On the Tuesday after the weekend’s
carnival, people gather in the town centre to chow down on a communal
risotto with luganighe (local sausage), whipped up in massive pots in
the open air. It’s a tradition that’s been going since the late 19th
century and is still hugely popular – get down there early to make sure
you nab one of the 2,500 portions dished out by the hard-working chefs.
Source: http://www.timeout.com/switzerland/things-to-do/the-20-best-things-to-do-in-switzerland
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