Our top tips for the ultimate summer in Switzerland

Sum­mer has final­ly arrived in Switzer­land. This makes it the per­fect time to explore Switzerland’s beau­ti­ful cities. And when you start to feel the heat, there are a myr­i­ad of places to relax in the shade with a refresh­ing drink. What could be bet­ter than soak­ing up the warm sum­mer nights in a vibrant and bustling city?

The edi­tors of the Overnight blog love sum­mer in the cities. Find out their top rec­om­men­da­tions for the per­fect sum­mer in the city.

Love at first sight in Basel

Ever since my first vis­it to Basel, I’ve been cap­ti­vat­ed by this small, cos­mopoli­tan city. On every cor­ner, you will find cool, open-mind­ed peo­ple, hip bars and stun­ning archi­tec­ture. And if it gets too hot, you can cool off in the Rhine and wash your cares away.

Nina’s per­son­al high­lights:

• Enjoy break­fast on the Youth Hos­tel ter­race lis­ten­ing to bird­song
• Do some peo­ple watch­ing while you sip an espres­so mar­ti­ni at Kuni & Gunde
• Enjoy the sun­set from the «Basler Pfalz» view­ing plat­form
• Share a mezze plat­ter with friends at Zazaa
• Paint the town red at the noto­ri­ous Nord­stern Club

Bern – the cosiest capital city in the world

Whether for busi­ness or plea­sure, I often trav­el to our cap­i­tal city and always thor­ough­ly enjoy my time there. Every­thing and every­one is relaxed and friend­ly, so you are able to real­ly enjoy your­self. Of course, there are the usu­al things I always make sure I do dur­ing my vis­its, such as a trip to the Zyt­glogge, the city’s most famous land­mark.

Linda’s favourite things to do:

• Chill out and swim at the Marzili Lido
• Snack on Bernese fries on the ter­race of the Youth Hos­tel
• For a lit­tle more action, go boat­ing on the Aare. The fast-paced trip from Thun to Bern is a beloved tra­di­tion among the peo­ple of Bern.
• My favourite evening activ­i­ty is attend­ing a poet­ry slam at The­ater Ono in Bern’ his­toric quar­ter.

Summer, sun and Solothurn

As a native of Solothurn (well, I live with­in the can­ton), I have often trav­elled to this beau­ti­ful baroque city. A vis­it is espe­cial­ly worth­while dur­ing the sum­mer months. A par­tic­u­lar­ly inter­est­ing thing to know about Solothurn is the town’s obses­sion with the num­ber 11. For instance, the town boasts 11 foun­tains, 11 tow­ers and 11 church­es.

Evelyn’s top tips for a sum­mer get­away in this small and fas­ci­nat­ing town:

• Treat your­self to a refresh­ing swim in the Riv­er Aare. Just lie back and relax as you float around at a leisure­ly pace.
• And if you don’t fan­cy chill­ing out in the calm riv­er waters, you can head for the beau­ti­ful city lido right by the riv­er.
• Sit­ting on the quay­side with a refresh­ing drink in your hand, you’ll almost feel like you’re by the sea. Sit back and relax and watch the hus­tle and bus­tle.
• The num­ber 11 is also the name of the town’s local brew. You can vis­it the Öufi (eleven) brew­ery and enjoy a cool blonde in the beer gar­den. I say ‘Cheers’ to that!
• It’s like being in Provence when you browse the mar­ket stalls in the old town. The scent of fresh herbs trans­ports you to the Mediter­ranean.

Pro Tip: Solothurn Youth Hos­tel is sit­u­at­ed direct­ly on the banks of the Aare and is the per­fect start­ing point for your trip to Solothurn.

Opposites attract in Zurich

Zurich has it all. From shop­ping and cel­e­bra­tions to cul­tur­al events, con­certs or just chill­ing out by the lake – it real­ly is a fan­tas­tic place to vis­it. It’s a city where mod­ern meets his­tor­i­cal, hip meets clas­sic and vibrant meets serene. For a cos­mopoli­tan city, Zurich is actu­al­ly quite small.

Linda’s per­son­al high­lights:

• Splash around in the bare­foot bar in the after­noon (women only 😉) and then enjoy a cock­tail with friends in the evening when the bar is open to every­one.
• Play beach vol­ley­ball in the Obere Let­ten recre­ation­al area. Here you can work out and make friends for life!
• Stroll through the Nieder­dorf quar­ter and stop off for an ice cream.
• Walk to the Red Fac­to­ry cul­tur­al cen­tre and stop for a drink with a view of Lake Zurich

Beach vibes and historic charm in Lucerne

Lucerne is anoth­er of my favourite cities in Switzer­land. I’ve fall­en in love with the city nes­tled on the shores of Lake Lucerne. It’s such a great place to stroll and savour the views. After your walk, unwind in one of the cosy bars and enjoy the breath­tak­ing view of the bay sur­round­ed by majes­tic moun­tains.

Evelyn’s high­lights at a glance:

• Enjoy the hol­i­day atmos­phere at Lucerne Lido. Chill out on the fine sandy beach, play a game of beach vol­ley­ball or hire an stand-up pad­dle­board.
• End the day in a deckchair over­look­ing the lake at the Buvette sum­mer bar. This sophis­ti­cat­ed bar is a great place to enjoy an aper­i­tif.
• Cross the his­toric Chapel Bridge, then turn the cor­ner and enjoy a leisure­ly stroll through the old town. Top tip: It’s a good idea to expe­ri­ence the town when it is qui­eter dur­ing the week.
• Enjoy the city of music dur­ing the Lucerne Live Fes­ti­val. Live con­certs take place on var­i­ous stages, and some venues even offer free admis­sion for every­one!
• If the weath­er turns rainy, you can vis­it the Swiss Muse­um of Trans­port, a pop­u­lar muse­um that the whole fam­i­ly will enjoy. In fact, we have the per­fect offer for this par­tic­u­lar trip.

A touch of France in Lausanne

It’s prob­a­bly the French lan­guage that imme­di­ate­ly gave me the hol­i­day feel­ing when I vis­it­ed Lau­sanne. This was also helped by the sight of glit­ter­ing Lake Gene­va, the cob­bled streets and the only under­ground rail­way in Switzer­land!

Nina’s per­son­al high­lights:

• Vis­it the city mar­ket to shop for local spe­cial­i­ties for your loved ones
• Have brunch, then vis­it the Fon­da­tion de l’Her­mitage and walk through the gar­dens
• Enjoy an aper­i­tif with a lake view at The Lacus­tre
• Stroll through the new Plate­forme 10 quar­ter (art lovers will def­i­nite­ly want to vis­it this place – trust me!)
• Climb the cathe­dral steps and take in the awe-inspir­ing views.