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True, most tourists visit Switzerland mainly for the dramatic and stunning natural sceneries of the Alps. The Alps is the highest and most extensive mountain range in Europe, with Switzerland and Italy sharing many of its highest summits (except for the highest point, Mont Blanc, which is in France). We are certainly going to share our journeys to these most popular summits from Jungfrau, Matterhorn, and Titlis.
Having said that, do not forget Switzerland is a country filled with interesting culture and stories. It has a unique position throughout human history and it plays an important role in many aspects of our lives. From scientific breakthroughs, the headquarters of international sports events and charity, to the center stage of art and design.
We are going to share the must-see museums in Switzerland –
and you will be surprised by their various genre and themes – most importantly, tourists enjoy free access or a huge discount with a Swiss Travel Pass. The Travel Pass also offers unlimited train rides (and a discount on scenic train journeys!) that make your visit so much more rewarding.
Do you agree with our picks? Feel free to share, comment, and let us know your favorites!
Basel
Fine Arts Museum Basel
From the old master to contemporary art, a celebration of art in the cultural capital of Switzerland
Basel is a small city in Switzerland located at the border of France and Germany – the city may be small with only 170 thousand inhabitants, covering an area of 24 square kilometers – it is the world stage of the Art and Watch industries.
Basel is the home of two famous exhibitions: Art Basel and Baselworld.
While Art Basel only takes place in a week once a year, I didn’t know what to expect in Basel. “Maybe half a day is enough…” I thought, and then I was so wrong.
By now, you should already know that I am an art lover, and so I have a nose for what to expect in a museum, and as soon as I entered Fine Arts Museum Basel, I was like “Uh oh, I can spend hours in here…” Not only the artworks are in abundance, but also absolutely stunning.
The museum was established in a building built in 1662, with a collection of over 3,000 pieces, covering from the 14th to the 20th century. It has the largest collection of Holbein and his family, together with Upper-Rhine and Flemish artists, Witz, and Grunewald. Of course, you will also find art pieces from Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cezanne, Picasso, Braque, Chagall, and Leger.
The new wing of the Fine Arts Museum is more exciting; its modern and sleek interior is already exciting enough. The old wing is more “traditional”, but it is also “classic”, showcasing more well-known art pieces of the big name. While I was there, the museum was also hosting a three-day exhibition about the Mandala – the sacred circle in Tibetan Buddhism; with Tibetan monks from the Namgyal Monastery in Dharamsala, India, showing a Kalachakra Mandala in an elaborate process lasting several weeks.
Museum Tinguely
The showcase of artist Jean Tinguely and his whimsical kinetic art / sculptural machines.
Museum Tinguely is an art museum dedicated to Swiss painter and sculptor Jean Tinguely.
Who is Jean Tinguely? He is a groundbreaking artist in the 20th century, known for his kinetic art sculptural machine (officially Métamatics) that extended the Dada tradition into the later part. Tinguely’s art satirized automation and the technological overproduction of material goods.
Entering the world of Tinguely you will soon realize that most of the art pieces in this museum are not static – when you press any of the buttons of the exhibit, the rather strange “robots” or mechanics start spinning or moving with noise that demands viewers’ attention. Some of the art pieces are even interactive, the robot starts drawing an abstract work as the viewer starts riding the motorbike – the creativity is truly inspiring and also stimulates your perception of art is a brand new perspective.
To me, Tinguely is an artist, a sculptor, but also a scientist. Tinguely collected his materials from steel, copper, and tires, recycled them, and gave them a new life. Most of his works have movable parts as if they can communicate with their audience. Interestingly, Tinguely sounds like a “tinkle” and maybe that’s why there are so many nails and wheels.
The museum was designed by architect Mario Botta. Viewers will also see films showing his performances in Paris, which is the real art form that he tries to present through the process.
One of the most memorable performances was the ballet L’Eloge De La Folie (1966), Tinguely made one of his key contributions to the dramatic arts and one of his most important works of the 1960s.
Half of the museum is a permanent showcase of Tinguely’s works. The other half features temporary exhibitions, and my experience with Canadian artists Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller “Dream Machine was phenomenal. Same as Tinguely, Janet and George’s work appeals to all senses.
