Switzerland s Secret Fairytale Villages That Tourists Miss

Most travelers come to Switzerland with a very clear picture in their head. They think of the famous valleys, the big resorts and the places they've already seen a hundred times online. But Switzerland has many smaller fairy tale villages that are worth seeing but rarely become the main reason for a trip. So in this video I'll introduce you to a selection and hopefully one or the other lands on your next itinerary. Welcome to Switzerland Insider, my name is Greg, I'm Swiss and with me you'll travel Switzerland properly. Close to Lauterbrunnen there is a tiny village hidden in plain sight. Gimmelwald sits in the people live here and farming is still part of daily life. You can't drive to it which means you won't naturally end up there. It feels a lot like Murren, just smaller and quieter. You get mountain views and decorated chalets but without the same amount of movement around you. Now one of the nicest details here are the honesty shops in front of people's homes. You can of course buy something but just browsing is equally fun. Since the new direct cable car from Stechelberg to Murren opened many travelers no longer pass through Gimmelwald naturally. So the best way to visit is to go to Murren first then walk down to Gimmelwald. After that take the cable car back up to Murren or down to Stechelberg. But before leaving stop at the Mountain Hostel Paris for a drink with the mountains in front of you or go to the pension which even has its own beer. And from this tiny village above Lauterbrunnen we go to a part of Switzerland where the houses look completely different. Guarda sits in the lower Engadin in the canton of Graubünden. The village lies above the valley floor and already from the first houses you notice that this region has its own style. The houses are solid with thick stone walls and decorated facades. Many of them have graffiti, those scratched ornaments you see throughout Engadin. Its influence from Italy and is a status symbol still today. Now Guarda is also connected to Chalet Nursli, one of the most famous Swiss children's stories. The lanes, the painted houses and the mountain setting all have that storybook feeling. Guarda is small so you can walk through it quite easily. But if you pay attention you'll keep stopping at the details on the houses and the small corners of the village. It's a place you will stay a while. If you like you can hike to the neighboring villages that look all very similar. But we go from the decorated houses of the Engadin more south to Lake Lugano. This village in Switzerland feels much closer to Italy than to the Alps. Gandria sits on Lake Lugano in Ticino right at the foot of Montebre. The village is built into the slope above the water and the alleys feel almost like a small maze. You walk down a staircase, turn a corner and suddenly the lake appears between the houses. Then the village closes around you again and you keep moving throughout the stone alleys without always knowing where you will come out. The best way to visit is either by boat from Lugano or walking along the lakeside path from Castagnola. That approach is nice because you slowly leave the city behind and arrive somewhere much smaller and much more remote. Gandria used to be closely connected with fishing and border trade and you still feel that relationship with the lake today. The houses sit tightly above the water and everything seems to lean towards Lake Lugano. You can walk through the village of course, stop for a coffee or a meal and then take the boat back to Lugano or continue up to Montebre afterwards for a different view over the lake. Now if you're just getting started planning your Switzerland trip, I've put together a free Switzerland planning starter pack for you. It includes two guides that help you understand the basics and choose the right train pass for your trip. You can download it for free at switzerlandinsider.com forward slash start or linked below. This village sits right next to Gstaad but most people have never actually heard of it. Rougemont lies in the canton of Vaud. Because Gstaad is so close, many travelers pass through this area with luxury hotels and winter holidays in mind. But Rougemont brings the region back to something more traditional. The village is known for its chalets, many of them with carved details. You can walk through the center, look at the houses, stop around the church and continue toward the surrounding countryside. What I like especially about it that it fits if you're already traveling on the golden pass route or moving And it's a bit a shame because many visitors focus so much on the german-speaking alps that they miss how beautiful the french-speaking mountain villages can actually be. And for this reason we stay in the french-speaking part of switzerland but the next village has a completely different face. I don't understand why many more people don't talk about Saint-Uxanne. Saint-Uxanne sits in the Jura right along a small river and already that setting feels far away from the usual switzerland itinerary. The village has no big alpine backdrop pulling people in from far away which is probably why many travelers never make it here. You arrive at a stone bridge, cross the river and walk into a medieval village that feels like has been standing there for a very long time. The