Jaimes' Friends Switzerland Visit: My Top 10 Tourist Attractions

Welcome back to my mini series on exploring Switzerland. A couple of days ago we approached the subject by talking about chocolate and cheese, today I want to show off my favorite spots to visit.

Before we indulge in sightseeing, here are some what I think valuable tips and infos:

For guest visiting from the U.S. driving a car may not be as convenient as you may be used to. At best there are three lines on our freeways, and even those are usually congested. Parking spaces are hard to find, oftentimes limited to one or two hours and, depending on where you are, you need coins or an app, but not the same app for different locations.

For that reason I encourage you to take a look at the 

Swiss Travel Pass – the All-in-one-Ticket for Switzerland | SBB

You get to use public trains, busses and trams and even boats during the agreed time. Some mountain railroads will give you a discount as well. 

These means of transportation are super punctual, reliable and really neat. Apart from the regular trains there are some fancy ones that are worthy to mention:

Glacier Express will take your from St. Moritz to Zermatt, which is obviously a very scenic route.

Bernina Express enables you to explore cool locations in the Grison Alps such as the Rhine Gorge, and if you never get off the train, you will end up in Italy!

Speaking of Italy, this is only one of our many European neighbors. Switzerland also borders France, Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein. It shouldn't be surprising that the languages of these adjacent countries influence what is spoken in our diverse confederation. 

While you will be able to communicate in English, this is the one language that is not an official language. Read here about our quadrilingual country. 

One more thing, even though we're literally located in the middle of Europe, Switzerland is not part of the European Community, and therefore does not have the Euro as their currency. 

Around here we pay in Swiss Francs, however credit cards are accepted pretty much everywhere. Here's a post about what you may expect to get for ten, a hundred or a thousand francs.

Speaking of ten... How about we finally get into my Top 10 Tourist Attractions in Switzerland? (More like the 10 areas...)

Since your friends probably will arrive at Zurich International Airport, that's were we will start our Tour de Suisse as well:

Zurich Area

I realize I don't have this one post that talks about Zurich. I probably have a hundred posts. 

Here's a random one, themed "Nine" I did for a photo blog challenge. 

I say, just explore the city on foot and by tram. So much to see or do. 

Speaking of trams. There's regular trams, and then there's chocolate, fairy tale, happy hour, fondue or sushi trams. Check out my blogger friend Kate's post(s)

Start at Bahnhofstrasse, the shopping mile... Visit one of many Sprüngli cafés / stores and ask for Luxemburgerli, their macaron specialty. You won't regret it. 

...and work your way up to Bürkliplatz and Bellevue and enjoy strolling along the lake.

The Corbusier Pavilion at the lake shore is an art museum dedicated to the work of the Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier. 

There's a number of gorgeous parks in Zurich like Patumbah, Zürihorn, Landiwiese or Rieterpark. I especially like to go there in spring when the magnolia and cherry trees are in bloom. One particular day I lost - and found - my wedding ring at Belvoir Park. 

Switzerland prides itself on qualities like liberty, equality and fraternity. We have Napoleon and the French Revolution to thank for it. In 2005, the Swiss people voted to allow same-sex civil unions. The civil partnership resembles marriage, with gay couples granted the same pension, inheritance and tax rights and obligations. Finally, since July 2022, same-sex couples in Switzerland can actually marry or convert their registered partnership into a marriage.

In 2019, the Zurich Lake Basin neighbourhood decked its streets for the 25 years' anniversary of the Zurich Pride Parade. Street signs, lamp posts, pedestrian crossings; they all got a rainbow touch.

Chances are by the end of your friends' trip the people at the pumpkin farms outside of the city will already be in the process of getting their displays up. It's one of my favorite things to do in early fall. Check it out.

If you particularly like unicorns, by the way, head over to Dübendorf. It's their heraldic animal, and you can spot all kinds of decorative unicorns across town. 

Lucerne does not technically belong to the Zurich area, but for this post's sake it will ;-)

In the summer season, there are two ways to reach the peak of Mt Pilatus itself – a cogwheel train from Alpnachstad or a cable car from Kriens. Pilatus. At 2,132 meters (=6,994 feet) is a paradise for adventure lovers: Dragon gliding, ibex safari, astronomy evenings, rope park, so many activities! 

The city of Lucerne has a lot to offer as well. It's where you can walk across the famous wooden Kapelbrücke, the Chapel Bridge. It was built in the 14th century, nearly lost in a a devastating fire in 1993 and rebuilt the following year.

The ultimate bad weather activity for Lucerne is a visit to the transportation museum, where you get to see scientifically interesting phenomena, a planetarium, a movie theater featuring a 500 square meter (5,382 square feet) screen and the chocolate experience, just to name a few! Lindor balls, anyone?

Bern

While Zurich is much larger and busier, Bern is actually our capital. (435k vs 145k citizens). Cute, eh? 

Switzerland's total population is 8.5 million, and 567 people live on one square mile. Compared to 93 in the U.S. that's pretty dense.

