Month: June 2022

One of the fastest growing cities in the United States, Charlotte has developed a vast array of dining options. Reflecting its diverse population (nearly 20 percent were born outside the country), the flavors of the world have come to the Queen City.

The brewery scene has also exploded in recent years – and each month seems to bring yet another option for beer lovers to the eclectic neighborhoods in and around Charlotte. With enough dining and drinking options to fill a book – or two – here are some of our favorites.

Uptown

Mariposa

Mariposa is one of Uptown Charlotte’s latest luxury dining locations. Executive chef Jonathan Moore delivers an impressive menu inspired by the small mezze plates of the eastern and southern Mediterranean, paired with an inventive cocktail selection. The only ordering mistake you can make is not leaving enough room for the Single Origin Chocolate Mousse dessert.

La Belle Helene

For a French brasserie experience in Charlotte, seek out La Belle Helene. Opulent surroundings and a menu that would satisfy the pickiest Parisian combine for one of the Queen City’s premier dining experiences. Traditional French preparations mark dishes from a crispy porchetta sandwich to chilled Maine lobster and Duck A l’Orange for two.

Blue Blaze Brewing

If you’re in the mood to walk up a thirst, the 1.5-mile Stewart Creek Greenway west of Uptown starts next to Bank of America Stadium and ends at Blue Blaze Brewing. This laid-back taproom offers a wide selection of brews made from locally sourced ingredients – including its namesake Blue Blaze Altbier and Black Blaze Milk Stout – and a seasonal and specialty list perfect for every time of year.

Mert’s Heart and Soul

Southern-inspired comfort food in Uptown Charlotte means Mert’s Heart and Soul. The Soul Roll, a fried wrap filled with veggies and fried chicken, has been featured on the Food Network, and we love the spicy salmon cakes. The restaurant can also call upon two U.S. Presidents for an endorsement – both Barack Obama and Joe Biden have dined here.

The Market at 7th Street

Right next to a light rail stop, the Market at 7th Street prides itself on its connection to the community and the entrepreneurs of Uptown. The non-profit food hall features various walk-up food options including pizza, a raw bar, momos, cupcakes, and waffles – truly something for every taste.

South End

For dining and drinking options, South End has it all. Cuisines from all over the world and an abundance of breweries – all within easy walking distance of each other – deliver a true agony of choice.

Futo Buta

Looking for what might be the best ramen in Charlotte? Futo Buta is located right on the Rail Trail with year-round patio dining – a popular location to watch the world go by. Seating is limited and claimed on a first-come, first-served basis. Once you have your spot – and if you have a taste for spice – order the Buta Bowl, made with chicken and dashi broth, pecan smoked pork belly and duck confit. If you have to wait, it’s worth it.

Copper

Located in a historic South End bungalow, Copper effortlessly combines traditional Indian cuisine with a modern flair. Whether you are familiar with Indian dishes or are exploring them for the first time, prepare to be pleasantly surprised – the staff is great at guiding diners toward a dish they’ll enjoy. The potli samosa with savory and crunchy vegetables and a hot-sweet-sour chutney, and the chicken mirchi-malai with roasted onion-cashew sauce and Kashmiri chili paste should appeal to Indian food novices and experts alike.

Olde Mecklenburg Brewery

The patriarch of the Charlotte beer scene feels like a small patch of Germany in Lower South End (“LoSo”). With every brew at Olde Mecklenburg Brewery remaining faithful to the Bavarian “Reinheitsgebot” (Purity Order), and served in a Bierhalle and Biergarten that would make Munich proud, OMB continues to lead the way in the Charlotte brewery scene.

Sycamore Brewing

Sycamore Brewing has become the place to be on a weekend afternoon. Frequent live music, food trucks, and pop-up markets entice those on the adjacent Rail Trail to pause for a moment. The convivial atmosphere and the quality of beer gets them to stay. Try a Mountain Candy IPA, Southern Girl Blonde Ale, or Special Brownies Chocolate Stout.

Charlotte rising: Why sports fans and thrill seekers flock to the Queen City

NoDa

Named for North Davidson Street that runs through its heart, NoDa is the original artsy capital of Charlotte. Just a couple of light rail stops from Uptown, NoDa has an impressive array of eating and drinking options.

