St. Gallen

St. Gall close to Lake Constance

The city of St.Gallen is a World Heritage site, the lively centre of eastern Switzerland and an all-round cultural classic. Included on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1983, the St.Gallen abbey district with its baroque cathedral and the famous abbey library is the centrepiece of the city. Numerous museums inspire visitors hungry for knowledge and a vibrant cultural life with a first-rate three-segment theatre, numerous cabaret shows and regular festivals maintain the city's excellent reputation as a centre of eastern Swiss life.

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UNESCO World Heritage

The historic abbey district with the magnificent baroque cathedral and the famous abbey library is a UNESCO World Heritage site and the heart of the city.
 

Old town

The winding streets of the old town with its bay windows are the perfect place to shop and enjoy a bite to eat. A wide range of dishes are on offer in the traditional wood-panelled St. Gallen “Erststockbeizen”, including haute cuisine and regional specialities.
 

City of textiles

St.Gallen is renowned worldwide as a city of textiles; famous designers such as Chanel, Christian Dior, Giorgio Armani and create top-end items in St.Gallen and hardly any of the major fashion shows in Paris, Milan or New York fail to present their haute couture.
 

Culture

In the oldest professional theatre still in use in Switzerland, theatre and music fans can enjoy famous performance and during the St. Gallen Festspiele in the summer, the cloister of the abbey district is transformed into a magnificent setting for opera performances under the stars.

Must-dos in St. Gallen

  • learn lots of interesting facts about St. Gallen during a guided tour of the city
  • enjoy the view from the “Drei Weieren” over the city and the lake
  • marvel at the UNESCO World Heritage abbey district
  • linger in the largest living room in Switzerland, the “Roten Platz”
  • eat an original St.Gallen bratwurst in a legendary
  • “Erststock-Beizli”

 

The right place at any time of year:

  • Spring tip: 
    take a walk around the “Drei Weieren” above St. Gallen
     
  • Summer tip:
    visit the St.Gallen Festspiele in the cloisters of the UNESCO World Heritage site
     
  • Autumn tip: 
    visit the famous abbey library which houses some 170,000 hand-written documents which are a thousand years old
     
  • Winter tip:
    visit the St.Gallen Christmas market boasting one of the most attractive selection of Christmas lights in Switzerland

Experiences in St. Gallen

Guided city tour in St. Gall close to Lake Constance

Audio tour of St.Gallen

Experience St.Gallen on your own with our audio guide. Explore the city with the magnificent centre of the Abbey Complex , its 111 bay windows and the urban living room “City Lounge of...

Nature Museum St.Gallen

The exhibition invites visitors to actively explore the regional flora and fauna in seven thematic sections. The centrepiece is Switzerland’s biggest 3D relief map of the area from Lake Constance...

Art Museum St.Gallen close to Lake Constance | © Daniel Ammann

Art Museum St.Gallen

A treasure chest of eastern Switzerland, the St.Gallen Art Museum houses an abundant collection of paintings and sculptures from the Late Middle Ages to the present. With its attractive, temporary...

Events in St. Gallen

St. Gallen – The City of Stars

28. November 2024 until 06. January 2025

Every year during Advent, the city of St.Gallen is transformed into a sea of almost 700 stars. They bathe St.Gallen's old town and the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Abbey District in a magical...

Top event

St.Gallen Festspiele

23. June until 07. July

Every year, the cloisters of the St.Gallen abbey district with the its magnificent baroque cathedral serves as the backdrop for an opera drama. Additional dance and concert highlights will be...

Tours including St. Gallen

Birnau abbey church at Lake Constance

Travelling through Baroque Heaven at Lake Constance

3 days
Abbey Cathedral of St Gall, UNESCO World Heritage Site close to Lake Constance

Treasures of the Past at Lake Constance

5 days
© Photo: Dagmar Schwelle | Marketing und Tourismus Konstanz GmbH

Lake Constance City Hopping

1-3 days

Contact address

St. Gallen-Bodensee Tourismus, Bankgasse 9, 9000 St.Gallen, Switzerland