We’ve only dipped into Fribourg. It has a rich history (half French/half German), excellent vistas, good feeling. Tends to be quiet, few people on the streets. And who doesn’t love a town that closes the streets to build a sled run?

**Ristorante Bindella Fribourg is a higher end Italian option for dining, good food and lovely interior dining area. Classic bistro.

Museums:

• **Musée d’art et d’histoire: focused on religious art (the bulk of the collection) and works about/from Fribourg in Switzerland. Manageable size, some very nice pieces (and some very creepy reliquaries). Closed Mondays, only in French and German.
• [haven’t been] Espace Jean Tinguely – Niki de Saint Phalle (for kids)
• [haven’t been] Natural History Museum: free, open 2-6, stuffed animals. (Outside of the city center)
• **Musee Gutenberg: variable hours, closed Mon-Tues: a journey through the development of printing from the scribes in monasteries in medieval Europe to the most modern digital processes. Very little printed material but an impressive collection of machines. Only in French or German, no printed or audio materials in English.
• [haven’t been] Bible and Orient Museum: Tues-Fri 3-5 only. Looks interesting.
• [haven’t been] Swiss Puppet Museum: 11-5, closed Monday and Tuesday.
• **Fribourg Cathedral: Started in 1283 & expanded until 1490, this cathedral has a famous bell tower & stained glass. The stained-glass windows, designed by the Polish painter Jozef Mehoffer and made by local craftsmen Kirsch & Fleckner between 1896 and 1936, constitute one of the most important collection of religious Art Nouveau stained-glass windows. Very impressive.
• [haven’t been] La Abbaye de la Maigrauge: established in 1225
• **Abbaye Hauterive: a Cistercian house of 1138 in a loop of the river, with a twelfth-century church and a cloister; still a working monastery you can stay at. Stained glass is impressive.

The Countryside around Fribourg

The surrounding area has many historic farm buildings and good hiking/biking options. It’s especially pretty, even in Swiss terms – rolling hills, mountains in the distance, beautiful old farm buildings.

We walked about 10 km of Route 4, the ancient Via Jacobi pilgrimage route, from Heitenried to Fribourg. It’s an easy hike, mostly paved, with small towns and pretty churches along the way. Lunch was at **Restaurant Senslerhof in St. Antoni, a decent local option with schnitzel and cordon bleu.

Also in the general vicinity, to the southeast of Fribourg, **Restaurant Laterne in Zumholz is a popular roadside place for the local area and people out for a nice drive & ride. Swiss classics and a daily menu. Friendly service, excellent rösti.

Directly south of Bern and running north of the Jaun Pass, the **Gurnigelpass is an especially pretty drive connecting Fribourg to Thun, skirting the southern side of one of the larger national parks in Switzerland, Naturpark Gantrisch. There’s lots of hiking and biking, and a small ski hill near the peak. Road: very smooth, quite curvy, a motorcycle destination with great views of sharp mountains and beautiful green valleys.

On the eastern side of Naturpark Gantrisch, we had a good meal at **Restaurant Mühlebach (in Mühlethurnen): Way out in the country along totally random (and excellent) roads. Good food, huge portions, lovely staff, has a cat!