Goodyear House

At the Goodyear House, originally an old mill home dating back to the 1900s, you’ll find chef Chris Coleman – 2019 winner of the Food Network’s Chopped cooking competition. The attention to detail paid to the house’s restoration is reflected in this farm-to-table restaurant’s exquisitely prepared, locally sourced food. Don’t leave without ordering the smoked cashew mac.

Oh My Soul

At Oh My Soul you can enjoy a full plant-based, vegan menu including unique dishes that reflect its owners’ South African heritage. If you get a loaded Gatsby sandwich, you can then choose whether you want it the spicy ‘Durbanite’ way or the ‘Capetonian’ option with crispy fried onion rings. Oh My Soul’s spacious courtyard is a calm and relaxing oasis just a few steps from the North Davidson Street bustle.

Optimist Hall

With a wide-ranging mix of international food options to satisfy any taste – plus a long list of events and ad-hoc attractions – Optimist Hall will definitely put a smile on your face. Multiple vendors provide everything from empañadas to eastern Mediterranean delicacies that can all be enjoyed in the relaxed inside and courtyard seating areas.

NoDa Brewing

Among the earliest entrants to the brewery scene in Charlotte, NoDa Brewing’s impressive range of year-round and seasonal beers is headlined by “Hop Drop N’ Roll,” an IPA that took a gold medal at the 2021 U.S. Open Beer Championship. Come for the award-winning beer, stay for the chill vibes – and the occasional Charlotte Symphony ensemble.

Birdsong Brewing

Birdsong Brewing has developed what is arguably one of the most interesting beer flavors in the Queen City. A mainstay of the menu for many years, its Jalapeño Pale Ale is something you just have to taste. Grab a pint, have a seat and prepare yourself for a great conversation. Tip: try to time your visit for a small-batch THURSty THURSday.

Charlotte rising: Why sports fans and thrill seekers flock to the Queen City

Plaza Midwood

On the east side of Charlotte, Plaza Midwood is known for its casual bars, eclectic shops and restaurants, and brewery options. It also found global fame when Mick Jagger’s 2021 solo visit to the neighborhood’s Thirsty Beaver pub went viral.

Soul Gastrolounge

Among the best places in the city for small plates and craft cocktails is Soul Gastrolounge. Whether you’re looking for a hip celebration, or just some laid-back vibes and fresh bites, you can’t go wrong at this unassuming spot. There should be a rule that diners are not allowed to leave until they’ve tried the pork belly tacos.

Legion Brewing

Legion Brewing has been a part of the Plaza Midwood social scene since 2015. Offering a diverse range of beers – IPA fans must try the Juicy Jay – and an extensive food menu unusual among the city’s breweries, there is always a happy buzz at its original Commonwealth Avenue location.

Resident Culture

Another favorite location for local beer enthusiasts, Resident Culture prides itself on ‘beers brewed with neighborhood funk.’ From mid-March to mid-November, a rain-or-shine Food Truck Friday delivers good food and live music enjoyed with some hop-forward beers. Check out the Vicky Virago Triple Dry Hopped Double India Pale Ale.

Celebrating Charlotte Food

Charlotte Restaurant Week – “The Queen’s Feast” – is a twice-yearly event that showcases the best of the greater Charlotte area dining options. For one week in January and July, dozens of mid- to high-end restaurants offer three-course, $35 prix-fixe menus, providing residents and visitors with a cost-friendly possibility to experience the best of the city’s cuisine.

A Taste of Charlotte (generally scheduled for the last weekend of September) features the favorite menu items of more than 20 local restaurants in a single location. The 2022 event will take place at the Uptown, Truist Field home of the Charlotte Knights.

The post Charlotte rising: Diverse dishes and creative craft beer tell a unique story
appeared first on Lonely Planet Articles.

Whether you’re celebrating Pride Month, Transgender Day of Visibility or simply want to learn more about LGBTIQ+ history any day of the year, you might be wondering where to start.

While some sites, such as the Stonewall Inn, are widely known for their significance to the queer community, there are many other places across the country that have also contributed to queer history in a big way.

