Museums Switzerland - 36 Top Deals and Prices 2024

15 exceptional museums in Switzerland

Switzerland has 1129 museums. If it rained for three years in a row, you could visit a different museum every day. You'd almost get the idea of wishing for a few rainy days. Wouldn't you?

Of course, a visit to a museum is not only worthwhile in bad weather. Many museums have beautiful parks or are even located entirely in the open air. These include, for example, the Freilichtmuseum Ballenberg or the Swissminiatur in Ticino, which we will present in more detail in a moment. From A like the Alpine Museum in Bern to Z like the Center of Photography in Winterthur, the Swiss museum landscape really leaves nothing to be desired.

Cities in Switzerland with the highest number of museums

The city of Zurich is the city that offers by far the most museums and exhibitions in Switzerland.

City	Number of museums
Zurich	59
Winterthur	18
Geneva	17
Lausanne	17
Bern	14
Fribourg	8
St. Gallen	8
Lucerne	7
Chur	6

If you often go to museums, the Swiss Museum Pass is certainly worthwhile for you. It gives you unlimited access to 500 museums and castles all over Switzerland for one year. From Lake Constance to French-speaking Switzerland and from Ticino to Basel, right across the country.

With this travel guide, we show you that a museum doesn't always have to have something to do with art. Let yourself be inspired by the most diverse museums and themes or travel far into the tropics in the middle of Switzerland. Enjoy the 15 most extraordinary museums in Switzerland.

Technorama Winterthur

Compared to most other museums, something is explicitly allowed at Technorama in Winterthur: Touching! Countless experiment stations invite you to touch and explore. You can experience hundreds of phenomena from nature and technology with all your senses at Technorama. From exhibitions, laboratories, adventure rooms to inventor workshops, there is a lot to discover for young and old.

• Opening hours: daily
• Special: The "Windy Picture" is a very special souvenir: Stand with your friends in a photo booth with a built-in wind tunnel and let the wind blow you away. You can download your photos on the website after your visit.
• Labs can be reserved by school classes and groups.
• Suitable for: Families, scientists, technicians, researchers, those with a thirst for knowledge

Wow Museum Zurich

A museum that will really turn your head: welcome to the Wow Museum in Zurich. Here, countless illusions, sensory illusions and new perspectives await you. On the three floors in the middle of Zurich's city center, you won't be able to stop being amazed. The Wow Museum is a whole, colorful world of experience in itself. And a visit to the museum has certainly never been so much fun. Be sure to bring your cell phone; amidst the optical illusions, there are great photo opportunities at every turn.

• Opening Hours: Open year-round and daily, hours vary depending on the day of the week
• Special: The Wow Museum can also be rented for teambuilding occasions or as an event location
• Suitable for: Families, friends, school classes, up-and-coming models and photographers, groups or on your own

Maag Light Hall Zurich

For a few years now, this former industrial hall in Zurich's Kreis 5 has been home to one of the country's most fascinating museums. The Lichthalle MAAG is the first permanent museum for immersive art in Switzerland. The 28 pre-installed high-performance beamers offer a unique 360° all-round projection. Accompanied by first-class acoustics, art can be experienced in a completely new way. The MAAG light hall lets you really immerse yourself. The images are in front of you, underneath you, above you and next to you. They fill the entire room, move in a sophisticated way to the music - and let you become a part of the art.

• Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday
• Special: school classes benefit from a special price
• Suitable for: Families, art lovers, school classes, groups

Museum for Communication Bern

In Bern you will find the only Swiss museum dedicated exclusively to the exciting subject of communication. Here you can send messages by pneumatic tube, immortalize yourself on a stamp or reenact a Hollywood scene at movie karaoke. You can also learn all about the adventurous heist of the century, in which 53 million Swiss francs were stolen from Swiss Post in 1997. Chip implants, the first Swiss computer, a stagecoach and many other stations and exhibits invite you to interact and marvel. Communication has connected people since time immemorial - high time to take a closer look at it.

• Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday
• Special: Ratatösk the squirrel accompanies younger kids interactively through the museum. Spread throughout the core exhibition, there are always exciting things for children between the ages of four and eight to discover. This allows parents to enjoy their own visit to the exhibition in a reasonably relaxed manner.
• Suitable for: Families, people with a thirst for knowledge, sociable people, communicative people, technology-savvy people

Museum of Transport Lucerne

Probably the most popular museum in Switzerland is located just outside Lucerne. In the Verkehrshaus you can expect not only a lot of interesting facts about transport and communication, but also the cinema with the largest screen in Switzerland. In addition, the Museum of Transport has a planetarium, a pond for pedaling, a chocolate museum, restaurants, stores and much more. Here, even the grown-ups can't help but be amazed. You can find even more information in our travel guide about the Museum of Transport Lucerne.

• Opening hours: open all year
• Prices vary according to exhibition areas.
• Special: A very special experience is offered by films on the largest screen in Switzerland in 3D. The current cinema program can be found online.
• Suitable for: Families, groups, people interested in traffic, stargazers, foodies

Swiss Activities offers for the Museum of Transport Lucerne

• Day Pass Museum of Transport Lucerne with access to all areas and to the best exhibitions and attractions in the entire Museum of Transport
• Planetarium at the Museum of Transport Lucerne: admission to the Planetarium and access to the shows and live shows
• Film theater day program at the Museum of Transport Lucerne as a ticket for a movie including rental of 3D glasses. Film themes include breathtaking marine worlds, untouched wilderness, feature films and much more in 3D.
• Admission ticket Hans Erni Museum & Media World Museum of Transport Lucerne: more than 3000 objects, plus virtual worlds

Swissminiature Melide

Compared to other countries, Switzerland is rather manageable. But it is even more manageable at Swissminiatur in Melide. With 128 detailed models of houses, castles and monuments, you can marvel at Switzerland in miniature. On about 14,000 m², embedded in 15,000 species of flowers and over 1,500 other plants, Swissminiatur is also a visual delight.

Between the individual attractions, 18 model trains run on around 3.5 km of track, as well as cogwheel trains, cable cars, suspension trains and ships. The park on the shores of Lake Lugano has been delighting young and old since 1959. Whereby the little ones will feel really big here for one day..

• Opening hours: March to November, daily
• Special: Swissminiature is one of the few museums where dogs are welcome and picnics are allowed.
• Suitable for: Families, Groups, Dogs, Individuals, Couples, Swiss and all others

Dinosaur Museum Aathal

In Aathal in the Zurich Oberland you can marvel at the smallest and largest dinosaurs on an area of 3000 m². Here you will find impressive original dinosaur skeletons, the "Dino Giardino" with playground and picnic area and a store for dinosaur and fossil fans. Time and again, visitors are also impressed by exciting special exhibitions, for example on the topic of "Meteorites and the demise of the dinosaurs". Go on a journey through time and let yourself be carried away into a world before our time.

• Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday
• Special: Spend the night in the museum among T-Rex and pterosaurs. Including guided scary tour as well as dinner and breakfast. Check the current dates in advance or book this cool offer for a whole group. A night you're sure to remember forever.
• Suitable for: Families, scientists, explorers, dino fans and bone hunters

Zurich Zoological Museum

In the Zoological Museum of the City of Zurich you will meet about 1500 animals - and many of them, you can also hear. Here it screeches, grunts, chirps and croaks! From the naked-nosed wombat to the minke whale and shaggy hairy snails, you can discover all kinds of exciting things here. With a magnifying glass, you'll explore the tiniest insects, and with headphones, you'll listen to the most impressive voices from the animal kingdom. The museum raises awareness and enthusiasm for the beauty, diversity and value of nature. It also acts as a showcase for the university, promoting understanding of university research and its working methods.

• Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday
• Prices: free of charge
• Special: Children with a thirst for knowledge can learn a great deal at the exciting family workshops: every Sunday, after a stimulating introduction to a biological topic, families solve interactive research tasks on site.
• Suitable for: Families, scientists, nature lovers, those with a thirst for knowledge, budding zoologists and researchers

Papiliorama Kerzers

The Papiliorama in Kerzers allows you to travel through the jungle without getting on a plane. Here, the rainforest is bustling day and night and countless animal and plant species animate the jungle. More than 1000 tropical butterflies and rare hummingbirds flutter through the air and a very special animal observation is made possible by the Nocturama: The special roof dome dims the daylight to a full moon night, while at night large spotlights imitate the sun. So you can marvel at the nocturnal bats, night monkeys, sloths and anacondas even during the day.

