The 26 cantons, at a glance

Capital · Geneva

Geneva, an international city on the shore of Lake Geneva. The Jet d'Eau, its plume visible across the whole bay, has become the emblem of the city — as have the watchmakers' illuminated signs along the Quai du Mont-Blanc after dark, Rolex and Patek Philippe among them.

Capital · Lausanne

Vaud runs from the Jura mountains down to the shores of Lake Geneva, through the terraced vineyards of Lavaux, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Its capital Lausanne is built on three hills and hosts the International Olympic Committee.

Capital · Sion

Valais is the canton of the Matterhorn and the Grand Combin, a Rhône valley lined with vines clinging to the slopes. Its capital Sion is marked by two fortified hills, Valère and Tourbillon.

Capital · Neuchâtel

Neuchâtel lies between the Jura mountains and its lake, a region of watchmaking and white-wine vineyards. Its capital, built from local yellow limestone, is nicknamed the city carved from butter.

Capital · Delémont

Jura, the youngest of the Swiss cantons, born from a popular vote in 1979. Its capital Delémont sits in a valley ringed by forest, close to the French border.

Capital · Fribourg

Fribourg, a bilingual canton straddling the French-German language line. Its capital overlooks the Sarine river from medieval ramparts, its Gothic cathedral tower visible across the old town.

Capital · Bern

Bern, the federal capital, almost encircled by a loop of the river Aare. Its UNESCO-listed old town has kept its arcades and painted 16th-century fountains.

Capital · Basel

Basel-Stadt, the smallest canton by area, at the point where Switzerland meets both France and Germany. Its capital lives by the Rhine and holds one of Europe's oldest public art museums.

Capital · Aarau

Aargau, Switzerland's most industrial canton, run through almost its full length by the river Aare. Its capital has kept an old town of painted façades, tucked into a bend of the river.

Capital · Appenzell

Switzerland's least populous canton, a land of green hills and hard cheese. It is also one of the last to vote by a show of hands, outdoors, in the village square.

Capital · Herisau

Appenzell Ausserrhoden, a landscape of meadows and scattered farmhouses overlooked by the Säntis, the peak that dominates the whole region. Its capital Herisau still carries the textile trade that once made it wealthy.

Capital · Liestal

Basel-Landschaft rings Basel-Stadt with hills and orchards, up to the first foothills of the Jura. Its capital Liestal keeps the memory of a battle alive each August in its well-known lantern parade.

Capital · Glarus

Glarus, tucked at the bottom of its valley between walls that rise almost sheer. Its capital sits at the foot of the Glärnisch, whose snow-capped summit towers over the rooftops.

Capital · Chur

Grisons, the largest Swiss canton and the only place in the country where Romansh is still spoken. Its capital Chur claims the title of Switzerland's oldest town.

Capital · Lucerne

Lucerne, on a lake with deeply indented shores, the gateway from central Switzerland to the Alps. Its capital is crossed by the Chapel Bridge, a covered wooden footbridge dating from the 14th century.

Capital · Stans

Nidwalden, a small canton on Lake Lucerne, at the foot of Mount Pilatus and the Buochserhorn. Its capital Stans is built around a square that still holds the birthplace of a national figure, Nicholas of Flüe.

Capital · Sarnen

Obwalden, a rural canton gathered around Lake Sarnen, ringed by peaks over 3,000 metres. Its capital stretches along the shore, facing the mountains reflected in the water.

Capital · St. Gallen

St. Gallen takes its name from an Irish monk who settled there as a hermit in the 7th century. Its capital grew up around the abbey he founded, whose baroque library is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Capital · Schaffhausen

Schaffhausen, the only canton entirely north of the Rhine, known for its waterfall — the most powerful in Europe. The Munot fortress overlooks the capital from a circular 16th-century rampart.

Capital · Solothurn

Solothurn, a baroque town built on the river Aare, is said to hold a fondness for the number eleven: eleven towers, eleven bells, eleven fountains. Its Cathedral of St. Ursus still overlooks the old town from a stairway of eleven steps.

Capital · Schwyz

Schwyz, one of the three founding cantons of the Confederation in 1291, gave its name to the whole country. Its capital sits at the foot of the Mythen, twin peaks that pierce the sky like two horns.

Capital · Frauenfeld

Thurgau, a canton of orchards on Lake Constance, nicknamed Switzerland's fruit garden. Its capital Frauenfeld is overlooked by a medieval castle on the banks of the river Murg.

Capital · Bellinzona

Ticino, the only fully Italian-speaking canton, the southern side of the Alps facing Lake Maggiore and Lake Lugano. Its capital Bellinzona is guarded by three medieval castles listed by UNESCO.

Capital · Altdorf

Uri, a founding canton of the Confederation, an alpine gateway at the foot of the Gotthard Pass. Legend places William Tell's famous apple shot here, on his own son's head.

Capital · Zug

Zug, the smallest canton in German-speaking Switzerland, known as much for its favourable tax rates as for its lake. Its capital keeps a 13th-century clock tower right on the waterfront.

Capital · Zurich

Zurich, the most populous Swiss canton, the country's financial centre on the shore of its lake. Its capital pairs the twin Romanesque towers of the Grossmünster with a riverside that comes alive at night.