If you’re looking to learn more about the history of the LGBTIQ+ community in the US, start with these seven sites from coast to coast. You’ll get fresh insight into who the main players in the queer liberation movement were, when key events happened, and where it all went down.

Dixie’s Bar of Music in New Orleans  

New Orleans had a thriving queer community in the 1950s and 60s, and Dixie’s Bar was considered one of the prime spots to party. As one of the first gay bars in New Orleans, Dixie’s was famous for drawing in artists and writers from across the country such as Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, and Gore Vidal as regular patrons. Although the police never raided Dixie’s directly, legend has it that when the city’s first gay Carnival ball was raided in 1962, Miss Dixie herself grabbed all the cash out of the register and bailed everyone out of jail.

The bar not only holds significance for welcoming NOLA’s gay community but was also a place where artists could mingle as musicians played live music. The bar’s historic 29-ft-long painting, which caricatured more than 60 famous musicians from the 1940s, was damaged during Hurricane Katrina. But in 2018, a restored Dixie’s mural was unveiled for the first time at the New Orleans Jazz Museum. 

The 12 most LGBTIQ+ friendly places on Earth: where to go for Pride 2022

Dr Franklin E Kameny Residence in Washington, D.C.

Dr Franklin E Kameny was a landmark figure in achieving gay civil rights in both the government and medical establishment. In 1961, Kameny and his allies pressured the US Civil Service Commission to abandon its policy of denying gay people federal employment and security clearance. Kameny also led efforts to remove homosexuality as a basis for denying government security clearances and played a leading role in attacking the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) definition of homosexuality as a mental illness. In 2011, his home was recognized as a historical residence in Washington, DC and remains a significant attraction in the city for those curious to learn more about LGBTIQ+ civil rights.

Where to celebrate Pride in the US

Forge new connections on your next adventure with the latest advice from our weekly newsletter.

Leather Archives and Museum in Chicago

In 1991, Chuck Renslow, an openly gay businessman known for pioneering homoerotic photography in the mid-20th century, opened the Leather Archives and Museum in Chicago to preserve leather, kink, fetish, and BDSM history and culture, particularly in the queer community.

The Museum is home to many queer-friendly exhibitions such as The Leatherbar, which captures the history of these spaces – often viewed by gay men as centers of masculinity and an entryway into the leather community – and A Room Of Her Own, an exhibit displaying the history of women’s use of leather in their sexuality. The museum also holds the archives of Mineshaft, a historic members-only BDSM gay leather bar and sex club formerly located in the Meatpacking District in Manhattan. 

Explore Chicago like a local: here are the 10 best things to do

Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in San Francisco

During the HIV/AIDS crisis, this San Francisco parish extended open arms to the LGBTIQ+ community, offering weekly support groups and sermons throughout the 1980s specifically for queer people. Today, the church is a regularly visited historical site and still remains a popular place of worship for those looking for inclusion. 

South America’s 4 most LGBTIQ+friendly cities for Pride celebrations

Jacob Riis Park in New York City

Jacob Riis Park, aka Riis Beach, or Riis – as it’s known by locals – is a queer-friendly spot that has been popular since the 1940s. Located on a mile-long section of Rockaway Peninsula in Queens, Riis has for decades been where gay people from New York City went to sunbathe nude, as they were often excluded from other more central or crowded beach areas. Today, this area of the beach maintains its queer identity as one of NYC’s popular and diverse LGBTIQ+ public spaces and is a particularly popular go-to during the summers and over Pride weekend.

What you should know before traveling to New York City

Audre Lorde’s Residence in New York City

Prolific Black lesbian writer and scholar Audre Lorde’s house in Staten Island is a regularly visited sight for those who want to learn more about LGBTIQ+ culture. While living at this house from 1972 to 1987 with her partner and two children, Lorde authored numerous influential books including Sister Outsider and Zami: A New Spelling of My Name, co-founded Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, and spoke at the 1979 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights.

In 1994, two years after Lorde’s death, QTPOC (Queer and Trans People of Color) scholars and organizers built The Audre Lorde Project to honor Lorde’s legacy of speaking out for oppressed and marginalized groups. In 2019, an “Audre Lorde Way” street sign was installed at the corner of St Paul’s Avenue and Victory Boulevard, near Lorde’s former home.

