Swiss Highlights
View from the shore of Lake Lucerne toward the parish church of Saint-Marcel in Gersau, with its green onion dome and golden clock tower; the white building with light-colored shutters, surrounded by a few village houses, is reflected in the calm water, beneath a wooded hillside in autumn colors rising toward the Rigi.

Schwyz

Regions

The canton of Schwyz brings together 5 places referenced on Swiss Highlights: 3 natural sites, 0 heritage or cultural sites, 1 village and 1 town.

Not to miss

View from the shore of Lake Lucerne toward the parish church of Saint-Marcel in Gersau, with its green onion dome and golden clock tower; the white building with light-colored shutters, surrounded by a few village houses, is reflected in the calm water, beneath a wooded hillside in autumn colors rising toward the Rigi.

Former republic · Schwyz

Gersau

Gersau was a sovereign republic from 1390 to 1817, recognised by Emperor Sigismund in 1433; sheltered by the Rigi on Lake Lucerne, it keeps its mild climate and its church of St Marzellus, attested from 1179.

Close-up view of Lake Lucerne: a historic paddle-wheel steamboat, with a Swiss flag at the stern, crosses the lake between wooded mountains, while turquoise waves fill the entire foreground under a blue sky dotted with white clouds.

Glacial lake · Central Switzerland

Lake Lucerne

The lake covers 114 km² at 434 metres above sea level and drops to 214 metres. Its basins change direction at every narrows, below the Pilatus at 2,129 metres and the Rigi at 1,798 metres.

From an overlooking alpine pasture, the view extends over Lake Lucerne, surrounded by wooded ridges and bluish peaks on the horizon; in the foreground, sloping pastures and the branch of a conifer frame the scene.

Mountain · Schwyz and Lucerne

Rigi

Rigi Kulm stands at 1,797 metres above Lake Lucerne, Lake Zug and Lake Lauerz. The name comes from the bands of rock and grass that ring the summit; the rack railway has climbed it since 1871, the first in Europe.

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Best Swiss Villages members · “The 50 most beautiful sites” (Switzerland Tourism)

GersauLake LucerneRigiSchwyzUfenau
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View from the shore of Lake Lucerne toward the parish church of Saint-Marcel in Gersau, with its green onion dome and golden clock tower; the white building with light-colored shutters, surrounded by a few village houses, is reflected in the calm water, beneath a wooded hillside in autumn colors rising toward the Rigi.

Former republic · Schwyz

Gersau

Gersau was a sovereign republic from 1390 to 1817, recognised by Emperor Sigismund in 1433; sheltered by the Rigi on Lake Lucerne, it keeps its mild climate and its church of St Marzellus, attested from 1179.

Close-up view of Lake Lucerne: a historic paddle-wheel steamboat, with a Swiss flag at the stern, crosses the lake between wooded mountains, while turquoise waves fill the entire foreground under a blue sky dotted with white clouds.

Glacial lake · Central Switzerland

Lake Lucerne

The lake covers 114 km² at 434 metres above sea level and drops to 214 metres. Its basins change direction at every narrows, below the Pilatus at 2,129 metres and the Rigi at 1,798 metres.

From an overlooking alpine pasture, the view extends over Lake Lucerne, surrounded by wooded ridges and bluish peaks on the horizon; in the foreground, sloping pastures and the branch of a conifer frame the scene.

Mountain · Schwyz and Lucerne

Rigi

Rigi Kulm stands at 1,797 metres above Lake Lucerne, Lake Zug and Lake Lauerz. The name comes from the bands of rock and grass that ring the summit; the rack railway has climbed it since 1871, the first in Europe.

The historic square of Schwyz with its patrician houses and statue, dominated by the rocky Mythen peaks illuminated in the distance.

Capital below the Mythen · Schwyz

Schwyz

The main square, one of the finest baroque squares in Switzerland, lies at the foot of the Grand Mythen (1899 m) and the Petit Mythen (1811 m). Schwyz has housed the Confederation's earliest archives since 1291.

On the shore of Lake Zurich, a dark half-timbered barn and a white manor house stand next to the Romanesque tower-porch of Ufenau church, surrounded by trees in autumn colors and reeds in the foreground.

Monastic island · Lake Zurich

Ufenau

Otto I gave the island to Einsiedeln Abbey in 965. The church of Saints Peter and Paul was consecrated in 1141. Knight Ulrich von Hutten died here in 1523. In 2012, the site's protected status blocked a restaurant by Peter Zumthor.