Top museums

Each year, the Thun Art Museum hosts five temporary exhibitions that are mainly devoted to contemporary art. In addition to thematic and monographic special exhibitions, one collection exhibition is organised each year.

Located by Lake Geneva in Swiss Vevey, Alimentarium is the first museum in the world devoted exclusively to nutrition. A wonderful and educational vegetable garden also belongs to the museum.

The fortifications of Bellinzona are an extraordinary example of a late-medieval defensive structure located at a key strategic point on the Alpine pass. The castles of Bellinzona are among the most marvelous examples of medieval fortified architecture in the Alps.

The visitor trail provides a complete immersion into the brand, history and products of Cailler of Switzerland. The experience is sensitive, sensual and poetic, giving the visitor a window into the world of chocolate by means of a transparent and sparkling aesthetic.

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 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. The spectacular extension by David Chipperfield Architects will make the Kunsthaus Zürich the largest art museum in Switzerland.

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 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.

The museum includes the castles of Lenzburg, Wildegg, Hallwyl, Habsburg, the monastery of Königsfelden, the Legionnaire's Path, the Wettingen Monastery Peninsula, the Vindonissa Legionary Trail, the Vindonissa Museum, the Egliswil Collection Centre and the Aabach Industrial CulTOUR. Each of these monuments is an authentic witness to a long history.

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 interactive world of chocolate for young and old.

The clockmaker Antoine Favre-Salomon, a native of Geneva, invented a musical pocket watch in 1796. Since then he is considered to be the inventor of the music box, and Sainte-Croix became the world capital of mechanical music. Music automatons are still produced here.

A monumental panorama, a piece of European cultural heritage and a symbol of Switzerland’s humanitarian tradition – the Bourbaki Panorama brings together a multitude of stories: political events, personal outcomes, everyday stories and a slice of art, culture and media history. There is no doubt that the Bourbaki Panorama is a genuine “visual miracle”.

Four collections – Poster, Design, Graphics and Applied Art – encompass more than 500,000 objects 
at the Museum für Gestaltung. Switzerland’s foremost museum of design and visual communication
is also one of the leading institutions in Europe, known for its fascinating temporary exhibitions.

With its charming French gardens and English park with sculptures by Richard Serra – both of which can be enjoyed on Sundays – Villa Wenkenhof is Basel’s answer to Versailles in miniature.

The villa of the Hermitage Foundation solely houses changing art exhibitions. What is permanent is the magnificent view of Lake Geneva and Notre-Dame Cathedral, a view that inspired the leading landscape painter Camille Corot.

On the former country estate of the Chaplin family, "Manoir de Ban" in Corsier-sur-Vevey, a whole new world around the man with the bowler hat has been opened. And it’s here in the manor house with huge park that visitors learn of his private life while in the new building focus is on Chaplin’s artistic works.

Jeremias Gotthelf was the pen name of a pastor and novelist in the Emmental whose depictions of 19th-century country life made him one of Switzerland’s best-loved writers. In his carefully restored former home in Lützelflüh, the Gotthelf Centre, which opened in August 2012, beautifully evokes the period.

The Art Museum St.Gallen offers an attractive programme of exhibitions of international significance and as a treasure trove of exhibits from Eastern Switzerland is home to a rich collection of paintings and sculptures from the late Middle Ages to the present.

The Zentrum Paul Klee, which opened in 2005, is dedicated to the person, life and work of Paul Klee (1879–1940). It houses the worldwide largest collection of Klee's works. Paul Klee is regarded as one of the 20th century's most important artists.

The Rietberg Museum in Zurich is the only art museum for non-European cultures in Switzerland and boasts an internationally renowned collection of works from Asia, Africa, America and Oceania.

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.

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.

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.

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

Opened in 1841, the Vaud Museum of Fine Arts in Lausanne is one of the oldest museums in Switzerland exclusively dedicated to art. The museum presents several temporary exhibitions each year from its collection of 10,000 works.

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.

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.

Aarau has long been a hidden gem for those in the know when it comes to culture: in addition to its picturesque old town, Aarau impresses with notable historic buildings and surprises with exciting combinations of old and modern architecture.

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.