If you book well in advance, you may catch a guided tour around the Bundeshaus, our federal parliament. If not, it's nice to look at from the outside. 

Also make sure to step onto the federal terrace for a nice view. Look closely, there's snowy mountains in the distance!

Stroll through the beautiful Old Town with its Zytgloggeturm, the medieval clock tower that represents the most iconic landmark. It’s a good thing that apart from public busses it’s pedestrians only, so the bunches of tourists don’t have to worry about standing in the middle of the cobblestone street, taking pictures. 

In the 1960, Japanese farmer and beekeeper Yoshiyuki Urata came to Switzerland to study agriculture. He was impressed by our punctuality and work ethics. Also the people he met here, helped to raise money so he could fund an agricultural school back in Japan. As a token of his gratitude he sent 100 Somei Yoshino trees to the Rosengarten Park in Bern, which is our Capital. These wonderful cherry trees were getting old and beginning to flower less. This is why the Japanese prefecture of Nara decided to send over seedlings for young cherry trees. 

Within walking distance you get to the bear pit. Bears being the city's mascot.

The Interlaken / Thun / Brienz area

Spiez Castle’s massive square keep was built around 1200. During the second half of the 13th century a number of tournaments must have been held around the castle because the visiting knights carved graffiti into the plaster of the main chimney. From the 15th to the 18th century, the castle was gradually renovated.

Giessbach Falls or the tiny fishing town of Iseltwald may be a bit off the beaten path, but oh so pretty. 

Romandie = French speaking part of Switzerland

It doesn't feel fair to cluster these cities together, but frankly if I don't, these top ten need to be extended to top fifteen or twenty!

Avenches, aka Aventicum, the capital of "Roman Helvetica" has a wonderfully preserved amphitheater that is being used for music festivals. This particular theater was built in the early 2nd century A.D.

As a reader of the Asterix and Obelix cartoons, all I could think was "Bread and Circuses" and "throw them before the lions!"

What I like most about Fribourg are its bridges. Old, wooden ones or made of stone, and modern, practical ones. They all cross the river Saône.

Montreux is famous for its Jazz Festival that takes place every July, the absolutely gorgeous lakeside area called Riviera, the Casino that also houses the Queen Studio Experience and the Freddie Mercury statue. Speaking about music. Not far from here, in Féchy, resp. Corseaux, you may bump into Phil Collins and Shania Twain. 

Just a little outside the town there is this fabulous castle called Château de Chillion

In the neighbour town of Vevey you will find two familiar names: Nestlé and Charlie Chaplin. 

Meet the Fourchette! Almost 1,000 pound of steel, 26 feet tall and 4 feet wide, the world's biggest fork was embedded in Lake Geneva to celebrate Nestlé's Alimentarium's 10th anniversary in 1995, so it's been around for a while, and I was really happy to finally see it in person only a few years ago..

Lausanne is home to the Olympic Committee (and museum), which I wasn't all too impressed about. You mainly get to see medals and jerseys of successful teams and athletes. 

Finally Geneva is our international organizations' hub. You will find the United Nations, the Red Cross, Médecins sans Frontières, IATA,  WHO, you name them - they're located in Geneva, Switzerland. 

The most famous landmark is the Jet d'Eau, the large water fountain situated at the point where Lake Geneva empties into the Rhône, that is jetting 500 liters (130 gallons) of water to an altitude of 140 meters (460 feet). Back in the day it was used as a safety valve for a hydraulic power network. 

Take a leisurely stroll along the river Rhône and the lake to arrive at the English Garden.

Valais 

Valais is a bilingual canton (state), people speak a unique dialect of Swiss German as well as French. 

There are many, many mountains towns worth visiting like Verbier, Grächen or Saas Fee, be it for hiking or skiing, but in my opinion the star is clearly Zermatt and the famous Matterhorn. Here's a post about this fantastic place. 

Have you ever heard of the Earth Pyramids of Euseigne? 

The earth cones are 10 to 15 meters = 32 to 50 feet high and most of them are protected by a rock lodged on the top. The cones were created in the end phase of the last Ice Age, about 80,000 to 10,000 years ago.

If you enjoy art, visit the Roman town and home to the Fondation Pierre Gianadda, art collection and sculptures park in Martigny. 

The sculptures live there permanently, though, and the giant letters spelling LOVE were the main goal of my trip! Up to a few years ago I had no clue there was a Robert Indiana LOVE sculpture at my very own country, Switzerland!

Other things to do (in case it's raining or you have time to kill for other reasons): visit the World Nature Forum in Visp, the demonstration cheese dairy in Glis or or the Stockalper Palace in Brig. 

In 1993 tthe raging flood of the Saltina devastated the city center of Brig. Stones, mud and water engulfed the first floors and cellars of the houses. The inhabitants had to take refuge in the upper floors. The debris piled up to a height of three meters, which converts to almost ten feet.

Two women died in a store, trapped by the floods, mud and stones. A friend's Mom lived and worked in that very area, but she was lucky and got out. 

