swiss historical village

This small village is very interesting. The guides show you through buildings of the period. They explain how life was for these immigrants. It estimates 1 1/2 hours and that is about right.

Very authentic. Lots of history and artifacts. The staff that leads the tours are very knowledgeable and passionate about their history. A 100+ year old pump organ is in the chapel and still works! A very worthwhile stop.

This was a cute little village to visit. There is a $9 fee which I think some people will be put off by, but when you think of the time they out in it we did not mind. This helps support the village and keep the history going. We originally did not plan on doing the guided tour. We started out on our own and ran into the tour. You can join the tour at any time. It is a continual tour which is really nice. We decided to take a chance and see how the tour was. We are so happy we did! The gentleman doing the tour was fantastic! You can tell he loved his job. He is also Swiss and lived most of the history he was telling which was even better. He was full of knowledge and stories. If you like history and different cultures you will enjoy it. If you take the tour on your own there are a few areas you won't be able to access because they are locked. With the guide he unlocks all of these areas for you to explore. You can take as long as you want or as short as you want here. They do not time you. There are not a lot of buildings. They are still growing and acquiring historic items. I don't think this is something kids would enjoy. It really is about the history. There is nothing for them to do or play on. On your way if they have the home baked cookies, buy them! They are yummy.

We have wanted to see the Swiss Historical Village for quite a while - enough to consider it one of our 'bucket list' places to visit.We finally made it here with enough time for a guided tour. Generally we would just have visited, read what seemed to be of interest, and skipped the tour guide, but chose to go with John on what proved to be an enjoyable afternoon at New Glarus' Swiss Historical Village.Imagine a small rural (Swiss) township with hundreds of its citizens laid off from their jobs due to mechanization.. People starving, no hope for the future. What should they do? Their government sought out a better life for them! The city of New Glarus and the Swiss Historical Village pay tribute to that group of settlers who are part of Wisconsin (and America's) heritage.A definite 'must visit' attraction - staffed by dedicated volunteers - thanks John for such an informative tour and visit.

I passed this area the other day going to New Glarus Brewery. It looked so pretty that we had to return we spent about 3 hours here listening to the church bells chime a pretty chime as we looked around the village.The only way to describe the area is it looks like Swiss village with flowers everywhere. Most of the quaint shops sold Swiss products and all the people were friendly. This is a good day out at not cost well we did buy in the shops.

there is local guides.. have them go through the Museum with youyou Need at least 1 hour ... very friendly staff

How many towns can tell you exactly how they came to be. This place is simple but very informative. All people of Swiss origin should visit.

We have been to Historic Villages before, some very good, some not, but we have never been to a Swiss one, so we were delighted to find this place hoping for something new to see. Arrived to a nice Chalet style front building where we paid our admission and was escorted to a tour all ready in progress. Immediate first thought was "We paid full price for a half way done tour, not good." We later found out that the tour is continuous and you can leave the tour where you began. Our first guide was very pleasant, friendly and quite knowledgeable. There were a couple of men in our group who were from Germany and most of his attention was diverted to them and the rest of us were sort of ignored. When we arrived at what would be the actual beginning of the tour, we were turned over to a young woman, who did a nice job explaining the topical differences of Glarus, Switzerland to New Glarus, WI. and how the Swiss chose the area to settle. Things kind of went downhill from there. We were rushed through this big gray building that had lots of artifacts and articles to see and read, but we only briefly stopped at a hand carved clock (Very beautiful, delicate details) and a Civil War canon and then rushed into other buildings around the grounds.In all of the buildings, there is a lot to see and read about, but with the tour guide with you, one does not get to read or see everything in the structures. You have to quickly glance at things and move on. Hence the title. There really is a lot to see and study if one wishes (my wife and I do) If they are worried about thief, there are such things as security cameras or put a person in the building to answer questions and watch over the buildings. Think ones experience would be greater. They do let you go back through the buildings after you leave the tour, but knowing that the tour is behind you again you feel rushed, but we did go back and look at some things that we wanted to.It is a nice well preserved place to visit. Not sure it was worth the admission price, but there are some very interesting buildings and artifacts in the Village, The Bee House, a couple of hand carved clocks, the cow bells and a pump organ that works if one knows how to play it (We had an actual maestro in our group and was quite enjoyable to hear him play) to name a few. Other than that it is your typical historic village.

This little attraction has several old buildings from the Swiss who settled the area. If you are interested in history it is a good way to spend an hour or so.

My husband and I came here on Wednesday, June 11, while in the area on vacation. We have toured other "historical villages" in other states, and hoped that this one would have something we hadn't seen or be more relevant to the area, especially with the fee of $9 per person, or have some "hands on" or "working demonstrations" to enhance the experience. We joined in the guided tour at the blacksmith shop and despite the guide's attempts to include everyone, he was more interested in speaking with those with a German/Swiss knowledge/heritage! Whereas, we like going at our own pace, reading all of the signage and descriptive cards, we were ushered from exhibit to exhibit...missing things along the way. Luckily we were able to back-track and get the photos that we wanted. At one point, they switched guides, and the young girl who took over, was obviously new, because she didn't interact with the group and despite all of the things to see in the one gray building, she elaborated more on the topographical differences between New Glarus, WI and Glarus, Switzerland and then the use of the canon. Like I said, luckily we were able to back-track and see/read things that we missed. Everyone has their own opinions and for me, the best part was in the chapel, where one of the guests actually played a bit on the organ! For us, it was a typical historic village, with the same old blacksmith shop, school, chapel, general store (collectibles), that one would find in other states!

Great preservation of buildings, functional pieces and artifacts from the days of when New Glarus was founded. Well worth the trip and time to visit this site. New Glarus also offers some very nice shopping and restaurants.

The guides were wonderful - knowledgeable and eager to tell us about their ancestors who left Switzerland (and why they left) and settled this area in Wisconsin. The tour does take awhile (1 hour?) but you can leave or join a tour in the middle parts. The guides are the key reason to visit - we learned a lot and had a much deeper appreciation of the settlement than if we had just wandered through doing a self-tour.Parts of New Glarus are oriented specifically to tourists (sweet shops, etc...) but the Historical Village has a deeper connection to the early settlers and their stories - and is well worth the admission.

We had a fabulous time at the Oktoberfest while visiting local winery and sampling the beer selections at the street fair. The shops and town are very friendly and we did a bit of christmas shopping in September.

This was an off the cuff stop, we got there right as it was opening. We decided to take a tour and oh how fun was that. Our guide, John told of the history of his family traveling to America and how the little town of New Glarus came to be. It was wonderful. Well, worth the time and would encourage others to go.

This is a replica Swiss village which a good variety of authentic buildings showing how the first settlers lived in New Glarus, WI. We did not take the guided tour, but the pamphlet provided us with plenty of information also to go on our own. It took a little more than an hour. The volunteer in the gift shop was very friendly and helpful and answered questions we had before and after the visit. Would definitely recommend taking the kids for an educational experience of how things used to be.