Switzerland's best museums

International Red Cross Museum

Discover the fascinating history of the world's first humanitarian organisation! Photos, films, objects and documents are presented through audio-visual displays and computer terminals. The unique setting of the Today area plunges you into the thick of current actions and gives you access to the latest news from the field. The Café Dunant is a multimedia area which provides information on the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement in an interactive and entertaining way. Photo: © MICR Alain Germond

Geneva Museum of Ethnography

The Museum of Ethnography of Geneva (MEG) with its new pagoda-shaped building was inaugurated in October 2014 and won the European Museum Award in April 2017. The museum is listed as a cultural asset of national importance.

The "Archives of Human Diversity" is a selection covering several centuries of history with a hundred civilizations and cultures represented by more than a thousand remarkable objects: reference objects, historical objects, art objects testifying to human creativity. There are many hidden treasures that had not been exhibited for several generations. Photo: © Nicole Zermatten – Ville de Genève

Olympic Museum of Lausanne

Would you like to relive great Olympic moments? Feel the pulse of the champions? Discover the creative flair of the host cities? The world of the Games with its many facets will open up to you. The Museum has 3000 m2 of exhibition space, over 1500 exhibits, 150 screens and our passion, combining to create the ultimate experience. From The Olympic Park, with its sports installations and sculptures, to the TOM Café and its menus inspired by the cuisine of cities who have hosted the Games, you will have great stories to tell. Take your time, the view of the lake is already enough to take your breath away. Photo: © LT / Laurent Kaczor

Cantonal Museum of Fine Arts

The MCBA has moved into its new building and opened its doors just a stone's throw from the Lausanne train station. It will be joined by the Elysée Museum and the Mudac by 2021: a vast plot of land in the center of the city will be entirely devoted to culture. Fine arts, photography, design, textile arts; these artistic fields have, by their very nature, a dialogue to conduct. The meeting of the MCBA, the Elysée Museum and the Mudac, complemented by the presence of the Toms Pauli and Félix Vallotton Foundations, will form PLATEFORME 10, a new "arts district" located next to the Lausanne train station. /texte/ Photo: © Agence de presse ARC

International Watch Museum

Cleverly housed in the cradle of the Swiss watchmaking industry, the award-winning International Museum of Watchmaking with its innovative architecture provides an ideal setting for the world's largest collection devoted entirely to the measurement of time. Covering an area of more than 2000 m2 , the exhibition offers a playful journey from the 16th century to the present day to discover the technical, artistic, social, economic and cultural history of Swiss and international watchmaking. With the help of a unique museographic concept, the mysteries of time are unveiled from the first sundials to the atomic clock, as well as the clocks, watches, chronometers and automatons that have marked the watchmaking past. Photo: © MIH, J. Hoffman

LATENIUM - Park and Museum of Archaeology

Between the North Sea and the Mediterranean, 500 centuries of regional and European history: this is the theme of the permanent exhibition of the Latenium. From today and up to the time of the Neanderthals, from the surface of the earth to the depths of the Jura caves, the visitor's journey takes him through the fundamental stages of human evolution, art, techniques, and the relationship between man and nature, one by one. Simple and marvellous at the same time, the reality delivered by the archaeological excavations is enough to satisfy the thirst for mystery! The Laténium was awarded for its museography and architecture, the value of its collections, and the integration of the museum into its environment. Photo: © Laténium, Quentin Bacchus

Paul Klee Center and Museum

The Paul-Klee Center founded by surgeon Maurice Edmond Müller is one of the major cultural institutions in Switzerland and is dedicated to the German painter Paul Klee (1879-1940), who spent a good half of his life in Bern. Of the almost 10,000 works of art, 40%, i.e. around 4,000 paintings, watercolors and drawings, as well as archival and biographical documents, have been collected at the Centre Paul Klee, making it the world's largest collection of Klee's works. The museum was designed by the architect Renzo Piano and opened in 2005. The Centre is therefore not limited to the presentation of Klee's artistic work, but is an interdisciplinary platform for artistic expression. Photo: © Zentrum Paul Klee

