Winterthur, once a major industrial center, is now a true oasis with numerous parks and squares, occupying over 40% of the city’s area.

The city is a quiet haven for weary bankers from neighboring Zurich. Relatively low prices for accommodation and excellent transportation accessibility ensure a consistently high flow of tourists not only from all regions of Switzerland but also from other countries.

Winterthur is also a city of museums. Their rich collections owe their origins to the city’s industrial past. The owners of the factories and plants that produced engines and locomotives were patrons of the arts, investing their savings in art.

Attractions
Winterthur’s main attractions are its museums. A special shuttle bus runs between the largest. The most famous is the Oskar Reinhart Museum. The collection was assembled by the aforementioned banker, and after his death in 1965, it was donated to the city. The Oskar Reinhart Museum houses a rich collection of paintings by Rembrandt, Rubens, Cézanne, Picasso, Renoir, Goya, Monet, and Van Gogh.

In Winterthur’s central park is another museum, based on the Reinhart collection. The collection is based on works by Swiss, Austrian, and German masters: Ancher, Friedrich, Liotard, Füssli, Böcklin, Hodler, Liebermann, and Waldmüller.

The Museum of Photography will be of interest to both seasoned photography enthusiasts and casual visitors. It houses a large collection of classic and contemporary works. It also frequently hosts large-scale exhibitions of photographers from around the world.

The Technorama is a completely different museum. It features a natural science collection that visitors can not only look at but also touch, and even participate in interesting experiments.

But Winterthur’s attractions don’t end with the museums. It is home to Switzerland’s largest pedestrian area, with a large number of traditional bakeries, souvenir shops and upscale boutiques housed in 17th-century half-timbered houses.