Switzerland Travel Guide

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Look past the silk-smooth chocolate, cuckoo clocks and yodelling contemporary Switzerland, land of four languages, is all about epic journeys and sublime experiences.

What giddy romance Zermatt, St Moritz and other legendary names evoke. From the intoxicating chink of Verbier glitterati hobnobbing over Champagne in ice-carved flutes, to the reassuring bell jangle of cows coming home in the Engadine Valley, Switzerland is a harmonious tableau of beautiful images. This small, landlocked country was an essential stop on every Grand Tour the place where winter tourism was born, where Golden Age mountaineers conquered new heights and for good reason: no slideshow of such epic proportions is so darn easy to step into, experience and get your hands nice and dirty with. Ride a little red train between peak and pine, soak in mountain spa water, snowshoe to your igloo, cross medieval bridges and know that life in Switzerland is good.

This country begs outdoor escapade with its larger-than-life canvas of hallucinatory landscapes etched so perfectly one wants to cry or at least grab boots, leap on board, toot the bike bell and let spirits rip. Skiing and snowboarding in the winter wonderlands of Graubnden, Bernese Oberland and Central Switzerland are obvious choices. But there is plenty to do when pastures are green. Hiking and biking trails abound in both glacier-encrusted mountain areas and lower down along lost valleys, mythical lakeshores and pea-green vines. View the natural grandeur from the sky in a balloon basket or parachute, or afloat from a white-water raft. Then there are those must-do-before-death moments like encountering the chiselled north face of the Eiger up close or reaching crevassed ice on Jungfraujoch (3454m). Most appealing of all, you dont need to be a mountaineer to do it.

Variety is the spice of life in this rich land where Alpine tradition is rooted in the agricultural calendar, and soaring mountain backdrops are as common as muck. Travelsare mapped by mountain villages with timber storage barns on stilts to keep the rats out and chalet farmsteads brightened with red geraniums and milk churns on a bench waiting to be filled. Ancient markets (Mrit), folkloric fairs (Chilbi), flag waving and gastronomic celebrations engrave the passing of seasons in every soul.

The perfect antidote is a surprise set of cities: the capital Bern with its medieval Old Town and world-class modern art, deeply Germanic Basel and its bold architecture, shopping-chic Geneva astraddle Europes largest lake, tycoon-magnet Zug (play millionaire over a slice of liqueur-soaked cherry cake) and uber-cool Zrich with its rooftop bars and atypical Swiss street grit. Beard cutting or stone throwing, Paul Klee art or hip club gig: what a euphoric journey indeed.

Staubbach Falls in the Lauterbrunnen Valley
ANDY CHRISTIANI/LONELHY PLANET IMAGES

Its one of the worlds most mythical train rides, linking two of Switzerlands glitziest Alpine resorts. Hop aboard the iconic red train with floor-to-ceiling windows in Zermatt, sit back, and savour shot after cinematic shot of green peaks, glistening Alpine lakes, glacial ravines and other hallucinatory natural landscapes. Pulled by steam engine when it first puffed out of the station in 1930, the Glacier Express () traverses 91 tunnels and 291 bridges on its famous journey to St Moritz. The icing on the cake: lunch in the vintage restaurant car.

DOUGLAS PEARSON/CORBIS

Matterhorn

No mountain has more pulling power, more natural magnetism than this charismatic peak a precocious beauty from birth who demands to be admired, ogled and repeatedly photographed at sunset, sunrise, in different seasons and from every last infuriating angle. And there is no finer place to pander to Matterhorns every last topographic need than Zermatt (), one of Europes most highly desirable Alpine resorts, in fashion with the skiing, climbing, hiking and hip hobnobbing set since the 19th century. Darling, youll love it.

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Hiking in the Swiss National Park

No country in Europe is more synonymous with magnificent and mighty hiking than Switzerland, and its high-altitude national park () with eagle-dotted skies is the place to do it. Follow trails through flower-strewn meadows to piercing blue lakes, knife-edge ravines, rocky outcrops and Alpine huts where shepherds make summertime cheese with cows milk, fresh that morning from the bell-clad herd. Nature gone wild and on the rampage, this is a rare and privileged glimpse of Switzerland before the dawn of tourism.

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Europes Largest Lake

The emerald vines marching uphill in perfect unison from the shores of Lake Geneva in Lavaux (), French-speaking Switzerlands most cosmopolitan city where canary-yellow mouettes (seagulls) ferry locals across the water and Mont Blanc peeps in on the action. Strolling Old Town streets, savouring a vibrant cafe society and making the odd dash beneath its iconic pencil fountain is what lifes about for the 180 nationalities living here.

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Aletsch Glacier

One of the worlds natural marvels, this mesmerising glacier () of gargantuan proportionin the Upper Valais is tantamount to a 23km long, five-lane highway powering between mountain peaks at altitude. Its ice is glacial-blue and 900m thick at its deepest point. The view of Aletsch from Jungfraujoch will make your heart sing, but for the hardcore adrenalin surge nothing beats getting up close: hike between crevasses with a mountain guide from Riederalp, or ski above it on snowy pistes in Bettmeralp.