Forget the lakes, Switzerland's top rivers are great for swimming

Every year in August, the people of Zurich are allowed to take a swim in the Limmat. — BERNHARD KRIEGER/dpa

In the lobby of a time-honoured grand hotel in Switzerland, people in dripping wet swimwear and flip-flops would usually draw shocked glances. Not so in Basel where it’s perfectly normal for the concierge at the Grand Hotel Les Trois Rois to ask if you had a refreshing swim in the Rhine river.

In the Swiss city, people in bikinis and swimming shorts are part of the picture in summer, when Basel, known for its art museums, is transformed into an urban swimming pool.