Top museums

The ‚sounding museum‘ in Seewen SO is a Swiss federal museum and houses an internationally significant collection of music automatons. The visitors will learn all about the history of automatic music while moving between high-precision mechanics and the magic of nostalgic melodies.

To experience the Olympics at close quarters and feel the Olympic spirit the way the athletes felt it, to study the history of the Games from antiquity to today - thanks to the latest computer technology and audiovisual media, all of this can be accomplished in the Olympic Museum in Lausanne.

The ethnographic museum of the city of Geneva was founded in 1901 and today comprises one of the largest ethnographic collections in Switzerland. Since two years the collection is at home in the original new construction of the Zurich architects Marco Graber and Thomas Pulver - adding to even greater pleasure on visiting the 80,000 objects and 300,000 documents.

Housed in a pioneering new building next to the railway station, the Stapferhaus Lenzburg hosts an exciting range of exhibitions and creates a platform for people to engage with the critical questions of our times. Workshops, events and publications provide opportunities for a range of target groups to explore themes in greater depth.

The Forum of Swiss History Schwyz, located in the centre of Schwyz, is a modern museum of history and the headquarters of the Swiss National Museum in Central Switzerland. From the outside, the museum looks like a Baroque granary and armoury dating back to 1711, while it houses a modern museum of history inside.

Under the village square, the museum makes a world of powerful pictures and incredible stories come alive with the staged archeological excavation “Zermatlantis“.

Since 1951, this former grammar school located next to the city park has housed some 600 paintings and drawings by Swiss, German and Austrian artists. This varied collection of works was brought together by Winterthur art lover Oskar Reinhart.

The Ittinger Museum and Kunstmuseum Thurgau are at the heart of the conference and cultural centre Ittingen Charterhouse. The idyllically located former monastery in Frauenfeld, Canton Thurgau, was home to communities of monks over many centuries.

Oberhofen Castle with its medieval keep and lake tower is located on the shore of Lake Thun. The castle, which dates back to the early 13th century, houses a living museum. The large castle park is supposed to be one of the most magnificent in the region of the Alps.

From Urs Fischer and Yoko Ono to Ugo Rondinone: the Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst is completely devoted to contemporary art – and the Löwenbräu-Areal is the perfect location for it.

The collections of the capital city’s fine arts museum, the Kunstmuseum Bern, are among the finest in the country. The innovative venue also offers a creative forum for exploring current trends in art as well as the changing world around us.

The internationally renowned 
Musée de l’Elysée is one of Europe’s leading museums devoted entirely to photography. The building that houses it is exceptionally photogenic: an 18th-century villa with views of Lake Geneva.

A scientific learning centre like no other in Europe - with more than 500 experiment stations. Touch, play and understand – no matter how young (or young at heart) you are or how much you know about science, art and technology. Visitors to Technorama can expand their knowledge of physics, technology, technological art and perception.

Switzerland’s most visited museum showcases the past, present and future of mobility with interactive and varied exhibits. In addition to the museum, unique attractions found nowhere else in Switzerland, such as the film theatre, planetarium, Swiss Chocolate Adventure and Media World, are just waiting to be discovered.

With its collection of 150,000 items in some 80 languages, the Martin Bodmer Foundation is among the largest private libraries in the world.

Le Gruyère AOP cheese is produced in ample quantities. 29'000 tons of the hard cheese are made annually. It bears the registered trademark AOP (indicating its origin). There is a modern show dairy that produces Le Gruyère AOP cheese, the "La Maison du Gruyère".

The FIFA World Football Museum was created in honour of the most popular team sport in the world. The museum presents the fascinating history and development of international football, looks back on major tournaments and shows how football has not only influenced but also enriched the lives of all sorts of people.

For centuries the ownership of salt mines meant wealth and power. The salt deposits at Bex, discovered in the 15th century, are still mined today. The salt mines are accessible to visitors, a museum depicts the mining of salt from 1684 to the present.

