Five Swiss natural wonders that cost nothing

Twice a year, the sun shines through a hole in the rock directly onto a church tower in Glarus. The Martinsloch is not the only natural wonder in this country – but certainly the one with the best timing. Five phenomena you should see at least once with your own eyes – no entrance fee, no ticket, just the right timing.

Switzerland overlooks some of its most beautiful natural phenomena with remarkable consistency. Everyone is busy with the Matterhorn, the Rhine Falls, and the Jungfraujoch, while there are things that cost nothing, only exist on a few days of the year, and cannot be found anywhere else in the world. Here is a small alternative to mainstream tourism.

From late May to mid-June, fireflies light up the Verzasca Valley as part of their mating ritual: the males flash, the females respond, which is why it is best not to bring a flashlight that would disturb the process. There is no fixed date and no ticket – the fireflies decide for themselves when they are ready. What emerges is an atmosphere that feels almost fairy-tale-like, without being staged in any way.

Late May to mid-June, after dark. schweizer​-wanderwege​.ch

Around the summer solstice, on four days around June 21, the rising sun illuminates the bell tower of St. Michael’s Church exactly and then moves toward the Romanesque portal while the surrounding landscape remains in shadow. Whether the church was intentionally aligned this way or whether it is coincidence has never been conclusively proven – which makes it even more fascinating. Meiringen is also the birthplace of meringue – at least according to local legend – and the place where Sherlock Holmesseemingly died. Hardly anyone knows about the church phenomenon – and perhaps that should change.

A triangular opening in the Tschingelhörner, around 22 meters high and 19 meters wide, at 2,600 meters above sea level and exactly on the cantonal border between Glarus and Graubünden. It was formed by geological shifts along the Glarus thrust, which has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage list since 2008. But getting up early is not about geology – it’s about what happens on a few days each spring and autumn: on four days in March and four days in September, the sun shines through the opening shortly before its actual sunrise and strikes the tower of the late Gothic church in the village of Elm, four kilometers away. The light spectacle lasts around two minutes, and under hazy conditions creates a 4.7‑kilometer-long beam of light that moves across the village at around 32 centimeters per second. A show worth waking up early for.

Important to know: Since October 3, 2024, Martinsloch has no longer been accessible to mountaineers. That morning, a 2.2‑magnitude earthquake at the Grossen Tschingelhorn above the Martinsloch triggered a major rockfall of around 100,000 cubic meters – one of Switzerland’s largest rockslides in recent years. The opening itself was narrowly spared, and the masses of rock passed on either side of it, meaning the solar phenomenon continues unchanged. You watch it from the village of Elm anyway – and that is no loss. The church stands directly in the beam of light and the village square becomes a stage for a few minutes. Even Immanuel Kant mentioned the phenomenon in his Physical Geography. Elm has around 600 inhabitants and is also the birthplace of Vreni Schneider – and somehow that belongs to the story too.

Next dates 2026: expected September 30 and October 1, around 9:30 a.m. elm​.ch

In the Jura, near Saint-Ursanne, giant glacial potholes lie carved into the rock over thousands of years by melting glacier water – round, smooth, and deep. You see them and immediately understand what nature has been shaping here for millennia. Saint-Ursanne itself is a medieval small town on the Doubs River and already worth a visit on its own – the Marmites are simply the icing on the cake.

juratourisme​.ch

In autumn and winter, when the Swiss Plateau disappears under a blanket of fog and you stand on a hill above it, Switzerland suddenly looks like another country – white, silent, and endless. On the Blechflue between Lucerne and Zug, under certain conditions a so-called fog wave appears – a rolling movement inside the fog that looks like an ocean in photographs. Other excellent viewpoints are the Pfannenstiel above Lake Zurich and Chaumont above Neuchâtel. No entrance fee, no gondola needed – sturdy shoes and a glance at the weather radar are enough.

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