The Way of St. James

22 August 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Editorial, EU blog post series, European Union, Bon voyage, Museums, Exhibitions, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  12 minutes

Ways of St. James in Western Europe © Manfred Zentgraf/CC-BY-SA

Ways of St. James in Western Europe © Manfred Zentgraf/CC-BY-SA

The Way of St. James or St. James’ Way (Spanish: El Camino de Santiago) is the pilgrimage route to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tradition has it that the remains of the apostle Saint James are buried. The Way of St. James has existed for over a thousand years. It was one of the most important Christian pilgrimages during medieval times, together with Rome and Jerusalem, and a pilgrimage route on which a plenary indulgence could be earned; other major pilgrimage routes include the Via Francigena to Rome and the pilgrimage to Jerusalem.   read more…

Bern, capital of Switzerland

18 June 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  8 minutes

The Zytglogge clock tower and the citys medieval covered shopping promenades © Daniel Schwen

The Zytglogge clock tower and the citys medieval covered shopping promenades © Daniel Schwen

The city of Bern or Berne is the Bundesstadt (federal city, de facto capital) of Switzerland, and, with a population of 133,920, the fourth most populous city in Switzerland. The Bern agglomeration, which includes 43 municipalities, has a population of 349,000. The metropolitan area had a population of 660,000 in 2000. Bern is also the capital of the Canton of Bern, the second most populous of Switzerland’s cantons.   read more…

Nyon on Lake Geneva

15 June 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Nyon © Chin tin tin

Nyon © Chin tin tin

Nyon is a municipality in the district of Nyon in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is located some 25 kilometers north east of Geneva’s city centre, and since the 1970s it has become part of the Geneva metropolitan area. It lies on the shores of Lake Geneva, and is the seat of the district of Nyon. The town has (as of December 2010) a population of 18,728. It is connected to the rest of Switzerland by way of the Route Suisse, the A1 Motorway and the railways of the Arc Lémanique.   read more…

Theme Week Swiss – Basel, on the tri-border area of Switzerland, Germany and France

15 May 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  8 minutes

The Rhine river © Norbert Aepli

The Rhine river © Norbert Aepli

Basel or Basle is Switzerland’s third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany. With 830,000 inhabitants in the tri-national urban agglomeration as of 2004, Basel is Switzerland’s second-largest urban area.   read more…

Crans-Montana in the Valais Alps

26 April 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Lac Moubra © Johnw

Lac Moubra © Johnw

Crans-Montana is a ski resort in western Switzerland, in the heart of the Swiss Alps in the canton of Valais. It is located on a plateau above Sierre at an elevation of about 1500 m (4921 ft) above sea level, allowing good view over the Valais Alps and Weisshorn in particular. The resort is a fusion of the two centers of Crans and Montana and belongs to 6 municipalities (Chermignon, Icogne, Lens, Mollens, Montana and Randogne).   read more…

Samnaun, the holiday and shopping region

9 April 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Samnaun Village © Fiesch

Samnaun Village © Fiesch

The former smugglers’ paradise of Samnaun located in the Swiss, Austrian and Italian triangle has developed into a holiday resort for hiking enthusiasts and mountain bike riders. In winter the cross-border winter sports region of Samnaun and Ischgl (Austria) caters for the most discerning of visitors. All year round shrewd shoppers reap the benefits of the only tax-free resort in Switzerland.   read more…

The city of Lugano

12 March 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

View on Lake Lugano and Monte San Salvatore © Valser

View on Lake Lugano and Monte San Salvatore © Valser

Lugano is a city of 54,667 inhabitants in the city proper and a total of over 145,000 people in the agglomeration/city region, in the south of Switzerland, in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, which borders Italy. The city lies on Lake Lugano, and its warm summers and the fact that in recent years it has attracted an ever growing number of celebrities, entertainers and successful athletes have given it the nickname of the “Monte Carlo of Switzerland”. It is the 9th largest city of Switzerland by population.   read more…

Not only cheese: Appenzell

5 March 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Aerial View © Hansueli Krapf

Aerial View © Hansueli Krapf

Appenzell is the capital of the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden in Switzerland. Appenzell has no municipal government of its own; rather, the different parts of Appenzell belong to the districts Appenzell, Schwende and Rüte. Because of that, for firefighting, energy and water, the town Appenzell has a special-purpose municipality, the Feuerschaugemeinde.   read more…

Zermatt and the Matterhorn

27 February 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Zermatt and Matterhorn © Stan Shebs

Zermatt and Matterhorn © Stan Shebs

Zermatt is a municipality in the district of Visp in the German-speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a population of about 5,800 inhabitants. The village is situated at the end of Mattertal at an altitude of 1,620 m (5,310 ft), at the feet of Switzerland’s highest peaks. It lies about 10 km (6.2 mi) from the over 10,800 ft (3,291.84 m) high Theodul Pass bordering Italy.   read more…

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