Switzerland Guide
Things not to miss
1 Winter sports • St Moritz offers some of the most scenic skiing and snowboarding anywhere in the Alps.
2 Carnival • Switzerland has a long tradition of carnival, the best of the bunch being the Luzerner Fasnacht, a hedonistic weekend when thousands pack into Luzern's old town for parades, music and raucous merry-making.
3 Adventure sports • The area around Engelberg in Central Switzerland is one of the top destinations for canyoning, bungee-jumping and paragliding.
4 Lake Luzern • The most dramatically sited of all Switzerland's lakes, ringed by mist-wreathed cliffs.
5 Walking • The high-level route from Schynige Platte past the Bachalpsee and down to Grindelwald is just one of many memorably scenic walks throughout the Swiss Alps.
6 Bern • Switzerland's uniquely attractive federal capital, loomed over by a giant cathedral tower, has a medieval street-plan that has survived unchanged for five centuries.
7 St Gallen • The library of St Gallen's ancient abbey has one of the most impressive secular Rococo interiors in Europe.
8 Davos • Boarders and freeriders will find that there are few better destinations in the world than Davos.
9 Alto Ticino • Giornico, with its picturesque bridge, is one of a string of attractive villages in the lush, high valleys of this Italian-speaking region that offer long, lonesome countryside rambles.
10 Montreux Jazz Festival • Stellar annual music event in this ritzy lakeside resort; Isaac Hayes is just one of the top-drawer names in soul, dance, rock, world music, jazz and blues to have played in recent years.
11 Lake Geneva • From the vineyards of St-Saphorin on the Swiss shore of Lake Geneva, stunning views look westwards up the valley of the Rhône.
12 The Matterhorn • No mountain in the world is so immediately recognizable, dominating the horizon above the world-class skiing, snowboarding and hiking resort of Zermatt.
13 Appenzell • Endearingly old-fashioned dairy village, tucked away amidst hilly countryside that is ideal for long walks.
14 Lugano • A chic lake resort spectacularly surrounded by sugar loaf hills.
15 Bernese Oberland • You can enjoy classic Swiss Alpine scenery from Wengen village, a beautifully sited resort in the mighty Bernese Oberland.
16 Geneva • At the centre of this most discreet, hard-working of cities stands a monument to Calvin and the Reformers, who proclaimed Geneva a "Protestant Rome" in the sixteenth century.
17 Lausanne • Tiered above Lake Geneva and crowned by a stunning Gothic cathedral, Lausanne is Switzerland's most visually dramatic city.
18 Rhätische Bahn • The southeastern corner of Switzerland is the setting for some of Europe's most spectacular train rides aboard the RhB.
19 Wine • Switzerland's wine industry is modest but Swiss wines – some of the best of which come from near Sion – can compete on equal terms with better-known labels from around the world.
20 Château de Chillon • Grand medieval castle, majestically located on the Lake Geneva shore.
21 Stay in an igloo • Either build your own and spend a night in the icy wilderness, or opt for a ready-made and more luxurious version.
22 Schaffhausen • This quiet, little-visited market town, replete with medieval frescoed mansions, stands just upstream from the mighty Rhine falls.
23 Zürich • Beneath a medieval cityscape of spires and steeples, Zürich's old town is filled with cobbled lanes and courtyards to explore.
24 St Moritz • Switzerland's sunniest mountain resort, boasting outstanding skiing and snowboarding as well as the infamous Cresta Run luge course.
25 Basel • Ancient Rhine-side city straddling the French and German borders, enhanced by fine medieval architecture and one of Switzerland's best art museums.