• Opening hours: daily
• Special: There is also a petting zoo on the grounds. Here, pygmy donkeys, pygmy goats, rabbits, ducks and chickens charm their visitors.
• Suitable for: Families, animal lovers, scientists, nature lovers and anyone with wanderlust

Olympic Museum Lausanne

At the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, you can experience the Olympics up close using the latest computer technology and audiovisual media. You will also learn all about the history and marvel at interactive exhibitions, documents, films and collections of valuable objects. From ancient Greece to modern times. But a visit to the museum is worthwhile only because of its exceptional architecture and its beautiful location directly on Lake Geneva.

• Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday
• Prices: Children free
• Special: The museum park houses 43 sculptures by artists including Niki de Saint-Phalle, Botero and Tapies & Calder. So be sure to factor in enough time to visit the 8000+ square foot park right on the lake.
• Suitable for: Families, team players and lone warriors, people interested in sports, history and art, small and big Olympians

Fifa Museum Zurich

At the Fifa Museum in Zurich, the world's most popular team sport finds a worthy home. The museum not only looks back on the greatest tournaments of the past, but also presents the exciting development and history of international football. In addition, the museum at Enge station also shows how football influences and enriches the lives of ordinary people. The 3000 m² exhibition space celebrates the cultural asset of football and its unique ability to connect and inspire people around the globe.

• Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday
• Special: The crowning glory of your visit to the FIFA Museum is the unique Pinball. Here you can demonstrate your own talent on the ball in five disciplines.
• Suitable for: Families, athletes, groups, small and big football fans

Chocolate Museum

Switzerland is THE chocolate country par excellence. No wonder, you will find several great opportunities to immerse yourself in the delicious world of chocolate. Chocolate factories allow you to get up close and personal with the production of the famous Swiss Schoggi. These include well-known names such as Lindt, Maestrani and Cailler.

In all factories with a visitor center you have the opportunity to taste chocolate and buy it at the end in the store at attractive prices. Here we briefly present the six most casual ones. If you want more detailed information, you can find it here in our Swiss Chocolate Factories Guide.

• Maestrani's Chocolarium: The Maestrani's Chocolarium is located in Flawil in the canton of St. Gallen and offers an interactive experience path as well as various tasting options. In addition, you can decorate your own chocolate bar in the show confectionery and take it home as a souvenir. Of course, the self-decorated chocolate bars are much too good to give away..

• Lindt Home of Chocolate: The Home of Chocolate in Kilchberg on Lake Zurich is definitely a superlative project. A whole 1500 kilograms of chocolate circulate in one of the world's largest chocolate fountains, and at a height of over nine meters and 500 m², the Lindt store is one of the largest of its kind.

• Chez Camille Bloch: Right next to the factory in the Bernese Jura, where Ragusa and Torino are made, is the Camille Bloch visitor center. Here you will be shown the production process up close, you will take a trip into the history of the company and you can snack on delicious chocolate at various stations.

• La Maison Cailler: La Maison Cailler is Cailler's visitor center and is located in Broc, a village in the Canton of Fribourg near Lake Gruyère. The tour here, dedicated to the early days of chocolate production, starts off a little somber - but then quickly becomes enjoyable - and insanely delicious. Snacking is expressly desired and permitted here.

• House of Läderach: The visitor center of Läderach is located in the canton of Glarus. When you enter, you receive a piece of chocolate and a porcelain spoon along with your ticket. After your tour, you can dip the spoon into the chocolate fountain, which contains dark and white chocolate as well as brown.

Aeschbach's Chocowelt: A product from the house of Aeschbach that should be familiar to every Swiss is the gold-wrapped chocolate daler. Here, however, you will not only learn everything about the famous Schoggitaler, but also take an interactive tour and have various tasting options. Aeschbach's ChocoWelt is located in Root near Lucerne.

