With dramatic mountains, deep green lakes and a nationwide network of hiking and cycling routes, Switzerland is designed for outdoor adventures. But you don’t need to be a serious mountaineer to plan one-of-a-kind sustainable experiences, even when you’re staying in Zurich, the country’s largest city. Here’s how:
Follow a Unique Art and Wine Trail
In the rolling hills east of Zurich, the Kunst & Wein am Iselisberg is a leisurely four-mile rural roam that pairs whimsical outdoor art with stops for local wines. Trail founders Sabina Marti and Peter Guarisco, who live in the area, work with local artists to install their sculptures throughout the countryside, alongside vineyards, by the road and in nearby villages. Every year, a new selection of two dozen artworks is on view between May and October.
More than 30 varieties of grapes are grown in the Iselisberg region, so as you discover the artworks, you can stop at small, often-family-owned tasting rooms for a glass.
With a map from the trail website, you can wander on your own, but booking a guide from the community will tell you more about the region and its artists. Email the trail organizers to arrange a guided walk.
Before or after your stroll, have a meal nearby at Kartause Ittingen, a former monastery first established in the 12th century that now houses a farm-to-table restaurant. Some dishes on the modern Swiss menu are dubbed “zero kilometer” plates, perhaps a leafy salad or a platter of cheeses with housemade bread, with all ingredients coming from the property’s farm or produced onsite. Visit the Ittingen Museum on the premises, which has a small but spectacular Baroque chapel and exhibits about monastery life. If you’re not ready to return to the city, you can sleep in a former monk’s room; the smartly renovated lodgings weren’t as stylish during the monks’ eras.
Getting to this region in the Swiss canton of Thurgau requires only a 40-minute train ride from Zurich to Fraudenfeld. Buses from Fraudenfeld station take you directly to Uesslingen at the start of the art trail or to Kartause Ittingen, each about a 10-minute ride.
Walk a Green Marathon in Zurich
A 26-mile walking and running route, Zurich’s Green Marathon rambles through urban farmland, along busy sidewalks and into an extensive network of forested trails, enabling you to explore this lively Swiss metropolis beyond its museums, cathedrals and sidewalk cafés. You can follow individual sections of the route that loops the city or — if time allows — make your way around the whole pathway. While the Green Marathon was designed for runners, it’s also a scenic option for walkers.
The official starting point of the Green Marathon is outside the Rio Bar, a café in the city center near the central rail station, but you can begin or end anywhere. Zurich’s convenient transit network can take you to and from the trail.
The route is well signposted, though downloading a copy of the Green Marathon map from the trail website or loading the route into an app such as Strava may help keep you on track.
Learn about Sustainable Initiatives in Bern
From Zurich, embark on a day trip to Bern, only an hour by direct train. Take a shorter urban wander into Bern’s Old Town, where a new self-guided walk highlights sustainable initiatives in the Swiss capital, from reducing food waste to supporting renewable energy to greening the city.
Bern’s 2.5-mile Sustainable Development Goals Walk leads you from the railway station past landmarks like the Bundesplatz (aka Federal Square), where the country’s grand federal palace stands, and the Rathaus, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that has served as the town hall for more than 600 years. Along the way, you’ll also discover sites such as Berner Generationenhaus (“House of the Generations”), a cultural center with a quiet courtyard where people of all ages can gather for a drink or a game of table tennis.
Detour for a pastry at ÄssBar, a pioneer in reducing food waste. Here, fresh baked goods that might otherwise be discarded are sold at drastically discounted costs.
The walk continues past Bern’s stately cathedral into the garden behind the church, where you’ll have expansive views across the river and look out over Stiftsgarten, an organic garden and sustainable education center. The walk website provides a downloadable map and English-language descriptions of the sites you’ll pass.
Another sustainable way to see the city is to rent an e-bike and cycle the Bern Green Belt (Grünes Band Bern), a 36-mile route that loops the metro area. You’ll pedal past apple orchards, cheesemakers and plenty of other places to stop for refreshments. Views across the city and over the mountains will keep you company as you ride.
Whichever adventure you choose, you might pause for an all-day breakfast or a salad brimming with fresh greens at Jul, a popular Old Town café. Or wrap up your Bern visit with a drink or a bite at Restaurant Rosengarden in the city’s verdant Rose Garden, where you overlook the Old Town from high on a hill.
Go From Trail to Farm
When you make your way back to the city, relax after your adventures at the recently refreshed Mandarin Oriental Savoy, Zurich, the city’s oldest luxury hotel. If you’re still keen to explore, book one of the hotel’s distinctive experiences, which include an Alpine farm hike, where you’ll combine hiking with time on a local farm. Or try the hotel’s Flavours of Switzerland tour, where a guide will help you sample your way through stops at a cheesemaker and other food producers. Now, that’s an exceptionally delicious sustainable adventure.