With its four official languages – Swiss German, French, Italian, and Romansch – Switzerland offers its visitors a variety of landscapes, activities, cuisines and cultures. Discover the best of Switzerland.
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Matterhorn
The Matterhorn is a mountain in the Alps, situated at the border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a huge and near-symmetrical pyramidal peak, whose summit is 4,478 metres high, making it one of the highest summits in the Alps and Europe.
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The Matterhorn remained unclimbed after most of the other great Alpine peaks had been attained, and became the subject of an international competition for the summit. The first ascent of the Matterhorn was finally made in 1865 from Zermatt by a party led by Edward Whymper.
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It is estimated that over 500 alpinists have died on the Matterhorn since that first climb, making it one of the deadliest peaks in the world.
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Matterhorn
The four steep faces of Matterhorn, rising above the surrounding glaciers, face the four compass points and are split by the Hörnli, Furggen, Leone and Zmutt ridges.
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The mountain overlooks the Swiss town of Zermatt in the canton of Valais and the Italian town of Breuil-Cervinia to the south. Just east of the Matterhorn is Theodul Pass, the main passage between the two valleys on its north and south sides, and a trade route since the Roman Era.
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Riffelsee
The Riffelsee is an alpine lake, where on sunny days you can admire the reflection of the Matterhorn in its still surface.
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Riffelseeweg
The Riffelseeweg is a hiking trail in the canton of Valais that leads to the Rifflesee lake.
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Library at the Abbey of Saint Gall
The Abbey of Saint Gall is a Roman Catholic religious complex in the city of St. Gallen in Switzerland. It was founded by Saint Othmar on the spot where Saint Gall had erected his hermitage. The library at the Abbey is one of the richest medieval libraries in the world.
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In 1983 the library together with the Abbey of St. Gall were made a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as 'a perfect example of a great Carolingian monastery'.
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The Hall
The library hall was designed by the architect Peter Thumb and built in the 9th Century.
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The Library Collection
The library collection is the oldest in Switzerland, and is one of earliest and most important monastic libraries in the world. It holds 2,100 manuscripts dating back to the 8th through the 15th centuries. In total, the library holds almost 160,000 volumes, and most are available for public use.
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The Interiors of the Saint Gall Library
The library interior is exquisitely realised in the Rococo style with carved polished wood, stucco and paint used to achieve its overall effect.
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Grandson Castle (Château de Grandson)
Grandson Castle is a medieval castle in the Swiss municipality of Grandson in the canton of Vaud. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance. The Lords of Grandson were first mentioned in the second half of the 11th Century, when the castle was built.
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It was sited on the shore of Lake Neuchâtel to control the coast road. Today the Château de Grandson survives as one of the best preserved medieval fortresses in the country.
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Only the dungeon has disappeared, probably destroyed during the construction of the castle's western section. Traces of the dungeon-tower can still be picked out on the northern side.
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Crossbows
No less than 140 crossbows have been carefully chosen and acquired over the years in order to assemble a collection. The astonishing works on display allow a good view into the various mechanical developments of this ancient arm which dates back nearly 2,000 years.
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Effigy of Othon I de Grandson
This room houses an imposing effigy of Othon I de Grandson, a close ally and friend of King Edward I. The original, housed in the choir of Lausanne cathedral, was completed in 1368.
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Suits of Armor
On the wall you will see the numerous suits of armor of the bailiffs from Bern and Fribourg, which ruled at Grandson from 1476 until 1798.
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CERN - The European Organization for Nuclear Research
The European Organization for Nuclear Research is a European research organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, the organization is based in a northwest suburb of Geneva on the Franco–Swiss border.
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CERN's main function is to provide the particle accelerators and other infrastructure needed for high-energy physics research. CERN is also the birthplace of the World Wide Web.
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CERN’s Accelerator Complex
The Proton Synchrotron is a key component in CERN’s accelerator complex. It is used to accelerate various kinds of particles, mainly protons.
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Proton Synchrotron
The Proton Synchrotron has 277 electromagnets, and a circumference of 628 metres. In addition to protons, it has accelerated various particles, like oxygen and sulphur nuclei.
