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DISCOVER SWITZERLAND

5 spectacular Swiss tourist sites hit by overcrowding

Here are five Swiss tourist sites you will need to plan your visit carefully to avoid the crowds.

Lucerne Lion Monument
Stone Lion Monument in Lucerne

Appenzell Innerrhoden

Appenzell Innerrhoden‘s charming landscape, independent culture and welcoming locals have long made the Swiss region a preferred tourist destination, but while this has been beneficial for the canton’s economy – its tourism accounts for 12.8 per cent of its GP – it has also left its marks on residents.

Visitors from all over the globe, including Switzerland, flock to this predominantly Swiss canton laden with Instagram-worthy hotspots. The Alpstein – a hiker’s paradise – and Äscher Wildkirchli restaurant, which opened in 1846, have inspired many a pilgrimage. As one of Switzerland’s oldest mountain inns, the latter also graced the cover of the National Geographic in 2015 and played host to none other than actor Ashton Kutcher and Swiss tennis icon Roger Federer.

But hosting famous faces comes at a cost. In 2018, the tourist rush prompted the then-owners to clear the premises only for the inn to open again the following year under new ownership.

In 2022, a large proportion of the circa 1.8 million people who visited the canton were in the region for a day trip, rather than an overnight stay. Appenzell Innerrhoden’s government has now proposed a new tourism strategy aimed at limiting mass tourism and its negative implications, such as more traffic, waste, people, and complaints.

Instead, the canton wants to encourage more overnight guests by building three to five hotels in the next 15 years.

READ MORE: The parts of Switzerland foreigners don’t move to

Lavertezzo

Another Swiss tourism success story as a direct result of unprompted social media advertising is Lavertezzo, often referred to as the most beautiful village in Ticino. While select international tourists traverse the valley’s 17th century stone bridge, it is primarily visitors from German-speaking Switzerland and Italy that travel to Lavertezzo en masse – and all thanks to a YouTube video.

The one-minute clip, which is entitled The Maldives from Milan and praises Lavertezzo’s beauty, was posted on Facebook in 2017 and immediately led to a boost in tourism – and traffic chaos – in the region.

If the short (but effective) YouTube clip has inspired you to see Lavertezzo for yourself, it is advisable to do so in the late spring or early summer months, before the scorching heat (and mass tourism) kicks in as the valley is particular popular with visitors looking to take a dip in the crystal-clear river.

Though there is limited parking most visitors only stop by for a quick lunch and photo session before driving up to the Verzasca dam to marvel at bungee jumpers imitating James Bond’s famous GoldenEye scene.

Rigi

If any tourist spot knows what mass tourism feels like first-hand, it’s likely to be Switzerland’s Rigi, frequently dubbed the Queen of the Mountains.

Set in the heart of central Switzerland, Rigi is easily accessible from every corner in the country. The mountain is located between three lakes, Lucerne, Zug and Lauerz, and offers visitors second-to-none views over the Alps from its highest point at 1,797 metres.

During 2022, some 808,000 visitors chugged up the mountain by train or cable car – a 33 percent increase since 2021. Though the Rigi is heavily visited by tourists from around the world – the number of visitors rose from 553,000 to 912,000 between 2009 and 2018 – organisers are still encouraging more uphill travel in hopes of besting pre-pandemic record-high visitor numbers.

That’s as good an invitation as any.

Lucerne

Walking along Lucerne’s Schwanenplatz you’re bound to see several packed coaches drive up to offload tourists in a matter of minutes. Following a quick briefing, they are off to explore the nearby area along the quay, walk the Chapel Bridge and, most famously, hit the city’s many watch shops – for a day.

Lucerne’s popularity with overseas (short-stay) tourists has led to a boom in Lucerne’s holiday apartments on offer, so much so that in March of this year disgruntled locals voted to limit the length of time an apartment can be rented out for short stays to 90 days per year. Moreover, some hotels have introduced a minimum stay requirement when booking one of their rooms.

In 2022, Lucerne also stopped advertising in long-distance markets where the majority of its tourists fly in from in a move that was not well-received by the hotel industry, Blick reported.

If you pack a healthy dose of patience and are still eager to explore Lucerne, note that the city is well worth a longer stay. From its Bruch quarter, Titlis and the Lion Monument, to the Musegg Wall and its nine towers – Lucerne is packed with interesting sights to keep you busy for a week.

Iseltwald

Iseltwald is often referred to as the pearl of Lake Brienz, and rightfully so. The fishing village is located on the left bank of the river and is one of the smallest communities in the canton of Bern – and locals would like to keep it that way.

However, with its crystal-clear lake and breath-taking mountain backdrop, Iseltwald also caught the eye of Netflix whose hit series Crash Landing on You partly takes place in the quaint village.

Since its airing in 2019, the show has attracted thousands of overseas tourists to the quaint Swiss village, prompting the municipality to limit the number of visitors it allows with a new set of measures. These include stricter rules for coaches – such as prior booking and a parking time limit – as well as the introduction of a controversial selfie fee.

