Consider Switzerland and also you’ll conjure up photographs of the snowy Alps, Swiss chocolate and the Giant Hadron Collider, however there’s a lot extra to this excellent nation.
Get able to breathe in that crisp mountain air, uncover pleasant medieval cities, get pleasure from a number of the world’s most scenic rail journeys and gorge your self on melted cheese.
Whether or not you like the thought of lakeside Lucerne or bike-filled Bern, you’ll quickly discover on the market’s one thing for everybody in Switzerland.
1. Zurich
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Welcome to considered one of Europe’s most habitable cities. Fringed by snow-capped mountains, divided by the expansive Limmat river and peppered with sky-touching steeples, Zurich is picture-perfect. It’d be very simple to whereas away just a few days right here. From biking across the charming Altstadt (Outdated City) on a free metropolis bike and taking a ship journey on Lake Zurich, to perusing the astonishing Museum of Artwork and photographing the enduring Grossmünster. You’ll be spoiled for alternative!
Enjoyable reality: Zurich has over 1,200 ingesting fountains all through town. Permitting you to quench your thirst wherever you go and eradicating the necessity for single-use plastic water bottles.
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2. St. Gallen
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A way off the Swiss vacationer path lies the quaint city of St. Gallen. Famed for its Baroque cathedral and accompanying Eighth-century abbey library housing 1000’s of historical manuscripts. You’ll want to try the font too, which is designed in such a means that it displays the remarkably ornate ceiling above. When you’ve had your fill of historical past, spend time individuals watching in Purple Sq., perched on the hill outdoors the Outdated City with a beer and tucking into a standard St. Gallen sausage.
Enjoyable reality: The rosti in St. Gallen is especially scrumptious, don’t ask why it simply is. So, order your self a plate of this potatoey goodness topped with cheese, bacon and a fried egg.
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3. Lucerne
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Set to the backdrop of hovering Mount Pilatus, Lucerne is yet one more of Switzerland’s prettiest cities. While right here try the well-known Kappelbrücke, a wood footbridge courting again to the 1300s with a fairy-tale-esque stone water tower. Store for handmade keepsakes on the craft markets lining the streets of the Outdated City. Rent a canoe and take to the turquoise waters of Lake Lucerne. Or, meet the ‘Lion of Lucerne’, a transferring monument that’s devoted to the Tuileries battle heroes.
Enjoyable reality: The world’s steepest cogwheel railway, the Pilatus Bahn, lives in Lucerne. Take a hair-raising 30-minute trip alongside the surface of the mountain and take in the unbelievable vistas.
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4. Bern
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Arguably Switzerland’s coolest metropolis, Bern is stuffed with laidback Swiss folks who satisfaction themselves on being inexperienced. It’s a cyclist-friendly too and also you’ll discover e-bikes are the easiest way to get round, particularly when tackling the numerous hills. Should-dos in Bern consists of treating your self to a cheese-smothered raclette – the last word Swiss indulgence. Visiting one of many metropolis’s museums such because the Wonderful Arts Museum or the Historic Museum of Bern. Sipping on a beer at an area microbrewery and stopping by the large Federal Palace, the nation’s nationwide parliament.
Enjoyable reality: Einstein was born in Bern and you’ll go to his previous home, which will be discovered at Kramgasse No. 49. It’s since been changed into an enchanting museum all concerning the physicist’s life.
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5. Lauterbrunnen
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Lauterbrunnen was the inspiration behind Tolkien’s Rivendell, want we are saying extra? A lush inexperienced valley with sweeping mountainscapes and wispy waterfalls – it’s a spot of unrivalled magnificence. Marking the beginning of the devilishly difficult Eiger Path, it’s no shock that Lauterbrunnen is a hotspot for hikers. You’ll discover a plethora of picturesque strolling routes right here catering to all health ranges. It’s additionally house to the Jungfraujoch, Europe’s highest railway station. Providing up the last word alpine expertise, you possibly can even stroll into the mountain in addition to respect breath-taking views.
Enjoyable reality: The prepare trip from Lucerne to Interlaken, close to Lauterbrunnen, is beautiful. Operating alongside the banks of the lake, it travels slowly to keep away from disrupting the native residents residing trackside.
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6. Bulle
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Positioned within the coronary heart of the La Gruyère district, Bulle is a cheese lover’s dream so attempt to save your cheese fondue consuming till now the place you possibly can get pleasure from one of the best within the nation. To be taught extra about how the cheese is produced head to the native manufacturing unit. Different main sights embrace the Gruyères Citadel with its eclectic combine of chateau reveals and vivid fashionable artwork shows. The fort’s chapel additionally accommodates a Tibetan museum, as Switzerland was the primary nation to welcome refugees from China.
Enjoyable reality: H.R. Giger was a Swiss artist from the Gruyères area. He received an Academy Award for his design work on Alien and a very immersive themed bar has been created in his reminiscence.
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Love the sound of those Swiss spots? Our 10-day Better of Switzerland tour covers all of them.