Things to Do in Switzerland

Opened in 1910, the Kunsthaus, or Museum of Art, in Zurich is Switzerland's premier art gallery. It has a strong collection of modern art, including over 4,000 pieces of sculpture, paintings and installations. It has a particular emphasis on Swiss art, important for the rise of such movements as Dada which began in Zurich in 1916.

The collection includes work by Picasso, Chagall, Munch, Mondrian and Matisse as well as many more. The gallery has an extensive art education program and a library focusing on modern art.

Where the River Rhône meets Lake Geneva, where the city’s north and south shores face each other, you’ll find Ile Rousseau, the green, serene heart of Geneva. Four centuries ago this was a highly strategic position, and the island owes its unusual “arrowhead” shape to its original function as a fortress.

Things are much calmer now; with Italian poplars, weeping willows and stunning views of the city, this is a place for rest and contemplation, and a pavilion restaurant is on hand to provide food for thought. Appropriate, then, that the island should be named for local boy Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the great 18th century philosopher whose statue has been standing guard here since 1835.

Patek Philippe is one of the most prestigious names in timekeeping, their watches having graced many a royal wrist since the company’s inception in 1839. Their museum accordingly devotes much attention to the brand’s own products, from the present day’s precision pieces back to exquisitely detailed pocket watches of the early 19th century. Early examples were frequently jeweled, enameled and emblazoned with the arms of the owner.

The Antique Collection turns the clock back even further, tracing the development of timekeeping devices back to approximately 1500. The museum also houses a significant archive and library dedicated to timepieces and related mechanisms, and the whole complex is housed in a handsome early 20th century building distinguished by enormous windows.

The Palais des Nations Unis - or Palace of United Nations - is a monumental structure worthy of the European home of the United Nations, the international organization’s most important seat outside of New York. The neo-classical complex was originally built in the early 1930s as the headquarters of the League of Nations, the predecessor to the UN. These days it hosts major global conferences as well as numerous smaller meetings at which diplomats work at the coalface of day-to-day international relations.

Highlights of the guided tour include the enormous Assembly Hall, the Council Chamber and an exhibit of official gifts. A short film detailing the work of the UN puts it all in context. There is no charge to enter the surrounding Ariana Park. Here peacocks roam freely and the landscaped gardens offer splendid views of the lake and nearby Alps.

Museum Rietberg exhibits works from Africa, Asia and ancient America. It is the only non-European art gallery in Switzerland. Originating from the private collection of Baron Eduard von der Heydt, the museum was extended in 2007 to nearly double its exhibition space.

It is situated across several villas in a lovely, leafy park. Villa Wesendonck is a neo-renaissance mansion where composer Richard Wagner once stayed. It houses the main collection of the Rietberg, wooden, bronze and ceramic objects from Africa, India, China, Japan and south-east Asia. Park-Villa Rieter focuses on Asian art with prints and paintings from India, China and Japan.