How Black LGBTQIA+ travelers navigate a challenging world

GLBT History Museum in San Francisco 

Considered by many to be San Francisco’s “queer Smithsonian,” the GLBT History Museum maintains an extensive archival collection of materials relating to queer history in the US, with a focus on the LGBTIQ+ communities of San Francisco and Northern California. The museum in the Castro district showcases the extensive history of LGBTIQ+ life in the city from the 1850s to the present. 

Top 10 gay wedding destinations

The post 7 historic LGBTIQ+ destinations in the US to visit for Pride 2022
appeared first on Lonely Planet Articles.

Portugal’s mix of the medieval, the martial and the maritime makes it a superb place to visit.

A rich and turbulent history involving North Africa, Spain and Napoleon has left the interior scattered with walled towns topped by castles, while the pounding Atlantic has sculpted a coast of glorious sand beaches. Comparatively short distances mean that road trips are as compact as the country is varied, with less time behind the wheel bringing more time to soak up the atmosphere. Most of the top places to visit in the country are easily reachable by car.

So get ready to hit the road on these itineraries, seven of the best road trips in Portugal.

Hug the coast along the beaches of Alentejo and the Algarve

Vila Nova de Milfontes–Cacela Velha; 360 km (225 miles)

Portugal’s southern coasts offer a Mediterranean ideal, with fragrances of pine, rosemary, wine and grilling fish drifting over some absolutely stunning beaches. Only since this is the Atlantic rather than the sheltered sea, you can also count on seriously surfable waves, important maritime history and great wildlife-watching opportunities. This drive takes in some of the finest beaches in the region as well as intriguing towns that conserve their tight-knit, North African–inspired street plans. Highlights include Aljezur’s sandy paradise of Praia da Amoreira, the hulking and forbidding fortress of Fortaleza de Sagres and the vibrant, popular town of Lagos.  

Where to find the Algarve’s best beaches 

Feel waves of delight on an Atlantic Coast surf trip

Praia do Guincho to Praia do Pedrógão; 223km (139 miles)

If endless crashing surf sounds like your idea of heaven, you’ve come to the right country. Get ready to ride the big ones on Portugal’s wild, wave-lashed west coast – an alluring mix of first-rate (and inexpensive) surf camps, gleaming white towns with authentic seafood restaurants, golden beaches fringed by dunes and pines, and memorable sunsets.

Surfers and kitesurfers of all levels will be in their element on the sparkling Atlantic coast, while are plenty of small towns offer plenty to explore away from the shoreline. Highlights include the popular beach town and surfer hotspot Peniche, the gorgeous swoop of sandy beach in Foz do Arelho and the big-wave town of Nazaré.

Explore the planet’s most surprising adventures with our weekly newsletter delivered to your inbox.

Get lost in the Douro Valley’s vineyard trails

Porto–Miranda do Douro; 358km (222 miles)

The Douro is a little drop of heaven. This Unesco World Heritage region offers one of Portugal’s most evocative landscapes, with mile after swoon-worthy mile of vineyards spooling along the contours of its namesake river and marching up terraced hillsides. Along seemingly every road, fabulous food, sumptuous wines, palatial quintas (countryside villas), medieval stone villages and postcard views beckon.

Stop at the picturesque terraced vineyards at Quinta do Crasto or sample the world’s best port in the rolling hillsides of Pinhão. Just 4.5km (2.8 miles) from Pinhão is the stunning Casal de Loivos and its miradouro (viewpoint). From here, the uplifting vista renders the Douro in postcard format, taking in the full sweep of its stone-walled terraced vineyards, stitched into the hillsides and fringing the sweeping contours of the valley, the river scything through it all.

The 10 best beaches in Portugal

Take in the medieval jewels of Portugal’s southern interior

Lisbon–Mértola; 720km (450 miles)

This drive takes you from Lisbon, Portugal’s romantic capital, through landscapes softened by cork oaks and pine. Hearty inland cuisine adds to the authenticity. Along the way, stop off for a little adventure at Óbidos, whose gorgeous historic center contains cobblestoned streets with flower-bedecked, whitewashed houses livened up with dashes of vivid yellow and blue paint. When you reach the town of Tomar, be sure to look up to admire the magnificent Convento de Cristo, built by the Knights Templar. Later on, delve into history at the beautifully preserved medieval town of Évora.  

