Nowhere is perfect, but let’s face it, Switzerland gets pretty darned close. With its sky-piercing mountains and seemingly bottomless lakes, the so-called “Playground of Europe” serves up outdoor adventures whatever time of year you visit.
The mighty Alps ripple across 60% of the country, and Switzerland’s landscapes and towns look like they were dreamed up by a particularly imaginative child. We’re talking glacier-capped peaks, crash-bang waterfalls, turreted castles of the fairy-tale kind and lakes in the most surreal shades of blue.
Even the simple act of getting around in Switzerland can be a magical experience. Cable cars sway over plunging valleys, candy-red trains curl up mountains to improbable heights, and clanging cowbells ring out across hilly meadows that you can skip across with Heidi-like glee.
Switzerland’s culture-filled cities have magnificent backdrops of vineyards, lakes and rivers, and the mountains are never more than a whisper away. As natural beauty goes, Switzerland is off the charts, so what are you waiting for? Without further ado, here are the 11 best places to visit in Switzerland!
1. Jungfrau
Best for outdoor activities
The idyllic Jungfrau region is the icing on the cake of Switzerland’s mountainous Bernese Oberland region. Sky-high peaks, groaning glaciers and thundering waterfalls elicit gasps of wonder wherever you go. Grazing the 4000m (13,123ft) 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 (11,332ft) Jungfraujoch, reached via an epic rail journey from Lauterbrunnen via Kleine Scheidegg. Or you can 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 Jungfrau region is the great outdoors on a blockbuster scale.
Planning tip: Rush 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 astoundingly pretty villages of Wengen and Mürren.
2. Bern
Best for stepping back in time
Bern often pops up in those “I can’t believe it’s the capital” kind of trivia questions, but frankly, Switzerland’s first city deserves more love. The cobbled, flag-bedecked medieval Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage treat, with 6km (3.7 miles) 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 on the Kindlifresserbrunnen fountain.
Sights-wise, you’ll be drawn to the Einstein-Haus (where the genius and Nobel laureate developed his theory of relativity), the Kunstmuseum (with its outstanding fine arts collection) and Renzo Piano’s wavy Zentrum Paul Klee – Bern’s answer to the Guggenheim.
Planning tip: In summer, the action moves to the water, with swimming, tubing, rafting and paddleboarding along the Aare River, so 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. Geneva
Best for a cosmopolitan city experience
In Switzerland’s western corner, bookended by the city of Geneva, 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 handsome cities and castle-crowned towns.
Fronted by the rainbow-kissed Jet d’Eau fountain, and with Mont Blanc peeping up on the horizon, Geneva wraps around the lake’s southern tip. This famously cosmopolitan city 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.
4. Zermatt
Best for hiking, skiing and rock-climbing
No peak has more pulling power than the 4478m (14,692ft) Matterhorn, a terrific, 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.
Zermatt is more than just a one-mountain wonder, however. Climbers have been rocking up here since the middle of the 19th century, and it’s still a magnet for mountaineers set on challenging summit ascents in the Alps. Less ambitious visitors come to hike, ski and gaze over a sea of glaciers and 4000m (13,123ft) 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 out of this world.
5. Swiss National Park
Best for wildlife (and wildflower) spotting
Switzerland only has one national park? Yes, we know it’s a shock, but trust us it’s a good one. Snuggled away in the southeast on the border with Italy, the 172 sq km (66 sq mile) Swiss National Park is the Alps in overdrive – a nature-gone-wild spectacle of high moors, forests, wildflower-freckled pastures, waterfalls, jewel-colored lakes and mountains as high as the sky, where ibex, chamois, marmots, deer, bearded vultures and golden eagles roam free.
Here, wildlife rules and human intervention is kept to a conservation-driven minimum. This mountainscape is so pristine, ancient and unaltered that dinosaur tracks are still regularly discovered here. To explore, lace up your boots for some phenomenal hikes.
Top trails include the challenging 21km (13-mile) return tramp 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.
6. Bellinzona
Best for piazza dining
With a trio of medieval castles perched on hilltops with dress-circle views of the Alps, good-looking Bellinzona in Ticino is like an espresso shot of Italian culture 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: Top of any wish list is seeing the castles, particularly the medieval stronghold of Castelgrande, which 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.
7. Jura Mountains and Lac de Neuchâtel
Best for road-tripping
In the dark, forested hills along the French-Swiss border, the 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 – kick off 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, tip-toe off the map in the lushly rolling 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 (castle).
8. Lake Lucerne
Best for sunset promenades
Reclining on the shores of its namesake lake, Lucerne is a walkable, medieval dream of a city that has a magic you can’t quite put your finger on. 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 (6,995ft) Mt Pilatus, where Wagner raved about the Alpine panorama and Queen Victoria trotted on horseback.
Ambling past the belle époque hotels lining its shores, the same
views that captivated Goethe, Turner, Queen Victoria and Wagner in the 19th
century will hold you in their thrall, and this small city punches far above its weight when it comes to culture.
Make time for the iconic Kapellbrücke bridge leaping across the Reuss River, and the art treasures inside the Jean Nouvel–designed KKL arts center and the Sammlung Rosengart museum, home to a prized private collection of Picassos.
Local tip: With more time on your hands, get out on the water. Cruise across the fjord-like, mountain-rimmed southeastern section of the lake for 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 at the end of the 1h century.
9. Appenzell and Northeastern Switzerland
Best for a bucolic rural experience
Northeastern Switzerland might not have the in-your-face drama of the high Alps, but it 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 pocket-sized 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 (8,205ft) 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 weekend.
10. Basel
Best under-the-radar city
Popularity-wise, poor old Basel barely gets a look in, but that’s an oversight. 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 hallmark of Pritzker Prize-winning architects.
Allow several days for a satisfying romp around the center, where must-sees include the fine art collection at the Kunstmuseum, the Renzo Piano-designed Fondation Beyeler art museum, and the Frank Gehry-designed Vitra Design Museum, 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 (3.1-mile), 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, floating downstream past the city’s landmarks.
11. Zürich
Best place for sampling the good life
Regularly landing the top spot in quality-of-living surveys, urban dynamo Zürich never seems to miss a beat. Everything here says “the good life,” from the cool waterside bars on the banks of the Limmat River to the alley-woven Old Town, where the sun shines through an Augusto Giacometti-designed rainbow of stained glass at the twin-spired Grossmünster church, founded by Charlemagne in the 9th century.
Culture vultures can browse the work of Old Masters at the outstanding Kunsthaus gallery, admire Le Corbusier’s boldly colored architectural creations, and dip into the edgily post-industrial Züri-West neighborhood, home to the Schiffbau, presenting 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. The 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).
