Schilthorn Piz Gloria

Piz Gloria, the revolving restaurant on the Schilthorn near Mürren in the Bernese Oberland, Switzerland. Bartek Wrzesniowski / Alamy

Nestled atop the Schilthorn rests the revolving Piz Gloria restaurant, offering unbeatable views of the Bernese Alps in Switzerland.

While Piz Gloria claims to be the world’s first revolving restaurant—a dubious title given that the Seattle Space Needle opened in 1962 during the World’s Fair—its real claim to fame is its James Bond connection and unparalleled views.

Piz Gloria is named after the 1963 James Bond novel and subsequent film, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, in which a mountain-top hideout conceals Bond’s nemesis, Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Today, Piz Gloria taps into its James Bond past by offering visitors a 007 Walk of Fame and interactive exhibit aptly named Bond World.

The restaurant, which is truly the main draw for travelers, rotates slowly offering diners a view of 200 mountain peaks during the course of their meal. While the food of Piz Gloria has been reviewed as lackluster and overpriced—a classic pitfall of many tourist attraction restaurants—the view overcompensates for what’s on the plate.

Know Before You Go

Piz Gloria is accessible by an aerial cable car, which departs from the town of Mürren. The cable car ride takes 32 minutes (including a change at a middle station) and offers views of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau mountains, which have been named UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

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