Ten round panels featuring photographic portraits are dotted around Laufen’s Old Town. Scan their QR codes to access the corresponding audio plays. The city is brought to life not only by its buildings and alleyways: the voices and stories behind the portraits are also part of the tour.

Cobblestone lanes, historic city gates and remnants of the town walls shape the Old Town. Guided tours take in well-known sights as well as less familiar corners, offering insights into the city’s history, which spans around 800 years. They are available all year round, whatever the weather. If you prefer to explore Laufen on your own, you can also discover surviving traces of the city’s history among the lanes.

Finds and fossils in the Laufental valley

The Laufental Museum spreads its exhibition across four floors and displays numerous objects from the history of the entire Laufental valley. Its topics include prehistoric and Roman finds, as well as objects from the stoneworking industry, which played an important role in the Laufental valley for a long time. A lifelike reconstruction depicts “UNA”, the “oldest Swiss woman”, as archaeologists have dubbed her. The collection thus brings together different periods while keeping the history of the entire valley in view.

The Laufen Fossil Museum focuses on a subject of its own: it displays more than 2,500 fossils that are between 150 and 200 million years old. A fossil game takes you back in your imagination to a time when the region lay beneath the sea. Together, the museum and the fossil museum offer different ways of exploring the past: one through finds and the cultural history of the Laufental valley, the other through the long history of the Earth.

From the solar system to the karst landscape

The Laufen Planet Trail begins and ends at Laufen railway station, served by the S-Bahn and various bus routes. The route lets you walk through a scale model of the solar system. An interactive fairy tale complements the walk as an audio guide and can be played on a smartphone using a QR code. If you are planning around the connections or the digital offering, check the latest information before your visit.

The Laufental Karst Educational Trail explores a very different aspect of nature between Zwingen and Grellingen. The route passes steep rock faces and clayey caves, as well as clear springs. More than a dozen information panels cover the underground, how the caves formed, their sensitive ecosystem and their light-shy inhabitants. The landscape is not the only focus here: the panels also explain the natural processes hidden beneath the surface.

For a hike with specific distance and duration details, consider the Wahlen–Stürmechopf route: it is 7.47 kilometres long and takes about 2.5 hours. At the end, it leads to a viewing platform on Stürmechopf with impressive far-reaching views. Hikes in the Laufen district range from easy walks to challenging tours. On the Via Jura (SwitzerlandMobility route 80) in the Laufen region, you can also discover ruins and castles; the route passes through protected species-rich meadows where rare orchids grow.

Castle, herbs and bees

Zwingen Castle is situated on an island in the River Birs. Its oldest parts date back to the second half of the 13th century. The castle is a five-minute walk from Zwingen railway station, and the grounds can be visited on foot at any time. As access arrangements may change, it is worth checking them again before your visit.

The Ricola Experience Shop tells the story of the family business and how herbs are turned into the famous Ricola sweets. Creative workshops about herbal sweets and related activities are offered for families, children’s birthday parties, team events and groups. Availability and seasonal details may change.

The Nenzlingen Bee Trail offers a different focus: interactive stations explore the world of bees, and the trail is next to the Ricola herb garden. Marked paths from the village square and car park lead to the start of the trail in a 20-minute walk. This means you can choose excursions with distinct focuses, from local history and collections to geological themes and nature trails.

Discover more destinations: Duggingen, Grellingen, Laufen, Zwingen, Liesberg, Arlesheim, Waldenburg, Liestal.

View the main travel overview: Basel-Land.