READ MORE: Swiss village forced to restrict visitor numbers after Netflix success

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DISCOVER SWITZERLAND

Eight very different museums in Switzerland you need to visit

Switzerland has thousands of years of cultural history and stories to experience, told through its museums.

Eight very different museums in Switzerland you need to visit

From stuffed frogs, to the world’s biggest foosball table, via a creepy alien interior, we’ve put together a list of eight entirely unique museums across Switzerland that you should visit this year.

Hoosesagg Museum, Basel

Let’s start small—really small. The ‘Hoosesagg Museum‘ (Pants Pocket Museum) is a two-foot-by-two-foot window on Imbergässlein, a short stroll from the marketplace. 

The Vergeats, the owners of the historic home it is housed, became fed up with passersby peering in, so they began exhibiting tiny objects. Soon, others contacted the Vergeats, wanting to display their collections of shot glasses, thimbles and other minuscule treasures. 

The window first became a viral sensation before transforming into a fully-fledged museum of objects that can fit in a trouser pocket. 

Exhibits change frequently, and it’s one of the city’s most photographed locations. 

Museum HR Giger, Gruyères, Freiburg

The ‘Alien’ films have traumatised audiences for over thirty years, mostly due to the horrific biomechanical art of Swiss Artist H. R. Giger.

Giger both designed and constructed the museum dedicated to his art in the beautiful medieval city of Gruyères. Therefore, you won’t be amidst a bright, sterile environment. 

Instead, expect to feel like you’ve stepped into the lair of the ‘space jockey’ from Ridley Scott’s 1979 classic – walls, doorways and furniture appearing as if they’ve been grown rather than built. 

Afterwards, calm your nerves with a drink in the museum’s bar, even if it does carry the theme over. Maybe not the location for a first date!

Frog Museum, Estavayer-le-Lac, Freiburg

Everybody needs a hobby, right? For one nineteenth-century Swiss military officer, his was catching frogs and taxidermied them, posing them in weird, beautiful dioramas that poked funny at everyday life. 

The museum in the small town of Estavayer-le-Lac, on the shores of Lake Neuchâtel, acquired his collection sometime around 1927. Around 150 of the officer’s unique creations are now on display, alongside artefacts that help tell the region’s story. 

Matterhorn Museum, Zermatt, Valais

The Matterhorn occupies a unique position in the popular imagination—a towering mountain that sums up much about Switzerland. Of course, it has its own museum, located in the town of Zermatt, which lies at its base.

Particularly moving are the exhibits dedicated to the first ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865, which claimed four of the seven climbers involved – the centrepiece being the broken climbing rope. 

Another equally poignant story is told by the remains of ‘Theo’, a sixteenth-century mercenary who perished crossing the Theodul Pass. only to be released by the glacier hundreds of years later. 

Schloss Habsburg, Habsburg, Aargau

Looking at it, you wouldn’t think this squat little castle was the seat of Europe’s greatest dynasty. Yet the clue is in the name. 

In Schloss Habsburg, close to the border with Germany, the family who would come to rule almost half the world for a thousand years first emerged. 

To learn how an unassuming family of minor nobles came to take the reigns of imperial power, a permanent exhibition in the castle serves as a fantastic, concise introduction. 

One particular highlight is the virtual reality reconstruction of the castle. Not only can you explore the interior, but you can also take flight, to take in all the details you can’t see from ground level.

Forum of Swiss History
Hofmatt, Schwyz

Switzerland’s political entity is unique in the world—twenty-six cantons with unprecedented levels of devolved power. How did it get that way? 

That’s the question that the Forum of Swiss History in Hofmatt seeks to answer. 

Over three floors of a historic building, the story of Switzerland from the twelfth to fourteenth centuries is told – a dangerous, lawless alpine realm coalescing into a powerful confederation that no other power managed to conquer.

A particular highlight of this museum is the dioramas and recreations of historical locations, such as monasteries, that can be found throughout.

FIFA Museum, Zurich

Love or loathe them as an entity, there’s no denying that FIFA’s history is the history of international football. Therefore, visiting the FIFA Museum in Zurich is essential for every fan. 

Across almost three thousand square metres, not only can you understand how the organisation has shaped football worldwide but also better understand the football countries of over 211 countries that have competed over the years—some of which no longer exist. 

If you bring the kids, you can participate in the world’s largest foosball table!

Swiss Witchcraft Museum, Gränichen, Aargau

Our last museum is again small but receives rave reviews. In Schloss Liebegg, located in the Aargau village of Gränichen, the Swiss Witchcraft Museum dedicates itself to the traditional folk beliefs of cultures worldwide. 

The museum also explains how women have been persecuted over the centuries within Switzerland itself – a particular nexus of hysteria related to witchcraft.  

This museum is an idiosyncratic labour of love and doesn’t even have consistent opening hours. It’s therefore essential to check whether it’ll be open in advance.

Can you suggest an amazing Swiss museum we should know about? Let us know in the comments! 

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