Museum of Communication

The Museum of Communication in Bern is the only museum in Switzerland that deals exclusively with the history of communication. It focuses not only on technology, but on all aspects of human relationships. At the beginning of its history (1893) it was dedicated solely to the history of the post and telegram and to evolve in the course of new developments in Communication, all particularly since 1990 in its new building. In 2018 it becomes the fourth Swiss museum to be awarded the European Museum of the Year Prize. A museum both for lovers of new technologies and for philately enthusiasts. Photo: © Museum für Kommunikation / Beat Schweizer

Museum of Transport

The Swiss Museum of Transport is by far the most visited museum in Switzerland and particularly interesting if you are with your family. It presents a collection of vehicles (locomotives, railcars, automobiles, boats, airplanes, satellites, space vehicles), more than 3,000 objects on 22,500 m² of exhibition space. But you will also find a Planetarium, a 3D cinema or the Swiss Chocolate Adventure. Thus the prices are variable. You should count on one day, especially with the children and the attractions on offer. Photo: © Verkehrshaus

Museum of Fine Arts

During your trip to Switzerland, you will necessarily pass through one of its most beautiful cities, Lucerne with its famous bridge dating in part from 1333 (fire in 1994). By far, the most important museum to visit is the Museum of Transport, but the Museum of Art is also worth a visit to discover the great Swiss artists from the Renaissance to the present day, such as Ferdinand Hodler, Felix Vallotton or Hans Emmenegger. The museum is located in the Palais de la Culture et des Congrès built in 1998 by Jean Nouvel. Photo: © Luzern Tourismus / Beat Brechbühl

Swiss National Museum

In its permanent exhibitions, the National Museum Zurich presents the history of Switzerland from its origins to the present day. "Swiss Archaeology" traces the main stages of human history from prehistory to Christianization in the High Middle Ages. "History of Switzerland" describes the development of Switzerland over a period of 550 years and is projected into the history of the present. With more than 7,000 objects on display, the exhibition of the collections in the historic west wing highlights Swiss crafts and decorative arts. In the exhibition for families, carpets fly through history in a playful way. Photo: © Swiss National Museum

Museum of Fine Arts

By 2020, the Kunsthaus Zürich is Switzerland's largest art museum with works from the 13th century to the present day. Not only does it boast the largest collection of works by Munch, the most important outside Norway, but also the most important collection of works by Alberto Giacometti, as well as major works of Impressionism and modern art from Picasso, Monet and Chagall to Beckmann, Kokoschka and Corinth. Alongside the Pop Art of Warhol and Hamilton, artists such as Rothko, Twombly, Beuys and Baselitz are also represented. Photo: Expressionismus: Edvard Munch - © Franca Candrian, Kunsthaus Zürich

Tinguely Museum

With his kinetic works, Tinguely became a major forerunner in the art of the second half of the 20th century. His work focuses on machines, whose functions and movements are of particular interest to him, as well as the noises they generate and the poetry that inhabits them. The Tinguely Museum designed by the famous Swiss architect from Ticino, Mario Botta, was opened in 1996 thanks to the commitment of his wife Niki de Saint Phalle, who made substantial donations to this Baltic institution financed by Hoffmann-La Roche AG. With the Fondation Beyeler (see below), a museum that is a must to visit. Photo: © Basel Tourismus

Site et musée romain Augusta Raurica

Augusta Raurica is the first Roman city to come into being after the first Roman invasion of Germania by Julius Caesar and thus the first name of Basel. Today it is one of the most important archaeological sites in Switzerland with the best preserved ancient theater north of the Alps. Augusta Raurica is an ideal excursion destination for families, with its museum and numerous witnesses of the past along an open-air archaeological walk. Archaeological excavations are still in progress and are part of the program of guided tours offered. Photo: © Augusta Raurica / Susanne Schenker