Experience rolling landscapes and cultural highs along the Minho

Guimarães–Peneda; 217 km (135 miles) 

Portugal’s northwestern corner is made for road-tripping, with splendid medieval cities, spirit-lifting pilgrimage sites and dune-flanked Atlantic beaches. Begin this road trip in Guimarães, where Afonso I, Portugal’s first king, was born in 1110; this Unesco World Heritage site hides one of the most exquisitely preserved medieval centers in the country. The itinerary ends in the stunning mountain village of Peneda, in Parque Nacional da Peneda-Gerês. A highlight along the way is Braga, a center of Portuguese spirituality that’s home to the country’s oldest cathedral, which dates to 1070. The Costa Verde’s biggest stunner, Viana do Castelo offers a double shot of medieval center and gorgeous beaches, while Ponte de Lima features the finest medieval bridge (the 31-arched Ponte Romana) in all of Portugal.

Portugal’s top 10 natural wonders

Go off the beaten track in the Dão

Santa Comba Dão–Seia; 151km (94 miles)

The Dão is off-the-beaten-track Portugal in a nutshell. The country’s rural heartland blends vineyards, pine and eucalyptus woods, family-run wineries and whitewashed villages full of sleepy charisma. Cellar tours, manor-house stays, hearty meals with beefy red wines and hikes in the wilds of the country’s highest peaks in Serra da Estrela all await. Carregal do Sal is home to Quinta de Cabriz, the headquarters of Dão Sul, one of the region’s foremost wine producers, where 38 hectares (94 acres) of vines fan out from an 18th-century manor house. Stock up at the wine boutique, savor regional dishes expertly paired with wines in the restaurant, enjoy a tasting or join a guided tour of the vineyards. In Santar, visitors head to Paço dos Cunhas de Santar, a 17th-century estate where you can tour the vineyard before a tasting of its noble wines and olive oils, all of which go nicely with the seasonal, creative takes on regional cuisine in the contemporary restaurant.

Portugal’s 10 best food experiences

Head into Portugal’s interior for highlands and history

Coimbra– Mata Nacional do Buçaco; 770km (480 miles)

This wide-ranging trip takes in many Portuguese historic highlights, from the buzzing university town of Coimbra to stern borderland fortresses, intermingled with picturesque villages and the natural majesty of the Serra da Estrela. Highlights along the journey include the mountain town of Manteigas, which enjoys a spectacular natural setting cradled at the foot of the beautiful Vale do Zêzere, where high peaks and forest-draped slopes dominate the horizon in all directions. The stunning village of Monsanto towers high above the surrounding plains. A stroll through its steep streets, lined with stone houses that seem to merge with the boulder-strewn landscape, is reason enough to make the drive. Viseu has a well-preserved historical center that offers numerous enticements: cobbled streets, meandering alleys, leafy public gardens and a central square – Praça da República (or the “Rossio”), which is graced with bright flowers and fountains.

The post Take these 7 road trips to get the full sweep of picturesque Portugal
appeared first on Lonely Planet Articles.

It’s easy to explore much of Switzerland on a day trip from the vibrant, well-connected city of Zürich.

From this metropolitan city, the Alps beckon – and within a couple hours, you can hike or mountain-bike beautiful trails, or explore the charming old towns and contemporary art scene in easily reachable regional cities.

Here are the best day trips from Zürich.

Head to Basel for the art; stay for the riverside dining

Thousands of art and architecture lovers visit Basel each year for the world-famous ART Basel festival and the city’s wealth of galleries, museums and iconic buildings. Basel’s position at the juncture of the French, German and Swiss borders adds to its multicultural appeal, and it’s perhaps the place where Switzerland’s Franco-Germanic roots are most evident, even if the dominant language spoken is Swiss German. It’s easy to spend a day wandering the cobbled streets of the lofty and beautiful Altstadt in Grossbasel (Greater Basel) on the Rhine’s south bank before crossing the Mittlere Brücke to Kleinbasel (Little Basel) for a more “everyday” vibe, including riverside alfresco dining.

How to get to Basel: Frequent trains operate between Zürich and Basel, with the journey taking about an hour.

