Prangins Castle

The Swiss National Museum – Prangins Castle, located between Lausanne and Geneva, will take you on a journey back to the 18th century. This excursion destination combines culture and nature, boasting the largest historical vegetable garden in Switzerland and eight permanent and temporary exhibitions, including “Swiss Press Photo” and “World Press Photo” every autumn. 

Between court and garden: castle life in the 18th century

Prangins Castle, set in a five-hectare estate, is a unique place and an excellent destination for family days out. Facing Lake Geneva, this classical stately home dates back to the 1730s. The museum houses eight permanent exhibitions and three temporary exhibitions every year, including “Swiss Press Photo” and “World Press Photo”. 

More than a museum, an experience!

All audio guides and exhibition texts are available in French, German, Italian and English. Many festive events punctuate the year, and turn this castle-museum into a vast venue for socializing and entertaining.

The Castle Cafe offers a refined menu inspired by the old kitchen garden, and is the ideal place to enjoy a bite to eat between exhibitions, either indoors or on the panoramic terrace.

The permanent exhibitions

Noblesse oblige!
The exhibition allows visitors to immerse themselves in the lives of the elite of the time. Baron Louis-François Guiguer and his wife will guide you from the reception room with its marble floor to the prestigious salon with its silk damask wall hangings. Audio guides and fun tours for children make for an interesting visit. 

Portrait gallery 
Voltaire, Jacques Necker, Joseph Bonaparte, Katharine McCormick: so many famous personalities who once lived or stayed at Prangins Castle. The friendly ghosts of the former castle residents tell the public their stories.

What is Switzerland?
The world's oldest democracy, a major financial centre, a country with a perpetual armed neutrality: is that really Switzerland or is this just a handful of clichés about the country? This exhibition takes a close look at the corresponding myths and compares them with the everyday life of the Swiss population, from the 18th century to the present day.

Décors. Masterpieces from the collections
A piece of furniture, a wall hanging, a decorative object – all say a great deal about our lifestyle, our tastes and how we spend our time. Using important objects from the collections of the Swiss National Museum, this exhibition shows what interiors can reveal about the people who lived there or created them.

Indiennes: a fabric conquers the world
Prangins Castle combines local and global history and links Switzerland to the world on a journey across four continents. By following the route of Indiennes, printed cotton fabrics, this exhibition shows how numerous Swiss people helped shape key chapters of modern history, such as industrialization, the triangular cross-Atlantic trade, colonization and slavery.

A stroll through the Enlightenment
On a discovery trail, some twenty silhouettes - representing characters with a connection to the site, such as Voltaire, Madame de Staël or Joseph Bonaparte - invite you for a stroll through the park.

Ready to go?
In the form of a role-playing game (available in four languages: Fr/Ger/It/Eng), visitors embody people from three different eras – the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries – who travel using the means of transport available in their time.