After a long time period through which travel to see friends has been difficult, there is a great need to meet up and share adventures and special moments together. Switzerland's cities, in most their diversity, offer exactly the kind of escape that categories of friends are looking for.
Switzerland's cities are a constant source of surprise and therefore are best discovered on foot. This is because, in Switzerland, both well-known tourist sites and lesser-known 'insider' spots tend to be easily available within easy reach than virtually elsewhere. This is correct regardless if you are searching for natural beauty in the actual heart from the city or on its outskirts, nightlife, or perhaps a wide spectrum of art and culture.
Inspired by the American hit Tv show (1998 -2004) Sex as well as the City and also to coincide while using revival series releasing December 2022, Switzerland Tourism has released its own 'Six within the City' trailer showcasing how Switzerland's cities provide the ideal places to meet up with your very best friends. Just as New York plays a central role inside the hit TV series, it's Switzerland's cities that offer as the playground from the six friends, with six different personalities – who finalise to go on a group trip to Switzerland's cities together. Where are you going to travel with your friends?
ACTIVE ESCAPES WITH NIKKI
Nikki, a yoga teacher, cannot make a trip away with friends without encouraging those to be active. Selection location than Switzerland's cities to fulfil her calling? It's very easy to mix fun discoveries with sports activities here. In her own programme, Nikki includes a metropolitan bike trip in Locarno, a fast-paced tour of Geneva, plus a tour of Zurich by stand-up paddleboard. For a spot of relaxation after all this hard work, she chooses beaches and pools in the middle of cities like Bern, where one can swim within the River Aare with breathtaking views in the seat from the Swiss Parliament, or perhaps Locarno, where one can take in some latesummer sunshine round the magnificent 600m-long sandy beach of Lido Locarno. She also suggests escaping for any night or even more to hotels out in the wild or encompassed by countryside, but still right next to cities, for example in the Pilatus Kulm on the Pilatus, which overlooks Lucerne, or even the Hotel & Lounge Lago Maggiore, which overlooks Lake Maggiore, above Locarno.
SAVOUR CITIES WITH IN`ES
For Inès, a busy businesswoman, enjoying shared experiences with friends means great food. She notes a few places to try all of the flavours of Switzerland's cities, including some of the most popular bars having a nice terrace with an aperitif, such as Ta Collapse Lausanne, Switzerland's leading wine bar, setup after a crowdfunding campaign. Her personal bucket list includes urban hotels – 12 locations that reflect their city's particular life-style, such as the cool Nomad Design & Lifestyle Hotel in Basel or the romantic Grand H^otel du Lac in Vevey. But Inès' top tip with an urban culinary stroll would be to book an excursion with 'Taste My Swiss City'. During the period of just one meal, participants head in one restaurant to a new and take the time to taste the great matters in life in 13 Swiss cities.
TRAVEL THROUGH HISTORY WITH AMBER
Amber, a architect, has an interest in travelling through time and Switzerland's architecture along with her friends. She takes those to districts where leading names in contemporary architecture, for example Herzog & de Meuron or Richard Meier in Basel have gone their mark. Modernity and aesthetics are ever present when you identify the buildings that major Swiss museums recently moved, like the Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts (MCBA) in Lausanne, the LAC Arte e Cultura in Lugano as well as the Grisons Museum of Fine Arts in Chur.
But Amber isn't just captivated by contemporary architecture. She also really wants to comprehend the cities' history within the centuries by going to key historical locations, like the three Castles of Bellinzona, a UNESCO World Heritage site, or tracing the textile industry around the walk-through St. Gallen or the watchmaking industry in La Chaux-deFonds. Her heart also flits between past and provide: it's a difficult choice between a remain at a Swiss Historic Hotel a treadmill using a much more modern, artsy design.
DISCOVER ART WITH MANON
For Manon, a painter and designer, the trip provides an chance to find new sources of inspiration in all the kinds of art found in Switzerland's cities. In her own notepad filled with sketches, she notes all the places and experiences which will make a mark: street art in Lugano and Basel, and bike trips through Zurich to see a number of the 1,300 pieces of outdoor art – from graffiti to sculptures – scattered throughout its streets. She's particularly struck by the harmony between architecture and nature in museums, such as in the Zentrum Paul Klee in Bern and also the Fondation Beyeler in Basel. Even just in the hotel, when it is bedtime, she will check out works by famous Swiss and international artists completely from her bed and plan a return visit to visit a few of the exhibitions featured within the Swiss Museums calendar.
NO Time for you to SLEEP FOR CHIARA
As a DJ, Chiara may be used to a nocturnal lifestyle. Above all else, she loves partying and, throughout the day, strolling through local flea markets in search of vintage pieces. She's tracked down the trendiest bars for her friends, most abundant in stunning views over the city during the night, like the Sky Terrace at the Hotel Schweizerhof in Bern or Rooftop°42 in Geneva. And if you really need to rest, you may too pick a hotel that also has breathtaking views, for example within the whirlpool around the terrace of the suite at H^otel Anker in Lucerne – well suited for six – or more Lake Maggiore and also the surrounding mountains at Locarno's Hotel Belvedere. There's also time to check out the nightlife throughout Zurich's little open-air bars, to dance and – who knows! – possibly even meet someone.
RECHARGE YOUR BATTERIES WITH ROSE
A married mother of three, Rose wants to make use of this getaway to relax and recharge her batteries. Actually, ultimately their urban adventures, all six friends will need to top-up their levels of energy. Rose has chosen the very best rejuvenating spas and hotels, such as the spectacular Termali Salini & Spa in Locarno and Zurich's Thermalbad & Spa, with its infinity pool on top floor and a 360-degree look at the city's rooftops. From Ayurveda to treatments based on Alpine plants, all the different therapies is so varied they knows her friends will see it tough to select. For her, a massage using honey produced by the bees at the H^otel Schweizerhof in Bern is the surface of the list.
To plan your personal adventure, visit www.myswitzerland.com/cities www.sixinthecity.ch
