Things to Do in Switzerland

The Jungfraujoch is a saddle between the mountains Monch and Jungfrau in the Swiss Alps. It is known as the Top of Europe and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. From here you look down upon the ice wilderness of swirling glaciers and across at 13,000 ft (4,000 m) high mountain turrets. On top of the Jungfrau is a global atmospheric monitoring station.

Visiting the Jungfraujoch's eternal ice and snow is a once in a lifetime experience as the annual two million visitors can attest. Riding the narrow cog railway to 11,300 ft (3,454 m) is a must. On the journey you pass by the foot of the notorious Eiger North Wall, through tunnels, past polar dog kennels, finally arriving at the heart of the glaciers. The longest glacier in Europe, the Great Aletsch Glacier - 14 miles (23km) - begins at Jungfraujoch, and you can see as far as France and Germany.

Geneva’s Old Town (Vieille Ville) contains some of the city’s foremost attractions, including the Barbier-Mueller Museum, the Cathédrale St-Pierre and the Maison Tavel. It is also the site of the International Museum of the Reformation, which underlines Geneva’s importance in the great religious upheavals of the 16th century, particularly through the work of French theologian John Calvin, who lived and preached here.

But this historically significant district offers much more than just indoor pursuits; exploring the area on foot is a pleasure, with a number of the narrow, winding streets closed to traffic and numerous cafes offering refueling stops along the way. The beautiful Place du Bourg-de-Four is the traditional center of the Old Town and a great place to enjoy an early evening drink.

Bahnhofstrasse is THE shopping street in Zurich. Running from Bahnhofplatz outside the main train station all the way to the lake, it's full of luxury shops selling designer fashion, furs, porcelain, and, of course, chocolates, clocks and watches. Halfway along is Zurich's first, biggest and best department store Jelmoli. The basement food-hall is a must. Or if you want the best in Swiss chocolate, take a break at Cafe Sprungli, the epicenter of sweet Switzerland since 1836.

Bahnhofstrasse follows the line of the moat of medieval Zurich and is mainly pedestrianized, although watch out for the trams running along it. It runs parallel to the river Limmat and it's easy to punctuate your shopping with visits to churches and other important sites of Zurich dotted in the narrow streets between. Culture and consumerism: Zurich has them both.

The historic heart of Zurich, the Altstadt, or Old Town, remains the most atmospheric part of the city, with its striking 19th century buildings and winding cobblestone lanes hosting an array of modern cafes, shops and galleries. For visitors to the city, the Old Town makes the ideal starting point for a sightseeing tour of Zurich, sprawling along both sides of the River Limmat and home to many of the city’s principal tourist attractions.

Zurich’s two landmark cathedrals – the medieval Fraumuenster (Church of Our Lady) and the Gothic style Grossmuenster – make navigating the Old Town easy, perched on opposite sides of the river and linked by the monumental Munster bridge. From here it’s an easy stroll to the charming Niederdorf district, crammed with quirky boutiques and hip coffee shops; the famous Bahnhofstrasse, one of Europe’s glitziest shopping streets; and many of Zurich’s top museums like the Swiss National Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts.

As the principal venue for the Zurich Opera since it opened its doors in 1891, the Zurich Opera House has garnered worldwide acclaim for its outstanding acoustics and wide variety of international performances. Originally called the ‘Stadttheater’, the venue was built on the site of the Actientheater, which burned down just a few years earlier, and staged its opening to a dramatic performance of Richard Wagner’s ‘Lohengrin’. Despite changing its name to the Zurich Opera House in 1964, the concert hall maintains its original Neo-classical façade, designed by Viennese architects Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Helmer and held up by 1,800 oak pillars. Equally impressive is the Rococo style entrance foyer and auditorium, which seats 1,200 people and is notable for its intricate ceiling paintings that represent love, tragedy, comedy, music and poetry.

Tucked between the alpine villages of Brienz and Bönigen, the pristine Lake Brienz makes a prime photo candidate with its backdrop of forested mountainsides and deep, turquoise waters. Stretching 14 kilometers across and a whopping 250 meters deep, the lake, fed by the river Aar, makes an uneasy swimming spot, but a great location for boat trips and paddle steamer sojourns.

There’s more to this lakeside haven than great picture spots though – hike from the lake on one of the area’s 500 kilometers of walking trails, explore the traditional villages littering the lakeside or get a bird’s eye view of the lake by catching the old steam train from Brienz up the nearby Brienzer Rothhorn mountain. Most spectacular are the Giessbach Falls on the south shore, 500 meters of plummeting waterfalls reachable via the country’s oldest funicular railway from Giessbach village.

If you’ve seen a panoramic view of Geneva you’ve most likely seen the huge lake Water Fountains, or Jet d’Eau, with its commanding position at the point where the River Rhône empties into Lake Geneva. It started life in the 19th century as a humble safety valve for a hydraulic installation, but is now the city’s foremost symbol.

With every second, some 130 gallons of water are propelled at 125 miles an hour to a maximum height of 150 yards (that's 500 liters at 200 km/h reaching 140 meters). The water shoots into the air before descending in a graceful fan shape back down to the lake, but its exact destination is determined by the strength and direction of the wind. In the warmer months, the fountain is lit during the evening until 11 o’clock.