It was an emotional journey walking through all their work and I was mind-blown. They use sensors to control the audio devices that make their installations interactive and unique. “The Killing Machine” was tragically romantic, “The Paradise Institute” was intriguing, the Forty Part Potet was “disorienting”, and my favorite was the “Experiment in F# Minor”.
The artist opened their permanent gallery in Enderby, BC, Canada. Visit their website to learn more about their works and where to see their installations.
Bern
Zentrum Paul Klee
A museum dedicated to Paul Klee, a master in Bauhaus
The capital of Switzerland may be less popular than the country’s big cities Zurich and Geneva – but it’s been the political center of the country since 1848. The city itself was the first batch listed as a UNESCO Heritage Site in 1983. Bern is home to a few important figures, including Albert Einstein, who lived there for 7 years, and the hometown of national artist Paul Klee.
Paul Klee is one of the most important painters of the 20th century – he lived here until he moved to Germany when he was 27, and he also became a master in Bauhaus. If Paul Klee does not ring any bells to you, he and his friend, Wassily Kandinsky, together with their fellow member, established a rather short-lived Der Blauer Reiter (The Blue Rider) – an editorial team organized two exhibitions in Munich to demonstrate their art theoretical ideas on the works of art exhibited.
They were the pioneers of modern art, with a network that brought a breath of fresh air to the art world. Zentrum Paul Klee was opened in 2005, celebrating Paul Klee’s iconic works under the futuristic and modern architecture, which was designed by Renzo Piano, the architect of Centre Pompidou in Paris, and Potsdamer Platz in Berlin.
The museum has a permanent collection of Paul Klee, which is the largest Paul Klee collection in the world. Immediately you walk into the exhibition you will identify his unique and distinct style and technique. His paintings expressed the message through abstract lines, simple shapes, and symbols, rather than the accurate projection of the object itself. The museum also hosts temporary art exhibitions, showcasing modern art pieces from all over the world. When I was there, Monika Sosnowska, a Polish installation artist, was showing how to turn old building materials like fences, railings, stairs, and steel beams into installation art.
Einstein Museum and Einsteinhaus
A journey of Einstein’s life in his old house through photos, old news, and more
Albert Einstein is one of the most important and well-known scientists and Nobel Prize winners in the last centuries. He spent seven years of his life (1902-1909) in Bern, working in the Swiss Patent Office. He just got married at that time and had his first child here.
This is also where Einstein released his academic paper on the equation of relativity E=MC2 (1905), which basically changed the world. He moved and taught in Zurich in 1909 as a Professor of Zurich. To understand more about the genius life, check out the Einstein Museum, as well as the Bernisches Historiches Museum, together in a fairy-tale castle-like building.
The Bernisches Historiches Museum is the second largest history museum in the country, showcasing artifacts of ancient Egypt to Celts, Middle Age armors, religious items, and more.
The second floor is dedicated to Einstein, a walkthrough of Einstein from his early life in Germany, his school life in Zurich, and his final days in Princeton, the United States. Here you will find valuable photos, and information for visitors to understand more about his life. Take a walk to the city center and visit the Einstein House – the museum retained the original interior setting while showing photos and recordings about Einstein’s life in Bern, during the happy times.
Gevena
International Museum of the Red Cross and Red Crescent
What does the Red Cross do as the largest humanitarian network to those in need?
Do you know what exactly the Red Cross does? To be honest my understanding was truly limited to an organization providing health treatments to those in need because of war, poverty, natural disasters, or other emergencies.
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is, in fact, the largest humanitarian network in the world that is not limited to medical services. Its mission is to alleviate human suffering, protect life and health, and uphold human dignity.
The museum in Geneva, where the organization’s world headquarters is, explains a little bit more about the work of the Red Cross. Here I learned that the Red Cross has played an important part in tracing missing people to reunite with their families during World War One – among many other incidents – and the exhibit used an interactive method for visitors to understand the difficulties by allowing them to flip through hundreds index cards to locate the missing person.
Moreover, the Red Cross sets up memorials for the dead during conflicts and helps families to get news from their relatives by transmitting news and maintaining communications via radio messages and video conferencing.
While the reputation of the Red Cross had taken quite a hit from the scandals that I read on the news over the years, the museum focuses on its virtue and goal. There are so many more that were shown that make you reflect and see the world more differently.
