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Fromagerie d’Alpage de Moléson
At this 17th-century fromagerie dalpage (mountain dairy), 5km southwest of Gruyères in Moléson-sur-Gruyères (elevation 1100m), cheese is made in summer using old-fashioned methods – watch how they do it at 10am daily. The Alpine chalet also sells cheese and serves fondue, soupe du
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La Maison Blanche
The neoclassical house with white facade and shiny roof is prized as Le Corbusier’s first independent piece of work – and a notable break from the regional art nouveau. Architecturally unrecognisable as Le Corbusier to anyone familiar with his later work, it sat derelict in the lea
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Bären Park
A popular etymological theory is that Bern got its name from the bear (Bär in German), when the city’s founder, Berthold V, duke of Zähringen, snagged one here on a hunting spree. To the dismay of some, there was still a 3.5m-deep cramped bear pit in the city until 2009, when it wa
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Château de Nyon
Nyon’s castle was started in the 12th century, modified 400 years later and now houses the town’s Musée Historique et des Porcelaines and, in its old stone cellars, the Caveau des Vignerons where you can taste different Nyon wines by local producers. Pay Sfr25 per person to sample
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Stockalperschloss
Kaspar von Stockalper (1609–91), a shrewd businessman who dominated the Simplon Pass trade routes, built this whimsical palace and dubbed himself the ‘Great Stockalper’. Locals didn’t think he was so great and sent him packing to Italy. His palace remains with its baublelike onion
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Schloss Oberhofen
Scenically perched on the lake, turreted Schloss Oberhofen was wrested from Habsburg control after the Battle of Sempach (1386) and now traces Bernese life from the 16th to the 19th centuries. A spin takes in the frescoed chapel, ornate Napoleonic drawing room and Turkish smoking r
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Staubbachfall
Especially in the early-morning light, you can see how the vaporous, 297m-high Staubbach Falls captivated prominent writers with its threads of spray floating down the cliffside. What appears to be ultrafine mist from a distance, however, becomes a torrent when you walk behind the
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Goetheanum
The unassuming village of Dornach, 13km south of Basel, is home to the Goetheanum , a rather other-worldly building that is the global headquarters of the Anthroposophical Society. Austrian philosopher and teacher Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925) developed the thinking behind anthroposop
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Aareschlucht
Less than 2km from Meiringen is the narrow, 1.4km-long Aare Gorge, where tunnels and galleries lead past milky-blue torrents and limestone overhangs. The canyon is spectacularly illuminated on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings in summer. To make your way here, take the Meiring
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Sensorium
When all that cheese gets too much, flit to the mountain hamlet of Rüttihubelbad for an alternative sensory experience at Sensorium , an interactive museum aimed at exploring four of the five senses (no taste involved!). A disconcerting stroll in the dark through a maze, a thump on
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Villars Chocolate Factory
This burnt red- and caramel-brick chocolate factory, in business since 1901, is sweet. Known for its slabs of Swiss chocolate made from Alpine-rich Gruyère milk and kid-loved têtes au choco (chocolate-covered marshmallow heads), the factory can’t be visited. But its adjoining cafe
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Maison d’Ailleurs
In the Old Town, opposite Yverdons 13th-century château, is this unique science-fiction museum, with a mock-up of a spaceship and a room dedicated to the late HR Giger (of Alien fame). Masses of material deals with the science-fiction worlds of figures ranging from Homer to Jules V
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Quai du Mont
Flowers, statues, outdoor art exhibitions and views of Mont Blanc (on clear days only) abound on this picturesque northern lakeshore promenade, which leads past the Bains des Pâquis , where Genevans have frolicked in the sun since 1872, to Parc de la Perle du Lac , a city park wher
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Hospice Breeding Centre
The exhibition at this museum and kennels (with some 30 dogs to see) on the Col du Grand St Bernard tells the complete story of the mountain pass, snowed in for up to six months of the year and so perilous that monks established a hospice on the pass in the 11th century to provide
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Allalin
Year-round, the underground Mittelallin funicular climbs to an icy 3500m where the world’s highest revolving restaurant on the Allalin glacier basks in glorious 360-degree views of Saas Fee’s 4000m glacial giants. Wrap up warm to visit the subzero Eispavillion (ice cave), hollowed
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Château de Vaumarcus
Château de Vaumarcus is a keep with witch-hat turrets and vineyards rescued from ruin in the 1980s. It now houses the excellent restaurant that serves lunch, La Cour du Peintre . Charles the Bold allegedly slept here in March 1476, and you can take his room, the only guest space in
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Gemsstock
This 2963m mountain, reached by the Gemsstockbahn cable car from Andermatt, attracts hikers in summer and intermediate skiers coming for the snow-sure slopes in winter. The region is also beloved of off-piste skiers seeking fresh powder. Ski passes cost Sfr58 per day for Gemsstock;
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Via Pretorio 9 (Cherry Building)
The pink brick Mario Botta office block is known to locals as the Cherry Building because of the cherry tree planted on the roof. It was designed by Luganos Mario Botta (born 1943 in Mendrisio to the south), who has made an international name for himself as a leading light in conte
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Château de Chenaux
Estavayer’s castle (1285–90), home to the prefecture and police station, cannot be visited but its ramparts can be strolled. Ask the tourist office for its Circuit des Remparts brochure that maps out a 1½-hour stroll along the original 40m-long and 35m-wide rectangle interspersed w
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Engelberg Monastery
The Engelberg valley was once ecclesiastically governed and the Benedictine abbey was the seat of power. Now the resident monks teach instead of rule, but their 12th-century home has kept its grandeur. Rebuilt after a devastating fire in 1729, it contains rooms decorated with incre
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