Top museums

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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 ‚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.

Museum Haus Konstruktiv is the leading institution for constructive concrete and conceptual art in Switzerland. It is located in the former Unterwerk Selnau building, which is one of the most prominent pieces of industrial architecture in Zurich.

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.

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.

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.

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.