Pearls summer
Select your Region:
Airolo (Ticino)
Making cheese in Ticino
A bit of Ticino to take home with you! At the Gottardo dairy in Airolo, guests can use the wonderful milk produced by cows in the San Gottardo region to make their own cheese. An experienced cheese maker tells them what to do and after each freshly made cheese has aged sufficiently to produce a fine mature cheese, it is sent back home to the one who made it as a reminder of an unforgettable holiday in Ticino.
Altnau (Eastern Switzerland / Liechtenstein)
An apple tree of your own
Not everyone has a garden, but everyone can have an apple tree – by sponsoring a tree in the apple-growing village of Altnau, for example, or by planting a new one, in which case you can choose the variety and location yourself. Every sponsored tree has a sign with the name of the sponsor, who naturally gets to harvest the apples as well, either whole or in the form of freshly pressed apple juice.
Augusta Raurica (Basel Region)
Augusta Raurica Augst
A visit to Augusta Raurica, the famous Roman settlement on the Rhine, promises more than just a fascinating insight into one of the most interesting chapters of human history; it's sure to be lots of fun too!
Bärau (Schweizer Mittelland)
Cast your own bells
A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! Visitors to the bell foundry in Berger in Bärau can now cast their own bells. The first job is to decorate the sand moulds, after which guests are taken on a tour of the foundry while the metal is being heated up to 1100 degrees. Once it is molten, the bells are cast and just a short time later can be admired as unique works of craftsmanship.
Basel (Basel Region)
Behind the facade
Those who sign up for a tour of Basel with Emma Munzinger get to see the city from a completely different perspective. An old school maidservant, Munzinger takes guests with her to her new workplace in the home of one of Basel’s most illustrious families. There, allowed to peek behind doors that are normally shut, visitors can learn all about the history of Basel’s “Daigs” – as the upper crust is called in Basel dialect – as well as picking up many a juicy piece of gossip.
Basel (Basel Region)
Medieval papermaking
The past is alive and well in Basel’s old paper mill. Here in the mill’s medieval-style workshops, paper is still made using traditional methods. The history of writing is brought back to life by the machines for casting and setting lead type, while the historical printing presses in the museum's own printing shop show how books used to be produced. Visitors are welcome to make their own coloured paper in the museum’s interactive studio.
Biel (Schweizer Mittelland)
Children at the helm!
No one is too young to go to sea! On this boat trip on Lake Bienne, children can get a taste of what it means to be at the helm. Those who sign up in advance not only get to visit the captain on the bridge, but can also have a go at steering the boat on their own – at the helm and with the captain’s cap on their head! So if that’s not enough to fire a young sea pup’s imagination, what is?
Brienz (Bernese Oberland)
The art of stoking
Make your boyhood dreams come true as an apprentice fireman on the legendary Brienz–Rothorn mountain railway! Besides learning all about the line and the vintage 1892 locomotives, you can take a look inside the steam engine, be present when the brakes are tested and help stoke the furnace on the way up to the top. Plus you return home with a personalized fireman’s certificate.
Brienz (Bernese Oberland)
Under steam
As a guest on the footplate of the steam train from Brienz up the Rothorn, you get to experience both the marvels of steam and the wonders of nature at first hand. Passing through romantic meadows and chugging alongside precipitous cliff faces, the cog railway climbs 1,678 m to the craggy ridge at the top, with gradients of up to 25 percent in places. The Brienz–Rothorn mountain railway is Switzerland’s only steam railway to provide a daily service.
Brunni/Engelberg (Central Switzerland)
We're off to clean the mountains
What started as an April Fool’s joke can now be experienced for real. On the Brunni near Engelberg, Pius the mountain cleaner takes guests on a via ferrata with a difference. And because flossing rock faces is not just fun, but likely to make you hungry, too, the assignment is followed by a hearty supper at the Brunnihütte – until the sun sets behind “Switzerland’s cleanest mountain.”
Bursins (Lake Geneva Region)
A guest of the chef himself
Every Saturday morning, visiting foodies are welcome to call in on the chef de cuisine of the Auberge du Soleil in Bursins and there in his kitchen learn some of his secrets. Among the many skills Jean-Michel Colin teaches them is how to compose a menue gastronomique under professional conditions – which upon completion they are naturally allowed to eat. This rather exclusive culinary pleasure is open to no more than six participants at once.
Corcelles-le-Jorat (Lake Geneva Region)
Crystal clear
What first spring to mind are vases, elegant glassware, artfully crafted dishes and decorative glass ornaments. Yet glass-blowing is not just an art, but a science, too, and has been since the days of alchemy. The distinction is explained in the course of this tour of the Jorat glassworks, when visitors will have a chance to try their hand at glass-blowing.
Emmental (Schweizer Mittelland)
How to make a Bernese plait
The last Wednesday of every month is open-door day at the Zollbrück bakery in the Emmental. Here, visitors can learn all about the history and manufacture of the famous Bärner Ankezüpfe – traditional Bernese plait – and even try their hand at making one too! Once their souvenir plaits are in the oven, guests can also go on a tour of the show bakery.
