398 Best Sights in Switzerland

A must-see for lovers of contemporary art, this museum has hosted landmark, precedent-setting exhibits of contemporary art since 1872. In addition to showing the work of several modern masters early in their careers (Paul Klee and Pablo Picasso), the gallery was the first in Europe to display works by American abstract expressionists. It's renowned as one of the world's most active institutions dedicated to the presentation of contemporary art. Programs include video installations, performances, and artist talks.

Bringing the city's art collections up to the present, this museum focuses on works from the 1960s onward. The fittingly modern building looks as though it has shouldered its way in between the street's half-timber houses. The language of the exhibition materials typically corresponds to the nationality of the artists.

In operation since the Middle Ages, the monk-run L'Hospice du Grand St-Bernard has played host to kings, princes, and writers like Charles Dickens. Within these walls you'll find cozy, inexpensive guest rooms and a stone dining hall where you can revive yourself with bowls of warm soup, slabs of creamy Bagnes cheese, honey-sweetened tea, and carafes of red Dôle wine produced in the Valais. The facility includes an excellent museum with exhibits about the history of the pass and the devoted monks of the Order of St. Augustine, who live here. Displays of church treasures—chalices, crosses, and altar clothes in gold, silver, and jewels—are on view in another wing. The bones in the crypt add a macabre touch. The fresco-bedecked baroque church remains open for daily prayers. 

This is the tasting venue of a winegrowers' association producing Vevey-Montreux and Chardonne bottlings. Try the Montreux Entre-Bourgs Chasselas, which has a floral bouquet and a rich mouthfeel.

Old photos of Geneva show scores of black masts and graceful, cream-color sails crowding the lake. Now La Neptune is the only authentic traditional barge to still navigate Lake Geneva. Built in 1904, it hauled stone and sand between far-flung construction sites until 1968. Today, it can be hired out for day sails.

When a famous gate tower on the Grossbasel side was destroyed, lost along with it was the notorious Lällekönig, a 15th-century gargoyle of a king whose mechanized clockwork caused the apparatus to stick out his tongue and roll his eyes at the "lesser" citizens across the river. Kleinbasel residents seek symbolic revenge even today. During the annual Vogel Gryff festival, a birdlike figure dances to the midpoint of the bridge, gives the Lällekönig a flash of his backside, and takes the party back to Kleinbasel. You can see a working facsimile of the Lällekönig on the corner of Schifflände, while the original still ticks and taunts away in the nether regions of the Historical Museum.

In the German-speaking countryside south of Basel, known as the Baselbiet, you'll find a handful of stately little villages with sturdy old guesthouses and a range of historic sites—from medieval to Roman—to explore. Take the winding forest road (A12) west of the freeway between Liestal and Oensingen, watching for Balsthal, Holderbank, Oberer Hauenstein, and Langenbruck; the industrial stretch just south of Liestal is less attractive. By train these towns take a matter of minutes to reach. Trains leave regularly from the Bahnhof SBB.

Located at water's edge, this interactive archaeological museum is the largest in Switzerland. In the nearby community of Hauterive, it displays artifacts found in and around Lac de Neuchâtel and explains how they were recovered. The lifestyles of Bronze Age lake dwellers are skillfully depicted, with pride of place going to a sculpted standing stone that resembles a man, from Bevaix, a village southwest of Neuchâtel. Inside the museum, see the remains of a 60-foot-long Gallo-Roman barge; outside in the park, its reconstruction is moored near a full-scale wooden Bronze Age house on stilts. There is a pamphlet in English, and for SF5 you can rent an hour-long audio guide in English. There is a free shuttle-boat service to Hauterive from the port in Neuchâtel that runs Friday–Sunday in April and May and Tuesday–Sunday from June to September.

Most Lavaux wineries have meager opening hours or are open by appointment, so this center featuring a savvy selection of some 200 Lavaux wines is a boon. Try the black-cherry-and-spice red made from an ancient local variety, Plant Robert.

The Testuz winery's wine bar has options from all of Vaud's wine regions. Pinot Noir, Gamay, and Chasselas predominate. Try a full-bodied Pinot Noir and Gamay St-Saphorin AOC blend.

Like virtually all of Basel's churches, this one was destroyed in the 1356 earthquake before being rebuilt in the Gothic style, although its original Romanesque crypt remains. Its High Gothic wooden pulpit is distinctive. Free organ concerts are often held on Friday evenings.

The Montreux–Oberland–Bernois railroad leads to the resort village of Les Avants and then on to Château-d'Oex, Gstaad, and the Simmental. Noël Coward bought his dream home in Les Avants, and Ernest Hemingway wrote to his family and friends of the village's fields of daffodils—and, more in character, of its bobsled track.

With its indoor and outdoor pools, this multilevel facility is more water park than thermal bath. It's usually packed with families, so don't come expecting peace and quiet. But the views of Leukerbad's mountains are terrific, though no better than at Alpentherme, which is better suited to those seeking tranquility. Leukerbad Therme has a sauna, solarium, and snack bar, as well as giant slides that corkscrew their way down into one of the thermal baths.