old part is small but that is enough to explore. You walk through the gates, follow the narrow streets and eventually end up near the monastery or back by the river. And because the Jura is so often skipped by international travelers Saint-Uxanne still feels far removed from the usual rush. Now this village feels like Valais but without the usual Matterhorn story. Sion sits in the Rhône valley surrounded by vineyards. If you only know Valais from places like Thermat or Saasvee this one gives you a very different picture of the canton. The old village is built a little above the valley floor. You enter through an old gate then you can walk and wander here and there a bit before you slowly make your way up to the Bayach tower above the village. That tower gives Sion its shape. You see it from below before you even enter the old part and once you walk up to it and onto it the whole Rhône valley opens around you. Now if you have more time combine a visit here with the vineyard or the many thermal baths nearby. But we are going to continue back to Ticino. This village looks almost unreal when you see it for the first time. Foroglio sits in Val Babona in Ticino with a waterfall dropping right next to the village. The houses are made of stone and gathered closely together in a valley that feels much rougher than most places visitors associate with Switzerland. For a long time life here was built around farming and survival. People used what the valley gave them and you still see that today. The houses are simple, heavy and made to last. That is the part I find interesting here. You see the waterfall and the stone houses but you also get the feeling for how people used to live in a place where the environment was demanding every single day. Val Babona has almost no infrastructure in the usual sense. There are no big shops here, there is no resort feeling, not even electricity. The whole valley still feels very removed from everyday Switzerland. Now if you visit don't only take a quick photo of the waterfall, walk through the village, look at the stone houses and spend some time in the valley itself. And this is exactly where having a clear plan helps. I've created Switzerland travel guides that cover what you actually need to know about each area. They include done-for-you itineraries and of course many places that are not as crowded. You'll find them at switzerlandinsider.com forward slash guides or linked below. This village is one of the places you can pass through without realizing there is a story here. Niederwald sits in the Goms region in the upper Rhône valley. It is small, tranquil and very typical for this part of Valais. You see the dark sunburned chalets and the older mountain village feeling you still find in Goms. Now although you'll pass it with the glacier express, the village does not try to pull any attention from far away. But Niederwald has one detail that makes people stop for a second. Cesar Ritz was born here. The man whose name later became connected with some of the most famous luxury hotels in the world came from this small humble village in Valais. And by contrast it's almost hard to believe. You stand between these old wooden houses in a quiet mountain village and suddenly there is this link to a global hotel history and the guy who wanted to see more of the world. But from the birthplace of Cesar Ritz we move back to the lakes and to one of the most unusual villages called Lake Lucerne. Most people know Lake Lucerne but far fewer stop properly in Gersau. Gersau sits directly on the shores of Lake Lucerne in the canton of Schwyz at the foot of Mount Rigi. You have the lake in front, the mountain behind and the boats passing through one of the most historic parts of central Switzerland. At first Gersau looks like a pleasant lakeside village, a waterfront, old houses, a church and the calm Lake Lucerne feeling. But the village has a surprisingly independent past. For centuries Gersau was its own small republic. It had its own council, its own court and a level of independence that feels almost strange when you see how small the place actually is today. There is also another reason I like Gersau. From here you can use a much less known cable car up towards Rigi Burkaest. Now most people reach Rigi from places like Witznau, Weckisch or Argoldau but Gersau gives you an underrated way up to another side of one of Switzerland's most popular mountains. This might be one of the most photographed villages on Lake Lugano but most people still don't see the best part of it. Morkote sits on Lake Lugano and this one is definitely no secret. It has won awards, people photograph it constantly and in summer you will not be alone here. Still the setting is hard to ignore. The village rises from the lake, the old houses, the stone steps and the church above. Down by the water you have the busy lakefront but if you stay only there you miss half the village. The best part starts once you climb. You move up through narrow lanes and stairways and the whole place becomes quieter. Higher up around the church and the cemetery you get one of the best views over this part of the lake. By the time you reach Morkote the idea of a Swiss village has hopefully become much broader than the famous places most travelers start with. Thank you very much for watching, see you soon around in Switzerland. Bis bald und tschüss!