Show dairies

Almost as well known as for its chocolate, Switzerland is of course known for its cheese. Cheese is produced in Switzerland in about 600 cheese dairies. These range from smaller, family-run alpine operations to large industrial productions. Every year, cheese dairies here produce a total of about 190,000 tons of cheese. A visit to a Swiss show dairy is not to be missed. We would like to introduce you to a few of the most important show dairies. If you would like more information, you can find it in our guide to the show dairies of Switzerland.

• Emmental Show Cheese Dairy: With its large holes, Emmental cheese is probably one of the most famous in the world. At the Emmental Show Dairy you can watch cheese being made, make your own fresh cheese and learn all about the traditional cheese on an informative tour. The cheese dairy is located in Affoltern im Emmental in the canton of Bern.

• La Maison du Gruyères: Gruyères is also a classic among Swiss cheeses. The show dairy in French-speaking Gruyère offers a tour and an interactive museum. In addition, a visit here is an experience for all the senses. The gigantic warehouse, where thousands of cheese wheels are ripening, as well as the tasting of the different varieties, are among the highlights here.

• Appenzeller Show Dairy: If you like your cheese a little stronger, you'll love the spicy Appenzeller. At the show dairy in Stein in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, you can learn interesting facts about the traditions of the region, take a look at the cheese cellar, watch the professionals at work and have the opportunity to put together your own herb mixture.

• Käserei Engelberg: The special thing about the cheese dairy Engelberg is its exceptional location. It is the only Swiss cheese dairy located in a monastery. Here you can be close to the production process - for example, when making the "Engelberger Glocke", a soft cheese in the shape of a cowbell.

Marbach Dairy Experience: In the pretty visitors' gallery at the Erlebniskäserei in Marbach, you'll learn how milk becomes cheese, where Switzerland's first buffalo mozzarella came from, and much more. You'll also get an insight into the production process and, of course, taste one of the local delicacies in between.

• La Maison de la Tête de Moine: Tête de Moine is probably the most visually appealing cheese in Switzerland; it is shaved into wafer-thin cheese rolls using a special round slicer. You can learn all about this curious cheese and much more at the Maison de la Tête de Moine in Bellelay, a small village in the Bernese Jura.

Environment Arena Switzerland Spreitenbach

In the futuristic-looking building you will experience the topic of sustainability in exciting and interactive exhibitions during your visit. The Umwelt Arena is located directly next to the Tivoli shopping center in Spreitenbach - a fascinating world of experience for young and old, dedicated entirely to the topic of the environment. Here you can playfully learn about the most sustainable energies of the future and also find out how to use them yourself.

• Opening hours: Wednesday to Sunday
• Prices: Children up to 6 years free of charge
• Special: Round off your visit with a test drive of the E and Fun vehicles on the 300 m indoor course.
• Suitable for: Families, groups, school classes, future-oriented, environmentalists

Ballenberg Brienz

Stone by stone, old barns, farmhouses, bakehouses, etc. worthy of preservation have been dismantled in Switzerland since the 1970s - and not demolished. In the Open-Air Museum Ballenberg they are then rebuilt true to the original. What began in 1978 with 16 buildings now comprises more than 100 residential and farm buildings. A visit to the Ballenberg is like a real journey through time. Here you not only marvel at buildings from the inside and outside, but also immerse yourself in one or another traditional Swiss craft.

• Opening hours: April to October
• Special: Discover Ballenberg in a very special way with a Foxtrail: between centuries-old buildings, lovable farm animals and industrious craftsmen, you will go on the trail of the fox and through the rural culture of past times.
• Suitable for: Families, history buffs, those interested in tradition, outdoor explorers and hiking birds

Swiss Activities offer to the Ballenberg

• There is so much to discover in Ballenberg that you can easily spend two days there. With the Ballenberg admission ticket you get access for one or two days.

The diverse selection of museums in Switzerland really leaves nothing to be desired. If it rains again a whole weekend through or even if the sun shines, you now know where you can find the greatest museums. No matter to which museum you are drawn first; we wish you a lot of fun.