The army and civil defense were busy with evacuation work, they cleared about 20,000 truckloads of mud, sand and debris from the urban area of Brig.

The terrible damage caused by this storm led to the construction of a new lift bridge a few years later. The structure is intended to prevent flooding in the future. The Saltina Bridge automatically adjusts to the water level and can be raised hydraulically by 2.8 meters in an emergency.

So if you happen to casually walk across that inconspicuous bridge, you know what happened here 30 years ago. 

Ticino = Italian speaking part of Switzerland

If you intended to go to Italy but are running out of time, Ticino is a great alternative. 

This is Bellinzona, Ticino's capital. The town is famous for its three castles, Montebello, Sasso Corbaro and Castelgrande.

Throughout Switzerland there are over 300 castles, here's the list if you care to count how many exactly. 

How about taking the funicular to get up to Monte Brè, in Lugano. Only 933 meters (=3,060 feet) but with a stunning view over the Lake Lugano and the Monterosa, the Bernese and Valais Alps. My blogger friend Tanya can tell you all about it.

There are so many lovely villages and towns you can explore in Ticino. Morcote, Ascona, Locarno, just to name a few. One of the special treats is to take board a boat on Lago Maggiore. It will take you to Isole di Brissago, a botanical garden with subtropical climate. You get to see all kinds of plants. Very relaxing.

Grisons and Estern part of Switzerland

Getting from Ticino to Grisons you may cross the Julier pass. We did so last winter. Very scenic. 

This area is all about mountains and valleys. People go there to hike, mountain bike and ski.

The Rhine River's Gorge was created about 10,000 years ago by a rockslide, the gorge walls reach heights of up to 300 meters = 985 feet. In its depths, the Upper Rhine winds its way for 14 kilometers = 8.7 miles. It is fed from Lake Toma at the Oberalp Pass, the Rhine's official source. From there it is exactly 1,233 kilometres = 766 miles to its outlet in the North Sea near Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

There are many mountains resorts to enjoy yourself, for example St. Moritz (very posh), Davos (home to the hockey team we love to hate), or Arosa (my personal favorite). 

Should you decide to stay there, consider checking into the Lindemann's. It belongs to a former hockey player whose son - also a former hockey player - is one of the youth coaches where Colin, my son, plays. 

Take the chair lift to Tschuggenhütte and enjoy the view - and a cheese fondue. Once you're ready to go back down, either walk or sled!

There's also an aerial cableway to the bear sanctuary they opened in summer 2018. It's a place for former circus and restaurant bears that were kept under undesirable circumstances. Visitors explore the park by walking on suspension bridges that connect the viewing platforms. I usually don't do well with heights, but I wanted to see the bears, so I bit the bullet. And it was so worth it. 

 

If the weather does not allow for any mountainous activities, take a walk around the small lake and stop at the Güterschuppen, a former freight shed, turned into the most cozy bar / restaurant / lounge. 

If I lived there, I'd probably hang out there often!

Moving north to the St. Gallen / Appenzell area.

Do you want to  see how the Appenzeller cheese is made? Well, it's basically  a lot of milk, blended together with salt and bacteria cultures!

St. Gallen in the Eastern part of Switzerland, a town known for its baroque cathedral with the abbey library, which houses some 170,000 documents – in part hand-written and over a thousand years old. 

The Lake Constance area is located in the border triangle of Switzerland, Austria and Germany. It is famous for its apples. A large part of Swiss apple consumption is covered by their harvest. So the sights of the blossoming apple trees must be really wonderful, right? Due to my botanical ignorance I had to do the drive twice within a couple of weeks. The first time I went there, it was too early still. 

Schaffhausen /  Rhine Falls

The Rhine Falls is the most powerful waterfall in all of Europe and with over one million visitors annually one of the most popular places to visit in Switzerland🇨🇭

The falls are just a single drop waterfall, however with a width of 150 meters (almost 500 feet) and a height of 23 meters (75 feet) cascading down at a rate of 600,000 litres (158,000 gallons) per second down to a lower level, its size is impressive. 

The pictures don't do it justice.

Basel

I was mentioning the Rhine. After falling, it confluences with the Aare not far from where I live, runs through the city of Basel and proceeds through Germany to The Netherlands, emptying into the North Sea. Its length is 1,230 km (760 miles).

In summer people love to gather along the Rhine promenade. 

Basel is culturally rich. So much art to see, for example the historical museum (below), the Tinguely Museum or a toy museum, just to name a few. 

Basel is also very famous for its traditional events such as carnival (locals get three days off, paid, which should tell you something about its significance), and the fall fair. We love the rides and the food opportunities!

Many people who live in the area work for the pharmaceutical industry. Both Roche's and Novartis' HQs are located here.

It's also a great city to visit in December. Last year I had the urge to witness the Harley Santa's parade. In the process I also stumbled upon a Christmas market. I will probably do it again this year!

Enjoy this video as we wrap up this lengthy post:

I hope you enjoyed learning about my beautiful country. Let me know what questions you have!