Five of the 13 UNESCO World Heritage sites in Switzerland are offering free guided tours, concerts and lectures to fans of culture and nature on Saturday and Sunday.
The event, being held for the seventh time, offers “unique insights into Switzerland’s diverse natural and cultural treasures and allow views that are otherwise often hidden from visitors”, World Heritage said in a statementExternal link.
Hiking enthusiasts can take a free glacier tour in the Jungfrau-Aletsch region. In Naters, canton Valais, there are free guided tours of the World Nature Forum.
The Rhaetian Railway is planning a festival area in Bergün, eastern Switzerland, and there is free admission to the Albula Railway Museum. Rides on historic trains are also possible.
The Abbey of St Gall is celebrating its 40th anniversary as a UNESCO World Heritage property with, among other things, a children’s choir and guided tours of the Baroque Abbey Library and Museum.
For nature lovers, the Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona in the border area of cantons Glarus, Graubünden and St Gallen reveals the geological characteristics of the World Heritage Site with information stands, lectures and free guided tours with geoguides on the Pizol mountain. A mineral exhibition can be visited in Landquart.
At the Benedictine Convent of St. John at Müstair, various guided tours will be offered within the World Heritage Site. In addition to traditional events such as the Benedictine nuns’ Liturgy of the Hours, there will also be a cello and clarinet concert.
A total of 13 Swiss sitesExternal link – nine cultural and four natural – are on the World Heritage List drawn up by UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
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