Flims (Graubünden)
A hotel (hi)story for gourmets
This is an exhibition one cannot get enough of! A culinary journey back in time at Switzerland’s largest hotel museum, the seven-room show culminates in the most magnificent spread. Narrated in seven courses with seven different wines, the 132-year-old history of the Hotel Waldhaus in Flims stimulates both mind and palate.
Genf (Geneva (Region))
Fishing for fortune
The fisherman's craft is one of the oldest there is. And has remained a fascinating experience to this very day. As on Lake Geneva, for example, where some professional anglers take guests with them in their boats. The piscatorial skills taught include interpreting fish behaviour correctly, using a rod and line, tying knots in tackle and filleting freshly caught fish.
Giswil (Central Switzerland)
At the old sawmill
The “Säge” in Giswil is one of history’s great survivors. Made entirely of wood, Switzerland’s only water-powered sawmill exudes nostalgia and the romanticism of an age-old craft. You will be amazed at how little water is needed to start the giant wheel turning. And the souvenir piece of wood you get to saw will serve as a permanent reminder of your visit to the “Säge”.
Giswil (Central Switzerland)
Making cheese in a panoramic location
The Fluonalp is one of the loveliest of the Giswil Alps and the cows that graze here enjoy not only magnificent views, but a copious supply of the most delicious herbs. No wonder the cheese made from their milk is so remarkable. Nor is the recipe a secret. Anyone who wants to can visit the dairy and make their own cheese. What’s more, they can pick it up again a year later (the cheeses weigh between 11 and 13 kg), by which time it will have matured to perfection.
Gossau (Eastern Switzerland / Liechtenstein)
Be a night owl at the zoo
Lots of animals come alive at night. But the Walterzoo is the only zoo in Switzerland to admit visitors after dark to enable them to watch four-legged predators in action – naturally from a safe distance! Supper is served in an Indian-style tipi and after that it’s time for bed so that next morning you will feel sufficiently rested to take a look at the zoo by day.
Grandson (Lake Geneva Region)
Treasure hunt at Schloss Grandson
Amateur sleuths will love this! Accompanied by a guide, they set off on the trail of Sir Othon de Grandson and Charles Le Téméraire, the aim being to find all the hidden clues and interpret them correctly. The reward is a legendary treasure trove! An exciting and interesting day out for kids aged between five and eleven, whose parents are also welcome to join in the fun.
Hemishofen (Eastern Switzerland / Liechtenstein)
A day at the dairy
Just imagine being able to make your own soft cheese in a huge copper kettle over an open fire! This is what you can do at Hemishofen, an organic farm where you can learn how to lend your cheese its own special flavour and how to refine it with herbs. You can also churn your own butter and sample it on freshly made bread. And those wanting something to wash it down with can help themselves to a glass of fresh milk by milking one of the farm’s many forbearing cows!
Hemishofen (Eastern Switzerland / Liechtenstein)
Up close and personal with a cow
Many people regard cows as the most amiable of creatures, but few realize that they can literally be taken for a ride. After a brief introduction at the Bolderhof, guests get to saddle their own cow ready for a three-hour tour across meadows, along riverbanks and through woods. The leisurely ride is an excellent opportunity to get to know these extraordinary animals even better. And you’re sure to love them even more by the end of it!
Hundwil (Eastern Switzerland / Liechtenstein)
Baking beavers!
Not the animals, of course, but a kind of gingerbread which is a speciality of Canton Appenzell. And because Biber – the German word for beavers – taste best when you make them yourself, it helps to watch a master baker at work and take your cues from him. With your beavers in the oven, you can watch the local wood carver fashioning a typical Appenzell cutting board, which like the beavers you will be able to take home with you.
Interlaken (Bernese Oberland)
Your favourite tune in a box
There is a poetic beauty to Jobin’s fantastic collection of ancient musical boxes and jukeboxes. Yet no box can touch us like one we’ve made ourselves. Which is the big attraction here, where visitors can temporarily slip into the role of craftsman and make their own musical box. In addition to your favourite tune in a box, the package also includes an after-work drink and personalized certificate.
La Gruyère (Fribourg Region)
Staring an elephant in the face
Lake Gruyère is surrounded by the most enchanting countryside. Embark on a one-hour boat trip on the lake and all you have to do is lean back and enjoy – and be astounded, too; at Rossens, for example, where nature herself has carved the head of an elephant in the cliff face, or at the medieval ruins and picturesque chapel on the tiny Île d’Ogoz.
Leuk (Valais)
A stint as a sheep shearer
Experience the sight of some 160 sheep being given a short back and sides – and help give it to them, if you like, if only to find out what sheep’s wool feels like when it’s still on the sheep. You can also try giving your animal a more stylish hairdo, or just admire the sheer skill and speed of the shepherds hard at work around you.
