World music and revolving restaurant in Stans

The funicular railway provides a beautiful aerial view of Stans. Switzerland Tourism

There are two good reasons for visiting the central town of Stans during the last week of April.

Stans is hosting a world music festival from April 24 to 29, and a revolving restaurant – the first in central Switzerland – will be opened on top of Mount Stanserhorn on April 28.

The English saxophonist, John Surman, performing with a string quartet, will kick off the “Stans Music Days”. Other highlights include Gypsy music from the Balkans, African music by groups from Cameroon and Cape Verde, Swiss rock bands and even a Russian Alphorn player.

Local groups will perform in and around the town square.

First revolving restaurant

Since 1893, a funicular railway has connected Stans with Mount Stanserhorn, which looms over the town. At 1,900 metres above sea level, spectacular views of the Alps will be enhanced by the region’s first revolving restaurant.

Visitors wishing to take the trip to the top board a vintage railway carriage in Stans for the first 300 hundred metres of the climb before changing onto a modern cable car for the final stage of the journey.

The Stanserhorn railway was built during a period when mountain railways were all the rage – having been completed only a few years after cog railways were opened on the nearby mountains of Rigi and Pilatus.

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