The city's public beach has two swimming pools and two restaurants. To reach it, you have to cross the River Cassarate. Heading east from the Parco Civico, cross Viale Castagnola and then turn toward the lake. The entrance to the main swimming area is ahead on the right. Everyone from families to scenesters comes here to cool off.

The Swiss guards who died defending Louis XVI of France at the Tuileries in Paris in 1792 are commemorated here. Designed by Danish sculptor Berthel Thorwaldsen and carved out of a sheer sandstone face by Lucas Ahorn of Konstanz, this 19th-century wonder is a simple, stirring image of a dying lion. The Latin inscription translates "To the bravery and fidelity of the Swiss." 

On the way from Fribourg to Gruyères, chocoholics should consider stopping at this tantalizing chocolate factory in the otherwise unassuming town of Broc. A name in Swiss chocolate since 1819, Cailler offers a 90-minute tour complete with chocolate tasting.

Although Yverdon has a lot of history, it also has a special place in its heart for the future, thanks to this fanciful "museum of science fiction, utopia, and extraordinary journeys." Although mainly a research center and library for scholars, the House of Elsewhere mounts fascinating exhibitions for the general public, including such recent shows as the ones devoted to the popular Return to Dinotopia books and H.P. Lovecraft.

Before going up to town, you can visit the very touristy Maison du Gruyère, a demonstration fromagerie (cheese dairy) where the famous cheese is produced with fully modernized equipment. Demonstrations are given two to four times a day, depending on the season. There's also a shop and a restaurant that sells every variation on a cheese dish you ever dreamed of (including three-course "Gruyère cheese menus").

This grand old home, tucked into a passageway off Rue Supersaxo, was built in 1505 by Georges Supersaxo, the local governor, to put his rivals to shame. This extravagantly decorated building includes a Gothic staircase and grand hall, whose painted wood ceiling is a dazzling work of decorative art.

Vaulted cellars and ground-floor kitchens display medieval graffiti, 15th-century tiles, and a guillotine in Geneva's oldest house, now a museum focused on life in the city from 1334 to the 1800s. Seventeenth-century ironwork, doors, and other fragments of long-demolished houses fill the first floor; a bourgeois home complete with 18th-century wallpaper is re-created on the second. The enormous Magnin Model (which depicts Geneva as it looked before its elaborate defense walls came down in 1850) is housed in the attic. Audio guides are available in English, French, German, and Russian.

Montreux's cultural center, the Maison Visinand is housed in a restored mansion in the Old Town. Its calendar of events mixes exhibitions and performances with classes and studios for painting, photography, and dance.

Concrete floors and fluorescent lighting set the tone for this gritty collection of stark, mind-stretching, post-1960 art. Better known as MAMCO, the museum shares its former factory compound with separate centers for contemporary art and photography. The industrial surroundings help juxtapose aesthetic approaches; temporary exhibits add current artists to the mix.

Excellent acoustics make this church popular for concerts; it's rarely used for services. The lower portions of the tower date from 1287, making it the oldest parish church in town; the upper part was rebuilt after the earthquake of 1356. The fountain outside, with the statue of a warrior in battle dress, dates from the 16th century.

A short train ride or drive south of Chur, the St. Martin church's renowned 12th-century painted wood ceiling features 153 panels that mostly depict stories from the Bible. It is one of the world's oldest original artistic works from the Romanesque era.

To get a sense of life in this high-altitude region and the risks involved in climbing, visit the Matterhorn Museum – Zermatlantis, a sunken village of chalets, mazots, and dwellings depicted as an archaeological site that visitors walk through, experiencing different periods of time along the way. The personal accounts of local docents liven up the displays of antiquated equipment, clothing, and historical documents about those who lived and climbed here. There is a farmer's cottage, hotel, and church interior, plus stuffed and mounted animals.

Davos was once famous as a retreat for people suffering from respiratory problems, such as those caused by tuberculosis (its mountain air kept TB bacteria from growing as quickly). Davos was the inspiration for Thomas Mann's novel The Magic Mountain. The Medical Museum, which exhibits old-fashioned medical equipment, recalls the days when the streets were lined with spittoons.

One floor below the Kunsthalle, this airy, white loft has the same focus—up-and-coming contemporary artists—but is privately funded by Switzerland's largest department store chain, Migros. Shows of recent work are interspersed with exhibitions from the extensive Migros collection, which includes works by Andy Warhol. The museum sponsors regular discussions with the artists.

Basel's most historic bridge is a good metaphor for the city's successful mix of custom and commerce. It is used as a catwalk for many of Basel's centuries-old celebrations, while beneath its span, processions of barges continually glide through its low-slung arches. First built around 1225, the bridge made possible the development of an autonomous Kleinbasel and the consequent rivalry that grew between the two half towns. A stone bridge replaced the wooden one at the turn of the 20th century.

A funicular departs every 30 minutes from the east end of Lugano in Cassarate to the top of Monte Brè, where there are several well-marked hiking trails. An "art trail" in the summit village of Brè features a path studded with pieces of sculpture. The funicular costs SF25 round-trip.