Fribourg walking tour & city guide

The upper town and the cathedral

Fribourg was founded in 1157 by the Dukes of Zähringen, the same family that founded Bern. The upper town is its centre, with the Town Hall, fountains and arcaded streets, and the Cathedral of St. Nicholas, a Gothic church whose tower rises about 74 metres and can be climbed for a view over the river gorge.

Inside, the cathedral's stained-glass windows were made around 1900 by the Polish artist Józef Mehoffer in an Art Nouveau style. Fribourg is also a university and Catholic city, with many churches and convents.

The lower town and the bridges

Below the cathedral, steep lanes and stairways lead down to the Basse-Ville, the lower town, and the old quarters of the Auge and the Neuveville by the river. Here wooden bridges, fountains and old houses sit under the cliffs, and the covered wooden Bern Bridge crosses the Sarine.

Medieval walls and towers still line the edge of the city on the hills across the river. A small funicular links the Neuveville to the upper town; opened in 1899, it is still driven by the weight of water from the city's waste water, one of the last of its kind.

A walking route

Start at the station and walk down Rue de Romont and Rue de Lausanne to the Town Hall and the cathedral. From there, take the lanes and steps down to the lower town, cross the Bern Bridge and walk along the river through the Auge to the Neuveville. Ride the water-powered funicular back up, or climb towards the old ramparts for a view of the whole city on its cliffs.

Visiting tips

Fribourg is about twenty minutes from Bern and around 45 minutes from Lausanne by train. The Espace Jean Tinguely – Niki de Saint Phalle shows the work of the two artists in a former tram depot. The castle town of Gruyères and its cheese dairy are a short trip south, and the canton is the home of the moitié-moitié fondue.