Solothurn is regarded as the finest Baroque town in Switzerland, where Italian grandeur is combined with French charm and German practicality. The so-called “ambassador’s town” is at the southern end of the Jura by the River Aare, about 30 km east of Biel/Bienne.

From the 16th to the 18th centuries, the Catholic town of Solothurn was the residence of the French king’s ambassador. Fine Baroque and Renaissance buildings, such as the noble Palais Besenval, and magnificent religious buildings meet the visitor at every end and turn – the Old Town has eleven churches and chapels and the same number of fountains and towers. Truly magnificent is the St.Urs Cathedral, with a façade donated by Louis XIV, and an Italian-style staircase in front. Inside are wonderful Baroque stuccos. The town walls, which are still intact in some places, were built according to the principles of the French military engineer Vauban.

Between the beautiful historic monuments, the patrician buildings and the sturdy fortifications, the traffic-free Old Town is a pleasant place to wander, with lots of small shops and inns. On warm summer evenings, it is very pleasant to sit in the garden restaurants and bars by the Aare.

The town has a range of cultural attractions going far beyond the regional, including the Solothurn Film and Literature Days. The museums range from the History Museum to the internationally acclaimed Natural History Museum, the cathedral treasury, a Museum of Stones, the PC Museum and Schloss Waldegg, not to mention a collection of sentimental light fiction. Finally, in the "Old Arsenal" is one of the largest weapons collections in Europe.

Children are made particularly welcome in Solothurn: the Toy and Puppet Museum is just one of the amenities specially for children. If you follow the tips in the Guide for Children and Families, the tour of the town becomes an adventure in search of castle ghosts and dinosaur tracks, with a climb up to the St. Urs Tower.

A little outside the town is the romantic Verena gorge with its chapel and hermitage, a popular destination for walkers. Hikers and cyclists will find an extensive network of footpaths and 600 km of cycle tracks in the surrounding area and along the Aare. Solothurn is on two national cycle routes: the Mittelland Route and the Aare Route.