Discover the world’s most intriguing experiences with our weekly newsletter delivered straight to your inbox.

Wanter Winterthur’s charming old town and world-class museums

Often eclipsed by the buzz of nearby Zürich, Winterthur, Switzerland’s sixth-largest city, packs a real cultural punch. It’s home to truly stupendous collections amassed by art collector Oskar Reinhart, one of Europe’s foremost photography museums and a kid-pleasing science museum – not to mention an archetypal turreted castle topping a crag just south of town. Beyond the appeal of its sights, Winterthur also has one of Switzerland’s largest pedestrian-only old towns, lined with pastel-painted, terracotta-tiled cafes and bars, plus boutiques ideal for a leisurely wander around.

How to get to Winterthur: Several trains per hour run to Winterthur’s main station from Zürich, taking less than half an hour. Buses to Zürich depart from stands opposite the train station. If you’re driving from Zürich, take the A1 freeway.

The best time to go to Switzerland

Take to the trails of Lauterbrunnen

Lauterbrunnen’s wispy Staubbach Falls inspired both Goethe and Lord Byron to pen poems to the site’s ethereal beauty. Today, the postcard-perfect village, nestled deep in the valley of 72 waterfalls, attracts a more laid-back crowd of nature lovers. Full of chalet-style lodgings, Lauterbrunnen is a fabulous base for hikers or climbers, and a magnet for thrill-seeking BASE jumpers.

How to get to Lauterbrunnen: Trains run from Zürich every 30 minutes, requiring changes in Bern and Interlaken. The total travel time is about two and a half hours.

Take one of the world’s most spectacular train trips, to the top of Jungfraujoch

The train ride up to Jungfraujoch (11,332ft/3456m) is one of Switzerland’s classic experiences. Following an audacious route directly through the heart of the Eiger, the railway was completed in 1912 and today carries more than two million people a year through some of Europe’s most phenomenal high-Alpine scenery. The icy wilderness of swirling glaciers and 3962m (13,000ft) turrets that unfolds up top is staggeringly beautiful, with views of the moraine-streaked, 22.5km(14-mile)-long tongue of the Aletsch Glacier, the longest glacier in the Alps and a Unesco World Heritage Site. The views across rippling peaks stretch as far as the Black Forest in Germany on cloudless days. Inside the adjacent Sphinx weather station you’ll find ice sculptures, restaurants, indoor viewpoints and souvenir shops.

How to get to Jungfraujoch: Jungfraujoch makes for a long day trip from Zürich, a journey well worth making. The fastest trains from Zürich can take you to the mountain in just over 3.5 hours, so get an early start.

Get bragging rights by crossing the border to tiny Liechtenstein

A pipsqueak of a country, Liechtenstein nestles between Switzerland and Austria, among mountain ranges that rise steep and rugged above the Rhine. Besides the sheer novelty value of visiting one of the world’s tiniest and richest countries, Liechtenstein is the stuff of pure fairy tales: a mountain principality governed by an iron-willed monarch, embedded deep in the Alps and crowned by turreted castles.

The western, more populated side of the country is in the Rhine Valley and relatively flat, while the east is mountainous. Outdoor enthusiasts are in their element here, with a remarkable number of trails to hike and slopes to ski given the country’s size. When you strike out into the Alpine wilderness beyond Vaduz, this landlocked sliver of a micronation suddenly no longer seems quite so small.

How to get to Liechtenstein: Only 25km (15.5 miles) long by 12km (7.5 miles) wide at its broadest point, Liechtenstein doesn’t have an international airport, and access from Switzerland is by local bus. From Zürich, hop on a train to Sargans, a Swiss border town (journey time 55 minutes). From there, frequent buses head to Vaduz, the capital of Liechtenstein, taking about 30 minutes. For drivers, the Swiss Autobahn 13/E43 follows the Rhine along the border, and minor roads cross into Liechtenstein at each freeway exit.