Alfred Baur discovered his love of art during his travels to the Far East. Over a period of four decades he purchased high quality art objects and ritual artifacts made in China and Japan. Today the Baur Collection is one of the most valuable in Switzerland.

Over 250 sewing machines are displayed in a magnificent 12th century vault.

Swissminiature is Switzerland on a smaller scale. There are 128 models of houses, castles and monuments in the open air, distributed throughout the 14,000 square meter park. The models have been recreated authentically - with great attention to detail - and are surrounded by thousands of plants and flowers.

The Art and History Museum has over 7,000 exhibits on display, ranging from prehistoric finds to modern paintings. The Musée d’art et d’histoire, which opened its doors in 1910, is the largest art museum in the city of Geneva and home to an extensive collection by the eccentric and distinctive Swiss portraitist Jean-Etienne Liotard.

Since the 1970s old farmhouses, stables, bakehouses or barns are no longer demolished when they are due to be replaced by modern buildings. Instead, the buildings are dismantled stone by stone, and rebuilt in the Ballenberg Open Air Museum.

Year after year, people flock to Riehen from near and far to immerse in the art world of Hildy and Ernst Beyeler. They come to view the collection of works from classical modernism or one of the sensational exhibitions. However, the building designed by Renzo Piano and its park is worth the journey too.

With the opening of the Forum Würth Rorschach, the 15th gallery of the Würth collection has begun its work. Situated directly on the lakeshore, it is the third Swiss location alongside Arlesheim and Chur.

The Kunstmuseum Basel was recently enhanced by a new building, bringing the total to three. Contemporary art is shown in the Kunstmuseum Basel | Gegenwart, about five minutes’ walk from the main building.

The special museum in Romont, the Swiss Glass Museum, exhibits works of art that have been created on and behind glass. The exhibits range from Medieval glass paintings to the art of reverse glass painting. Romont houses the world's largest collection of the latter.

The Château de Prangins was built in the 18th century by Louis Guiguer, a Swiss banker living in Paris, and has hosted illustrious guests from Voltaire to Joseph Bonaparte.Overlooking Lake Geneva, this beautiful listed building is home to the Swiss National Museum.

The Mamco, Geneva’s Musée d’art moderne et contemporain is original in every way. Since it opened in 1994, Switzerland’s major contemporary art museum has operated a dynamic display policy.

The Rosengart Collection is of great importance because it houses two unique groups of works by Paul Klee and Pablo Picasso. In addition, the collection exhibits works by over 20 masters of the 19th and 20th century, including Cézanne, Monet and Matisse.

Fondation Gianadda in Martigny is an internationally renowned cultural foundation with multi-faceted aspects. The museum offerings range from archaeological exhibits, a vintage car and sculpture park to art collections and concerts.

The Villa Langmatt, built in 1900 by Karl Moser, is a legacy of the industrialist and collector family of Sidney and Jenny Brown-Sulzer, co-founding family of Brown, Boveri & Cie., now ABB, and now serves as an impressionist and living history museum.

The Kunsthaus Zürich boasts Zurich’s largest collection of modern art and is renowned both for its permanent art collection and its temporary exhibitions. In addition to works by Alberto Giacometti there are also significant pictures by Picasso, Monet and Chagall as well as numerous contemporary Swiss artists.

More direct access than ever before: besides interactive displays, surprising objects and large-scale video screens, visitors to the Museum of Communication will now also be introduced to the fascinating world of communication by people made of flesh and blood, by our communicators.

The museum includes the castles of Lenzburg, Wildegg, Hallwyl, Habsburg, the monastery of Königsfelden as well as as the Legionnaire's Path. Each of these monuments is an authentic witness to a long history.

The Museum Tinguely houses the world’s largest collection of art by Jean Tinguely, famous for his moving mechanical sculptures. Interactive exhibitions explore his influences, the work of his contemporaries and the latest trends.