Barrier-free activities in five Swiss cities

Being able to enjoy your free time with­out con­stant­ly run­ning into obsta­cles – that should be a mat­ter of course. Unfor­tu­nate­ly, some­times find­ing bar­ri­er-free places isn’t so easy. That’s why we’ve made it our mis­sion to track down bar­ri­er-free activ­i­ties in five Swiss cities for you. Even bet­ter: In each of these cities, you’ll find our bar­ri­er-free youth hos­tels – so noth­ing can get in the way of your city trip.

Barrier-free activities in Montreux

Locat­ed on the shores of Lake Gene­va, the Ali­men­ta­r­i­um in Vevey is the world’s first muse­um devot­ed entire­ly to the theme of nutri­tion. The inter­ac­tive exhi­bi­tion sheds light on how food affects our bod­ies, our soci­ety and our envi­ron­ment. All exhi­bi­tion rooms are ful­ly acces­si­ble. The floors are con­nect­ed by an ele­va­tor and bar­ri­er-free toi­lets are avail­able. Sup­port per­sons and assis­tance dogs are also wel­come – com­pan­ions get in free.

The Com­pag­nie Générale de Nav­i­ga­tion (CGN) offers charm­ing cruis­es on Lake Gene­va from Mon­treux – from short trips to gourmet or themed cruis­es. These cruis­es offer breath­tak­ing panoram­ic views! All ships are wheel­chair-acces­si­ble on the main deck and there are acces­si­ble toi­lets. For larg­er or elec­tric wheel­chairs, it is rec­om­mend­ed to con­tact the com­pa­ny by e‑mail or tele­phone in advance.

Barrier-free activities in Solothurn

The Weis­senstein, Solothurn’s local moun­tain at 1,284 m, is a real gem to vis­it. The mod­ern gon­do­la takes every­one com­fort­ably up from Ober­dorf and the jour­ney itself offers mag­nif­i­cent views of the Swiss Cen­tral Plateau and the Alps. The gon­do­la cable­way is wheel­chair acces­si­ble, and access from the val­ley sta­tion to the moun­tain sta­tion is via lift. There are also bar­ri­er-free foot­paths towards Hin­ter-Weis­senstein – such as a 4.4 km cir­cu­lar trail with a gen­tle incline and min­i­mal ele­va­tion dif­fer­ences.

The Kun­st­mu­se­um Solothurn is one of the most renowned art insti­tu­tions in Switzer­land. It boasts an exten­sive col­lec­tion rang­ing from late medieval mas­ter­pieces to 19th-cen­tu­ry Swiss nation­al paint­ing. The main entrance is at ground lev­el and leads direct­ly to the foy­er, accom­pa­nied by a lift that pro­vides con­ve­nient access to all exhi­bi­tion floors and the café with­out steps. There is a bar­ri­er-free toi­let and in-house wheel­chairs can be bor­rowed free of charge.

Barrier-free activities in Zug

The Unterägeri-Weg is an easy cir­cu­lar trail of around 7 km (3 mi.) through the gen­tly rolling land­scape of Unterägeri in the can­ton of Zug. The route mean­ders past vast mead­ows, farms and pic­turesque fields – accom­pa­nied by impres­sive views of the moun­tains of the Zug Ober­land and Lake Aegeri. This cir­cu­lar route is designed to be bar­ri­er-free and is explic­it­ly rec­om­mend­ed by Zug/Switzerland Tourism as a suit­able route for peo­ple with lim­it­ed mobil­i­ty.

Housed in the mag­nif­i­cent and wind­ing 12th-cen­tu­ry cas­tle, the Muse­um Burg Zug show­cas­es the life and his­to­ry of the city of Zug. From the Casi­no mul­ti-storey car park, paved paths lead to the muse­um entrance. The main entrance is via the staff entrance, where a mobile ramp pro­vides bar­ri­er-free access. A small lift (102×110 cm, door width 89 cm) con­nects the down­stairs (includ­ing wheel­chair-acces­si­ble toi­let) to the three upper exhi­bi­tion floors.

Barrier-free activities in Lucerne

The Swiss Muse­um of Trans­port in Lucerne is a muse­um devot­ed to trans­port and mobil­i­ty. It presents excit­ing exhi­bi­tions on road, rail, water and space trav­el and offers numer­ous inter­ac­tive sta­tions as well as a plan­e­tar­i­um and film the­atre. The entire site is wheel­chair acces­si­ble, includ­ing entrances, exhi­bi­tions and san­i­tary facil­i­ties. Dis­abled park­ing spaces are avail­able, as well as wheel­chairs to loan.

The Lake Lucerne Nav­i­ga­tion Com­pa­ny (SVG) in Lucerne offers a wide range of cruis­es. High­lights include themed trips such as the «Faji­ta Cruise,» the «Thai Cruise,» the «Sun­day Brunch» and the lux­u­ri­ous «Wine & Dine with Steam». Most SGV ships are bar­ri­er-free and also allow wheel­chair users to take part in the trips. One excep­tion is the steamship MS Rütli, which is not wheel­chair-acces­si­ble due to its his­tor­i­cal design.

Barrier-free activities in Lausanne

The Naturéum is a state muse­um of nat­ur­al his­to­ry in Lau­sanne, which brings togeth­er the depart­ments of botany, geol­o­gy and zool­o­gy. The Palais de Rumine is ful­ly bar­ri­er-free and a lift pro­vides access for peo­ple with reduced mobil­i­ty. Some of the botan­i­cal gar­den is bar­ri­er-free.

The AQUATIS Aquar­i­um-Vivar­i­um Lau­sanne is the largest fresh­wa­ter aquar­i­um in Europe and offers a jour­ney through the most impor­tant fresh­wa­ter ecosys­tems in the world over an area of 3,500 m². Fol­low­ing the life cycle of a drop of water, the exhi­bi­tion takes you through dif­fer­ent regions such as the Rhône, the Ama­zon and Lake Vic­to­ria. The AQUATIS is ful­ly acces­si­ble. Lifts, bar­ri­er-free toi­lets and park­ing spaces are avail­able.