Switzerland’s 5 best road trips

Hit the heights of Mt Titlis

Central Switzerland’s tallest mountain, Mt Titlis is known as the site of the world’s first revolving cable car: completed in 1992, it’s still one of the few on the planet. And this wonder is just the last leg of a breathtaking three-stage journey. First, the TITLIS Xpress takes you from Engelberg (1013m/3323ft) to Trübsee (1800m/5905ft) and on to Stand (2450m/8038ft). For the final ascent, you’ll board the Rotair (only the cabin inside revolves) for the passage over the dazzling Titlis Glacier.

The Titlis station (3020m/9908ft) has all the usual array of restaurants and tourist attractions, such as an adventure park, scooter bikes and Alpine flower trails. At the top of the list would have to be the Cliff Walk: at 500m (1640ft) above the ground, Europe’s highest suspension bridge is 100m (328ft) long, under a meter (3ft) wide and absolute thrill. Expect an additional 45-minute hike to get to the 3239m (10,625ft). Wear comfortable shoes, and be sure to take your time – it doesn’t look far, but at this altitude you need to take it slowly.

How to get to Mount Titlis: Trains from Zürich to Engelberg run once an hour, with a journey time of one hour and 45 minutes. A change is required in Lucerne.

Explore the covered arcades of historic Bern

The picture-postcard, Unesco World Heritage–listed old town of Bern belies its status as the capital of modern Switzerland. Rebuilt in distinctive gray-green sandstone after a devastating fire in 1405, Bern’s flag-festooned, cobbled center is an aesthetic delight, with 6km (3.75 miles) of covered arcades, cellar shops and bars, with fantastical folk figures frolicking on 16th-century fountains. From the surrounding hills, you’re presented with an equally captivating picture of red roofs arrayed on a spit of land within a bend of the Aare River.

Bern seduces and surprises at every turn. Its museums are excellent, its drinking scene dynamic and its residents happy to switch from their famously lilting dialect to textbook French, High German or English – which all goes to show that there’s much more to Bern than bureaucracy.

How to get to Bern: Trains run at least hourly from Zürich, and the journey takes between an hour and an hour and a half.

Feel (or at least see) the power of the Rheinfall

Formed by tectonic shifts during the last ice age 15,000 years ago, the Rheinfall is a real crash-bang spectacle, raging at a speed of around 700 cu meter (24,720 cubic ft) per second as it spills 23m (75ft) into a basin in a series of swirling cascades, billowing plumes of spray and raging white water. Europe’s most powerful waterfall is best surveyed on the trail that wends down from medieval Schloss Laufen or on one of the boats that cross to the rock that rises above it.

How to get to Rheinfall: The S9 train from Zürich drops visitors at Neuhausen Rheinfall station after a journey of 55 minutes.

Soak in the sheer beauty of Lucerne

The recipe for a gorgeous Swiss city: take a cobalt lake ringed by storybook mountains, add a well-preserved medieval Altstadt (old town) and a reputation for making beautiful music – then sprinkle with covered bridges, sunny plazas, candy-colored houses and waterfront promenades. Stunning Lucerne has been deservedly popular since such visitors as Goethe, Queen Victoria and Wagner savored its views in the 19th century. Legend has it that an angel with a light showed the first settlers where to build a chapel in Lucerne; this city simply has amazing grace.

How to get to Lucerne: Frequent trains connect Lucerne to Zürich, with a journey time between 45 minutes and one hour. If you’re driving, the A14/A4 freeway provides a direct road link to Zürich.

Admire Zürich from above atop Uetliberg

Marking the swift transition between the urban and the wild, 870m(2860ft)-high Uetliberg is the mountain on Zürich’s doorstep, ablaze with wildflowers in spring and daubed with russets and golds in fall. When city dwellers want to stretch their legs, they head up here to hike, jog or mountain bike on the trails that criss-cross the woods and countryside. Topping the mountain is Uetliberg Aussichtsturm, a steel lattice observation tower with fine views over Lake Zürich and the city. Sunset is prime-time viewing.

How to get to Uetliberg: Train line S10 runs from Zürich’s main station to Uetliberg twice hourly, and the journey time is under 30 minutes. From here, it’s a 10-minute uphill walk to the viewpoint. At Felsenegg vantage point, a cable car descends every 15 minutes to the town of Adliswil, from where frequent S4 trains return to Zürich.

The post Top day trips from Zürich feature absorbing art, Alpine adventures and more
appeared first on Lonely Planet Articles.