The Glarus holiday regions – small, fine and quite wild

‘Families welcome’ is the official slogan of car-free Braunwald, which has been awarded the quality seal of the Swiss Tourism Association.

From the Zwerg-Bartli adventure trail, you can head to the via ferrata, then back to the Bellevue Märchenhotel via the rope park and the playground. From there, you can’t avoid a hike to Oberblegisee, the glittering pearl at the foot of the Glärnisch mountain range.

In Elm, a UNESCO World Heritage Site meets the oldest wildlife reserve in Europe, and the small mountain village connects the Tectonic Arena Sardona, known for the Martinsloch, with the Freiberg Kärpf. The mountain railways take you directly to adventures such as the Tschinglen expedition or the Giant Forest experience trail, to wildlife observation stations or mountain cart descents. ‘Dr Füüfer und z Weggli’ could be the motto for Elm.

Even if the town can be crossed in a few minutes, you cannot miss Glarus. Not least because of the Vorderglärnisch, which rises to 2,327 metres above the town. But you might also stop for a moment to quench your thirst in the Volksgarten, to attend the Landsgemeinde on the first of May each year, or to discover new music at the Sound of Glarus. Or you might just as well head straight to the Klöntalersee or up to Aeugsten on the other side of the valley. This is Glarus, and you cannot get through it in five minutes.

Glarus Nord, with its access to Lake Walensee, is the Riviera of the Glarus region. While seminar hotels can be found on the Kerenzerberg, the linth-arena sgu in the valley below offers a bouldering and climbing hall, a swimming pool and a skate park. If you still haven’t seen enough, you haven’t been to Obersee yet.