Around Schwyz and Brunnen you’ll find dozens of amazing hiking opportunities. Or you can discover the region on wheels. Whether you choose a demanding route with a racing bike, a challenging trail for a work-out with a mountain bike or a comfortable bike tour, the region has a route for every type of biker (rent your bike at the railway station). At the tourist office you’ll get good biking- or hiking-maps.
Central Switzerland is a highlight for paragliders, you may depart from almost all the famous peaks around the Lake of Lucerne. And you also have the opportunity to take off on a tandem paragliding flight, courtesy of the local adventure operator . They arrange tandem paragliding flights (no flying experience is necessary) 041 820 54 31, www.paragliding.ch.
Or how about kayaking, rafting, a husky trip or a guided bike tour? All this and a lot more is on offer as well in the region. Book at your hostel or visit the local tourist office.
Schwyz is a small but characterful town with plenty of history, and it’s the capital of its canton. And Schwyz is only 50 minutes (by train) from Zurich! The town is best known for being the repository of the ancient documents (dating from 1291) embodying the history of the Confederation, on display in the Bundesbriefarchiv at Bahnhofstrasse 20. On a terrace above the central Hauptplatz square there is the large parish church of St. Martin (with an ornate interior). The Rathaus, sitting on the square itself, has a façade decorated with frescoes painted in 1891. A little northwest lies the Ital-Reding Haus, an early seventeenth-century manor house set in its own garden and with a magnificent interior. Across the garden – and in the same complex - is the ancient Haus Bethlehem, one of the oldest wooden houses in the country (dating back from 1287)!
At the <Schaukäserei Schwyzerland> (at Milchstrasse 5, just a 2-minute walk from Schwyz train station) you can produce your own Swiss cheese or just watch the cheese production!
Opposite the Mythencenter shopping complex at Schmiedgasse 57 is Victorinox the manufacturer of the original Swiss Army Knife. You can not visit the factory here, but in its on-site shop they sell the complete range of pocket multitools at discount prices (open Mon-Fri 7.30 am - noon & 1.15 – 6 pm, Sat 8 am – 3 pm).
Brunnen village is dramatically located. Vistas from its jetty are stupendous – directly across the cliffs of Seelisberg, with the Uri-Rotstock and Titlis behind, the length of the Urnersee in the south, and the length of Lake Lucerne in the east. Brunnen basks at the head of a wind tunnel which draws the warm “Föhn” wind north from the Mediterranean, frequently turning the Urnersee choppy and stormy. The easiest excursion from Brunnen is to the Urniberg peak nearby, with stunning views both on the way up in the tiny cable-car and from the summit itself (with a restaurant). By cable car or funicular you can travel up to the car-free village of Stoos and even higher up to the summit of the Fronalpstock (view of 5 lakes!). www.brunnentourismus.ch
A good reason for coming to this particular part of Central Switzerland is to explore the beautiful Lake Lucerne and its fjiord-like finger, the Lake Uri. A cruise in an over 100-year-old and beautifully restored steamboat is a must! In Brunnen there are also plenty of water sports on the lakes, including swimming, waterskiing, sailing and windsurfing.
Brunnen is also where Switzerland’s most famous hiking path the “Swiss Path” ends www.weg-der-schweiz.ch |