Globe de la science et de l’innovation (CERN)
One of the most prestigious facilities of particle physics and what’s the LHC is really about?
The Visitor Center of CERN is the only site on this list that is not included in the Swiss Travel Pass.
The site is located at the border of Switzerland and France, and if you have seen Dan Brown’s novel “Angels and Demons” – it is the story begins with the creation of anti-matter right here before Professor Langdon runs all over Rome and Vatican City looking for clues to stop the annihilation of the Catholic church.
Of course, anti-matter was never created in real life, but the main purpose of CERN is truly focusing on particle physics. The study of the fundamental constituents of matter, and the giant particle collider loop that runs 27 kilometers underground around Geneva is also real.
CERN Visitor Center takes out the mystery and puts the science right there in the open. The new center will be opened in 2023 with a walk-through tube that is connected to a glass bridge over a street. The exhibit is part of a reminder of the nearby Large Hardon Collider (LHC). The CERN Visitor Center is free to the public with a video and a few interactive displays of the center. The guided tour is the main course that sheds light on CERN’s research and technological achievements.
The 90-minute guided tours are very popular they cannot be booked online, but on a first-come first-serve basis. The guided tour and lab workshops are exclusively reserved for families, individual visitors, and small groups. Yet they are very popular and there are long lines outside the facility during peak season.
Interlaken – Hofstetten bei Brienz
Ballenberg, Swiss Open-Air Museum
A walk through a time machine with over 100 historic buildings
Ballenberg is a space travel back in time. Once you walk through the entrance, you immerse yourself in an 18th-century Swiss village, as if you are exploring a theme park. The architecture of the houses featured in the museum varies – from a barn with a steep rooftop that dropped to the floor, a pigsty or a hut with different farm animals, a large farmhouse covered with vine, to a multi-purpose building that transformed from time to time.
There are more than 100 historic buildings in Ballenberg. These are actual buildings all over Switzerland in different places and different eras, and then they were transported and restored here for preservation and display. To keep them “alive,” the exhibit is decorated in a way that is as if someone is living in it.
Talking about “immersive”: live animals are roaming, some houses are functioning as a café or restaurant, some are shops, and some are with people dressed in folk clothing making cheese, baking, or weaving – 30 different traditional crafts and professions are practiced in the workshops.
Take a leisurely ride on the carousel, try out some toys, explore the playground, or walk through the woods. You may also find traditional dancing performances, festivals, and markets at different times of the year.
With the Swiss Travel Pass, it takes about half an hour to get to Brienzwiler from Interlaken Ost, the museum is a short walk away from the train station. There’s a small path that leads up to the entrance of Ballenberg.
The train runs every 30 minutes and take note of the time because it may take an hour to get back to the train station on foot, just because the museum is so large.
Lausanne
The Olympic Museum
Everything you need to know about the Olympic Games – the most important sports event
The headquarters of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is in Lausanne, and so Lausanne is known as the Olympic Capital. This is where the 5 Olympic Rings can be used freely. This is the first Olympic Museum in the world, opened in 1993 (There are more in host cities like Japan Olympic Museum), and tens of thousands of tourists visit here every day to relive great Olympic moments.
The museum covers an area of over 11,000 square feet with over 10,00 items to show. The exhibit covers all aspects of the Olympic Games, and with no surprise, there are so many aspects!
This particular Olympic Museum has the most impressive collection of Olympic items: The history, host cities, the stadium, the opening ceremony, the equipment, the medals, the Olympic flame, the posters, the mascots, the clothing… many things were donated by the contestants or host cities, and everything has an interesting story to tell. For more, there are plenty of valuable multimedia materials that may take days, or even months to finish.
Take a walk in the Olympic Park with a glorious view of Lake Geneva. There are also pieces of sculptures on display in the park that convey the message of what the game is about. Lake Geneva is a picturesque destination with a rich history, many famous places are located around the lake, such as Le Rosey Camps of Lake Geneva Campus.
Lucerne
Swiss Museum of Transport
The largest museum of its kind in Europe from the land, the sea, and the sky to the space
Luzern is one of the most visited and most beautiful cities in Switzerland because of its history and location. It is a popular connecting hub among Zurich, Bern, Basel, Interlaken… as it is located in the center of all these cities.
