See and do
The journeys, the mountains and the set pieces — panoramic trains, castles, lakes, spas and the walks.
Pages are being added here as they are written.
The twenty things worth seeing
A ranked list for someone with a week, arranged so you can cut it at any point and still have a good trip.
The panoramic trains
Four scenic routes, what each one actually shows you, and the thing nobody tells you: the ordinary trains run the same track for a fraction of the price.
Glacier Express
Eight hours from St. Moritz to Zermatt across 291 bridges and 91 tunnels, and the honest question of whether to take it at all.
Bernina Express
The highest railway crossing of the Alps without a rack, from Chur to Italy, and the best value scenic line in Switzerland.
The mountains: which one to go up
Every resort sells a lift to a viewpoint, and they are not equal. What each of the big ones gives you, and the cheaper mountain that gives the same view.
Castles in Switzerland
There are several hundred. These are the dozen that repay the journey, and what each is for.
Hiking in Switzerland
65,000 kilometres of marked paths, a signpost system that tells you the time rather than the distance, and colours that mean something specific.
Skiing in Switzerland
The expensive ones, the ones locals use, the glacier resorts that open in October, and how to keep the cost down.
Thermal baths
Hot mineral water in the mountains, an architectural masterpiece in a village, and one rule about textiles that catches every visitor.
The mountain passes
Furka, Grimsel, Susten, Klausen, Gotthard and the rest: open roughly June to October, free, and among the best roads in Europe.
The lakes
Seven lakes worth the journey, what each is like, and the fact most visitors miss: the boats are public transport and passes cover them.
Cheese dairies you can visit
Show dairies with a viewing gallery, working alp huts above the treeline, and the difference between the two.
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