If life takes us to the canton of Zurich, we cannot miss visiting Winterthur. In fact, the Swiss city deserves to be used as a headquarters for excursions and tours in the area. With its wide cultural offering and its relaxed atmosphere, Winterthur will end up seducing us in its discreet and elegant way. With the added advantage that summer here does not reach torrid temperatures.
Winterthur is called “the city of museums”, so it is wise to take the time to visit as many as you can. A must is the Kunst Museum, which houses its extensive collection in three buildings spread across the city: the At the town hall, he Reinhart in the City Garden and the Villa Flora, which reopened this year after renovation. There are no long queues in its galleries, but there could or should be, as they exhibit works by Van Gogh, Monet, Klee, Bonnard and many other painters from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.
As nature is one of Switzerland’s guiding threads, Winterthur is a must for visitors to enjoy an exquisite cocktail of art and landscape: the Oskar Reinhart collection, on display in the dazzling villa with its chandeliers and fine parquet flooring, built in 1915 and situated next to a forest. It is a brisk 20-minute walk from the city centre, and then you will see the mansion that Oskar Reinhart (1885-1965) bought in 1924 and which today houses the collections he amassed throughout his life. The collector was enamoured of the Impressionist painters and their predecessors, hence the abundance of paintings by French masters such as Cézanne, Manet and Corot, although there are also other treasures by artists such as Goya, whose beautiful still life made up of slices of salmon is on display. Afterwards, or perhaps even before seeing the collection, it is essential to sit for a while in its café overlooking the forest, either inside, in its relaxing and bright lounge that makes us think of a Wes Anderson film, or on its terrace, when the weather permits.
If you’re looking for Winterthur’s alternative art and entertainment scene, you’ll find it in a disused industrial area, specifically around a former gasometer that gives it its name: Cultural Center Gasworks. At any time of day, film buffs, conceptual art lovers and, let’s not kid ourselves, people who want to eat and drink also drop by. It is at the charming Portier, a bar located in a small building that could have been designed by a good-humoured Le Corbusier, where people meet to listen to live music on Mondays, or even to have a bite to eat. calçotadaas advertised on a colourful poster. And if it does come up, sooner or later you can catch a film at the Kino Nische cinema, a film library that programmes high-quality retrospectives. In the same area you will find the Museum Schaffen art gallery, with exhibitions focusing on the world of work, and quaint restaurants such as Les Wagons, located inside old railway carriages.
Let’s go back to the historic centre of Winterthur: its main shopping street, the Marktgasse, is full of pedestrians when the shops are open. The restaurant To the sun, where you can try its many variants of roastthe famous grated potato pancakes that are served with many other ingredients. Very close by, and also in three other locations in the city, awaits us Vollenweider, an artisanal chocolate shop where you must drink the house hot chocolate that leaves that little brown moustache that many will later brag about on social media.
On Tuesdays and Fridays, early risers will be rewarded with fresh, seasonal produce from the stalls at the local market, which operates between Steinberggasse and Metzggasse between 6am and 11am, although latecomers may still find something to put in their basket if they arrive a little later.
Two other must-see places in the center: the Coalminea café whose walls are covered with books up to the ceiling and where current films are also shown, and the friendly Copi, sun bar Italian founded as a “cooperative of taste and culture” in 1906 and where the Swiss-German dialect was momentarily replaced by the language of Petrarch, especially in its frequent recitals of Italian songs.
And for lunch, a morning coffee or a concert, the city’s best kept secret is the Cultural House Villa Sträulia cultural centre and artists’ residence located, of course, inside a 19th-century mansion. Villa Sträuli has The Bistro, run by chef Luca Verardi, which offers both omnivorous and vegetarian daily menus. Its cosy lounges host events of any artistic discipline, depending on the residents staying at the time.
Exploring the surroundings
We won’t get tired of Winterthur, but for a change of scenery it’s a good idea to take a punctual train (we’re in Switzerland, remember) that in less than an hour will take us to St. Gallen (Saint Gallen), the charming city where the abbey of the same name is located, founded in the 8th century and recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983. The interior of its library, which houses manuscripts of great historical value, is one of the most baroque spaces in Europe. Entering it with the obligatory slippers that they will give us at the entrance so as not to scratch its wooden floor is an unforgettable experience. On leaving the abbey it is also worth visiting the Textile Museum of St. Gallen, famous for its extensive collection of handmade embroidery.
If you have good shoes and want to breathe fresh air, you should climb up to the ponds (Drei Weieren), built centuries ago by monks as a water reservoir and located on a plateau at the foot of Mount Freudenberg. In summer you can swim in them and in winter you can go ice skating. However, at any time of the year you can enjoy the panoramic views of the city from there, worthy of becoming the wallpaper on your computer desktop.
And the Rhine River isn’t close by? If you take a train from Winterthur to Stein am Rhein, in the canton of Schaffhausen, you can sit on the banks of the river and, armed with a notebook and some watercolours, paint the bucolic landscape that can be seen from both, worthy of a canvas by Caspar David Friedrich. The town is a delightful place to go for a walk, as its main square, the Rathausplatz, contains the most beautiful facades in the region, all of them decorated with Renaissance and Baroque frescoes, and many with their corresponding viewing points. Don’t forget the Benedictine monastery of St. George, open to the public between April and October. With its 15th-century murals and its garden, it is another of the town’s highlights.
Ideal plans for those travelling with children are also just a stone’s throw away: one of the most popular is a visit to a chocolate factory, where you can emulate Charlie, the protagonist of Roald Dahl’s book. Chocolarium, belonging to the Munz & Minor brand and located in the town of Flawil, it guarantees a participatory experience in which, in addition to touring the factory, the whole family will learn how to make chocolate dolls.
And if we want to be truly impressed by nature, we cannot miss visiting the largest waterfall in Europe: the Rheinfall or Rhine Falls. Like almost everything in this region, it is less than an hour from Winterthur by train. Its northern side can be admired by getting off at the Neuhausen am Rheinfall station. To appreciate its southern side, however, you have to get off at the Schloss Laufen am Rheinfall stop. In both areas there are wooden tables and benches where you can organise a picnic with the soundtrack provided by the waterfalls. When you return to Winterthur, the city will welcome you again to end the day in places such as the Albani Music Club, where live music plays at night.
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