Fribourg
Fly here
Bilingual town of bridges with a remarkable Gothic old town.
From the basket
Fribourg sits on a loop of the Sarine, perched above the molasse cliffs the river has carved out. From the balloon you grasp its layout: an upper town on the terrace, a lower town at the water’s edge, and between the two, stairways, steep lanes and a funicular.
A duke of the Zähringen family, Berthold IV, founded it in 1157. In the old quarters, from the Bourg, where Saint-Nicolas stands, down to the riverbanks, nearly two hundred houses have kept their Gothic façades: few cities in Europe preserve so many in one piece. To cross the river and its gorges, bridges have been built in every era; the town now has about fifteen.
Fribourg is also a border town, straddling French-speaking and German-speaking Switzerland. Officially French-speaking, it in fact lives in both languages.
Follow the loop of the Sarine from one bridge to the next, then let the wind lift you towards the cathedral tower, which rises above the roofs.
Sources: Wikipedia, “Fribourg (ville suisse)” (in French).
All around
- Lake Neuchâtel, 21 km to the north-west
- Gruyères, 25 km to the south
- Lake Biel, 27 km to the north
To discover around Fribourg
'La Lune' (the Moon) by Niki de Saint Phalle
Abbaye de la Maigrauge
The Cistercian nuns at Maigrauge are ready to offer young women a temporary retreat in their cloister.
Cathedral of St. Nicholas
Climb the 365 steps and you will be rewarded with an unforgettable view of the town of Fribourg.
Digital discovery of mediaeval Fribourg
"Frÿburg1606" is not just an audio guide - it is a unique experience. A mixture of audio, video and augmented reality takes back to Fribourg of the 17th century.
Funiculaire Fribourg
Closed from 27 August to 4 December 2026 due to building works.<br>The “Funi” (funicular railway), which overhang the Old Town and the river Sarine, is a “technical engineering marvel”, listed as a cultural asset of national importance. This nostalgic railway has been running since 1899 – with no exhaust fumes.
Grand-Places Park
In this green oasis in the centre of Fribourg, the Jean Tinguely fountain is particularly striking. It was created by the contemporary Fribourg artist in memory of his friend and racing driver Jo Siffert.
Le Port de Fribourg, a place to relax in the heart of the Old Town
Since 2014, Le Port has opened its doors from May to September as an inviting place for people to pass the time. The seasonal project, located on the site of an old gas works, offers the general public a wide range of activities free of charge.
Loreto Chapel
This Baroque-style building, which was constructed in 1648 and occupies a particularly beautiful spot above Fribourg, is a small-scale copy of the Santa Casa de Loreto in Italy and offers wonderful views of the old town.
Source: Switzerland Tourism — myswitzerland.com, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.