Discover Lyss: art, cultural trails and seasonal experiences

Lyss combines art, walking trails focused on culture and history, and seasonal leisure activities. When planning your stay, it is therefore worth considering the different highlights: walking trails lead through the village centre or to historic sites, while the swimming pool and ice activities are available only during their respective seasons.

Art and cultural trails

The RELYEF Gallery is located in the heart of Lyss and is the longest relief gallery in Switzerland. New works of art are continually added. Artworks in the walls along the Lyssbach can be viewed free of charge.

Two walking trails focus on different aspects of local culture. #erlebeLyssKultur leads through the village centre and explores the town’s cultural heritage. The “Weg durch Lyss” (Path through Lyss) features more than 44 stops at historic buildings and places steeped in history, which you can visit on a walk. At some stops, QR codes link to short films about the respective locations.

The #erlebeLyss experience trails also use stops with QR codes. If a webpage is open on your mobile device, information appears automatically within 15 metres; you do not need to install an app. This lets you access the information at each stop on your own mobile device without first setting up an additional app.

The town’s history also includes archaeological remains and traces of cultural history from several periods: from the Neolithic and Bronze Ages through the Hallstatt and Roman periods to the Early and High Middle Ages. These include an Etruscan bronze statue from the 6th century BC and the remains of a Carolingian church. Railway history in Lyss also dates back to 1864; the first railway helped the town develop rapidly.

Swimming and winter activities

The Parkschwimmbad Lyss is a seasonal public swimming facility. Its pools range from a paddling pool for toddlers to a leisure pool with a water slide. There is also a non-swimmer pool and a swimmer pool with accessible entrances, as well as a separate diving pool with an underwater window. Check the latest opening information before your visit.

The Parkschwimmbad also has a beach volleyball court, barbecue facilities, a children’s playground with a sandpit and a large playing field. These are additional areas that are explicitly part of the swimming facility. When planning, you can consider which of them matter for your stay based on the activities you have in mind.

In winter, the Seelandhalle Lyss is a venue for ice hockey and curling. It also offers public skating and recreational ice hockey. For these two public activities, the hall is generally open from the beginning of October to mid-March; changes are announced. The Parkschwimmbad and the ice activities therefore offer different seasonal highlights to take into account when choosing when to travel.

Forest, hiking trail and viewpoint

The forest near the Grien sports centre is a large local recreation area with a variety of marked routes. If you would like to include a forest route in your plans alongside the cultural and historical walking trails, this area offers a different focus. No specific distances, durations or difficulty levels are given for the individual routes.

The Huguenot Trail leads from Aarberg to Lyss and is part of an international hiking trail. The named endpoints and the route’s connection to this wider trail are useful reference points when planning a hike. From the observation tower on Kreuzhöhe, the view extends as far as the Chasseral; this viewpoint adds another perspective on the surrounding area to the trails described.

Whether you want to discover Lyss primarily through its relief art and cultural walks, its historic traces, seasonal activities or marked routes, the experiences listed offer different themes to shape your stay around. If swimming or ice skating determines your travel dates, include the seasonal opening information in your plans.

Discover more destinations: Schüpfen, Rapperswil, Aarberg, Seedorf, Kallnach, Radelfingen

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