While I cannot be sure that this is the reason why the Swiss Museum of Transport is located in Lucerne, somehow I wonder though – “Is it a coincidence”? The Swiss Museum of Transport has an area of 40,000 square feet and it is the largest of its kind in Europe, featuring the most number of transport vehicles in its collection.
The Swiss Travel Pass offers a 50% discount on entrance, and it is recommended to purchase your ticket before visiting. This is a perfect attraction for family visitors. The museum is divided into sections from the ground, water, to the sky: a steam locomotive, horse carriage, cable car, helicopter, sports car, ship to space shuttle. The largest and the most eye-catching of them all is probably the Regas’s fleet of ambulance jets. The Rega jets have been in operation for patients since the spring of 2018 and are among the most modern civil ambulance aircraft worldwide.
The complex also features a planetarium, showing the stunning beauty of outer space in the universe.
St. Gallen
Textilmuseum
The high-quality fabrics production in St. Gallen, to haute couture fashion
The production of high-quality textiles and linen fabrics in St. Gallen began by the demand of the monastery. With the technique passed to local makers, the industry took off in the Middle Ages and the exportation of textile had contributed to the city’s growth and development. In its prime time between the 19th and 20th centuries, St. Gallen is the capital of textile and embroidery in Europe. Over 20% of the population works in the textile production industry.
Textilmuseum pays tribute to the city’s grand tradition by showcasing the machinery that was used in the past, and intricate, high-quality textile that ranges from knit, embroidery, lace, and folk clothing.
The refined and beautiful technique was also manifest in its fashion design. While the volume of production has declined, many fashion designers, celebrities, and royalties are still big fans of St Gallen’s lace, including the veil of a wedding gown worn by Kate in her own wedding with Prince William.
Zurich
FIFA Museum
The complete exhibition of the FIFA World Cup, and test your football skills
For a football fan, there is no way you won’t visit the FIFA Museum in Zurich’s old town!
The museum was opened as early as 1970, with over 4000 square feet. Many valuable photos, images, videos, books, and clothing are on display, with over 1000 pieces of items related to the FIFA World Cup being exhibited.
The museum has three levels and like the Olympic Museum, the exhibitions are sectioned according to themes from host cities, stadiums, players, records, and important moments, to the peripherals of the FIFA World Cup.
The rainbow-like national team T-shirts were shown with a great impact; and the most impressive part was the FIFA World Cup Walkthrough, in the basement, reading the games and trophies through history and fully demonstrating the development of this world event.
The end of the exhibit has an interactive area, where visitors can also get involved to test their football skills through six fun games.
Swiss National Museum
Centuries of Switzerland’s history and culture, from the prehistoric times to the independence
The Swiss National Museum is a landmark in Zurich, an eye-catching fairytale-like Medieval castle located next to Zurich train station. This is the largest and most important museum in the country its 500 years of history and culture.
The museum features the most impressive and complete collection of historic pieces and items from the New Age to modern times. With the prestigious Architect team Christ and Gantenbein, the historic building was renovated in 2016 with clean and sleek lines and a contradictory mix of old and new, allowing the exhibition items to be viewed without any distractions.
The design of the exhibition was special, the story begins with an important chapter in Switzerland’s History, the Reformation in Switzerland; and in layman’s terms, explains how Switzerland declared independence through the struggle of Church influence on their political sovereignty, the Religious civil war, the Napoleonic Era, and more.
Until today, the machine has not stopped, and the country is continuing to move forward with three pillars that drive the country’s wealth and success: Medical, Financial, and Tourism achievements. The museum features an excellent guide with signs, audio-visual, and interactive demonstrations to let you understand more about Switzerland.
Visiting Switzerland’s best museums would be an absolute blast, with their world-class art collections and interactive exhibits. It would be a cultural treasure trove waiting to be explored and enjoyed by art enthusiasts and history buffs alike. I think I would be most interested in the Swiss National Museum!
I agree with you 😊 from art, to world recognized organizations. The list has a great diversity.
Switzerland is such a beautiful country with so much history and art to discover, and your article has inspired me to start planning our next family adventure. I can’t wait to visit these museums and immerse ourselves in the rich cultural heritage of Switzerland.