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Lago Bianco
Lago Bianco (literally "White Lake") is a reservoir at the Bernina pass in the Grisons, Switzerland. Its surface area is 1.50 km². The lake was formed by the two dams Scala and Arlas on the site of two natural lakes (Lago Bianco and Lago della Scala).
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Bernina Alps
The Bernina Range is a mountain range in the Alps of eastern Switzerland and northern Italy. It is considered to be part of the Rhaetian Alps within the Central Eastern Alps. It is one of the highest ranges of the Alps, covered with many glaciers.
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Rhaetian Railway Train
The Rhaetian Railway, abbreviated RhB, is a Swiss transport company that owns the largest network of all private railway operators in Switzerland. The RhB operates in the Swiss Canton of Graubünden/Grisons.
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In 2008, the RhB section from the Albula/Bernina area was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
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The Rheinschwimmen - Swimming in the Rhine
The Rheinschwimmen, the annual Rhine swim day, is a public event taking place in the city of Basel. Every year, hundreds (or even thousands) of people gather for a swim in the river, of course accompanied by lifeguards.
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The annual Rhine swim day takes places every year since 1980 and was only canceled once, in 2007, due to a flood.
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The River Rhine
The Rhine is a European river that begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps, then flows through the Rhineland and eventually empties into the North Sea in the Netherlands. It is the second-longest river in Central and Western Europe (after the Danube).
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Since the Roman Empire days, the Rhine has been a vital and navigable waterway carrying trade and goods deep inland. The many castles and fortifications along the Rhine testify to its importance.
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The City of Basel
Basel is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine. Basel had been a commercial hub since the Renaissance, and it emerged as a centre for the chemical and pharmaceutical industry in the 20th century.
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Basel is Switzerland's third-most-populous city (behind Zürich and Geneva). It features a great number of heritage sites of national significance.
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Museum Tinguely
The Museum Tinguely is an art museum in Basel, Switzerland that contains a permanent exhibition of the works of Swiss painter and sculptor Jean Tinguely. Located in the Solitudepark by the Rhine the museum was designed by the Ticinese architect Mario Botta and opened on 3 October 1996.
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A variety of Tinguely's kinetic art sculptures are on permanent display, complemented with illustrations, photographs and other documents related to the artist's life and work.
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Roche Tower
The Roche Tower is a skyscraper in the Swiss city of Basel. The building is the headquarters of the pharmaceutical company Hoffmann-La Roche. At 178 meters high, the Roche Tower is currently the tallest skyscraper in Switzerland.
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Charles Kuonen Suspension Bridge
The Charles Kuonen Suspension Bridge is the longest hanging bridge for pedestrian use in the world. It is located in Randa, Switzerland, and replaced the defunct Europabrücke, which had been damaged by a rock slide.
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The bridge spans 494 meters, and upon its inauguration in July 2017 became the longest suspension bridge built for pedestrian travel. The bridge is part of Europaweg, a hiking path between the Swiss villages of Zermatt and Grächen.
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Weisshorn
The Weisshorn is a major peak of the Swiss Alps, culminating at 4,506 metres above sea level. It is part of the Pennine Alps and is located in the canton of Valais. Its triangular shape has been fascinating the alpinists and challenging them to climb this dangerous mountain.
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16-ton heavy ropes
The carrying ropes weigh 8 tons each. The bridge runs 85 metres above the ground at at its highest point. The transparent construction of the bridge provides an additional thrill to all the adrenaline lovers. The bridge remains stable thanks to a special system that prevents it from swinging.
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Zinalrothorn - The Red Peak
The bridge offers a spectacular view of the Zinalrothorn - a mountain in the Pennine Alps. Its name comes from the village of Zinal lying on the north side and from the German word Rothorn which means Red Peak.
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Randa rockslides
In April and May 1991, two consecutive rockslides occurred from a cliff above the town of Randa.
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Slide debris buried key regional transportation lines including the road and railway leading to Zermatt, and dammed the Mattervispa river which eventually flooded a portion of the town of Randa upstream.
