Hi everyone, we will be visiting more of Switzerland this autumn. As an artist I want to take photos then paint many of the most beautiful landscapes, sites, mountains etc.
We have visited Interlaken, which blew my mind, it was SO beautiful and the lake at Blausse, but I would be grateful if anyone could pass on their favourite beauty spots, or landscape discoveries. Thanks

I'd also love to find some of those real swiss cottages to photograph.

The list is almost endless. Virtually wherever you go you can find wonderful views. Most of my experience is of the southern half (Alpine region) of Switzerland. I am sure that there are many wonderful sights elsewhere in the country. These are a few of my favourites, in no particular order:

Grindelwald - Views of the Eiger
Lauterbrunnen Valley - Particularly the numerous waterfalls
Bettmeralp - The Aletsch Glacier
Lucerne Old Town
Brienz Rothorn - Wildflower meadows, lake and mountain views
Montreux - Sunsets across the lake and lakeside flora
Vevey - Picturesque town, floral displays and various public art
Gruyere - Medievel castle (Better than Chillon in my opinion)

Number one to surpass all of the others - Zermatt with views of the Matterhorn. The traditional wooden buildings in the old town and around the area capture the true feel of traditional Switzerland for me.

Rod

Have to add vineyards of Lavaux overlooking Lac Leman, now a world heritage site.
http://ead.nb.admin.ch/web/welterbe/index.htm

Just to get a bit of more eastern parts of Switzerland in:

Lower Engadine: the landscape but in particular the villages Ardez, Guarda, S-Charl, Sent (upper part of valley is fine too, just less well preserved villages).

Val Mustair (same area): the monastery in Müstair (World Heritage Site), St. Maria and Lü.

Quinten on the Walensee, only accessible by boat

Alpstein-area (Appenzell) with the Säntis (cable car to the top of the mountain)

Muoatatal in Central Switzerland (off Schwyz) - not the village but once you get away from it into the side valleys towards Pragelpass or Kienzigpass.

I'm sure there is more.

Are there any lakes in switzerland that are not beautiful??

Some of my favourites:

vierwaldstättersee
Lago Maggiore (partly in italy)
Lago Lugano
Comersee (partly in italy)
Lake Neuchatel
and of course Zürisee.

I am sure you will find plenty of scenary in these places.

Couldn't agree more, they're stunning

Hasliberg Goldern: The most beautiful place I've ever been, apart from the Galata Bridge. Which isn't in Switzerland, so it doesn't count.

For me, there are too many to list. I love looking at the photos here, though:

http://www.sengers.ch/index-d.html
(just click on the little cantonal flags and you'll see the variety of beautiful places)

Great website. You are right; the list is endless. Landscapes, buildings, flora and more besides. As a novice, budding photographer, Switzerland gives me a head start. It is almost a case of point the camera and you will get a good photo (well not quite, but it seems like that sometimes)

Rod

Hard to give favourites, but my two hidden gems are:

- Seealpsee (at the back of Säntis, take train to Wasserauen/AI, then hike direction, er, Rotsteinpass/Säntis).
- Ruinaulta (between Ilanz and Reichenau/GR)

And an obvious one (big waterfall, castle on the left (Munot/SH), castle on the right (Laufen/ZH)): Rheinfall (Neuhausen am Rhein/SH)

And too obvious for words: the Matterhorn

Thankyou everyone, I really appreciate you taking the time to list your favourites.
I will seriously see if we can visit some of those. Yes, that website is beautiful, but I prefer to take my own photos, and of course there are always copyright issues if you use someones photo, I'm not sure how strongly that applies when painting from a photo. But it really shows you what an area is like.
I really like personal recommendations, too, rather than what you might read from a tourist mag. So thanks

I personally love the Jura region, although it lacks the dramatic high peaks of the Alps, it is very beautiful in it's own way. Great place for walking and biking.



I was also recently in the mountains above Langnau. The view of the Berner Oberland on a clear day is, imo, the best. The region itself is also extremely beautiful. There are green meadows covered in flowers everywhere together with patches of forest. Unfortunately I did not have my camera with me on the day I was there.

If you want cottages/farmhouses, the easiest and simplest way to get an overview is to go to the Swiss Open-Air Museum at Ballenberg, near Brienz.
They have houses from across the country that are in beautiful condition, and it's an undisturbed place to work as well.

Another recommendation: check out the calendars of Susanne Kuratli, and note the communities (always visible at the bottom of the calendar pages; there's usually a map at the back as well) where she saw the houses/did the paintings. Then go there.

J.

Great guys thanks, lovely photo!

Alplisee between Lenzerheide and Arosa.

Wow! That's beautiful

a small lake....that is really most awesome!...a must see...and a very definate MUST for any nice pics...is...
caumasee (between laax and Flims)

Most definitely Lauterbrunnen - make that the most beautiful place on the planet ! We long to live there one day, but just visit a few times a year, see http://eyhus5.googlepages.com

Don't know how I missed this thread, but that link is the Dogs Bollocks (sorry Polorise) - some great photos of Flumserberg!