Gruyères Castle Grounds/Surroundings

The castle of Gruyères stands on a ridge above the medieval village of the same name, in the canton of Fribourg, and its grounds are among the best places in the area for a quiet walk with a view. The castle was built in the thirteenth century for the counts of Gruyère, a dynasty that ruled the region for several centuries and whose emblem, a crane, still appears on local signs. Gruyères in French is related to the word for crane, and the bird is the town's symbol. The last count went bankrupt in the sixteenth century, and the castle passed to the cantons of Fribourg and Bern before being sold to private owners in the nineteenth century, when it was restored in a romantic style.

Walking up to the castle gate from the single main street of the village, you see how the site dominates the surroundings. The castle commands views in several directions, over the green pastures and low hills of the Fribourg Pre-Alps, the lake of Gruyère in the valley below and the rocky peaks beyond. The slopes are covered with meadows where cows graze, and in spring the valley is yellow with dandelions and other flowers. The scene is the quintessence of pastoral Switzerland, and it is easy to see why the region produces such good cheese.

The grounds include terraces, walls and a garden laid out in the French style, with trimmed hedges, flower beds and paths, from which there are good views of the village and the surrounding countryside. The garden is open in the warmer months and offers benches for sitting, and the terraces near the castle walls give a chance to photograph the roofs of the village below. Information boards explain the history of the castle and the family, and visitors can combine a walk through the grounds with a visit to the interior of the castle, where furnished rooms, a knights' hall decorated in the neo-medieval style popular in the nineteenth century, and a collection of paintings and tapestries are displayed. The nineteenth-century owners invited artists to the castle, and several painted decorative panels and landscapes inspired by the setting.

The village itself is a pleasant addition, with a cobbled main street, old houses, restaurants serving the local fondue and cheese specialties, and several small museums. Among these is the museum dedicated to the artist H. R. Giger in a separate medieval building, an unexpected contrast. The cheese dairy and the chocolate factory at Broc are within a short distance, and a day trip can include all of them.

The castle grounds can be visited with the castle ticket, and opening times vary by season, with longer hours in summer and shorter in winter, so check the official website before you go. The garden is generally open only in the warmer months. The site suits families, history readers and photographers, and it is best in the morning or late afternoon, when the light is soft and crowds are thinner. Allow an hour for the grounds and two to three if you include the interior. Comfortable shoes are advisable, since the road up from the village is cobbled and steep in places.