Why visit Switzerland?

Because no country does mountains better. Switzerland pairs the most spectacular and accessible Alps on earth — reached by railways that are attractions in themselves — with clean, cultured cities, four separate linguistic cultures, and a luxury-hospitality tradition it effectively invented. Add chocolate, cheese and wine, a deep environmental conscience, and a level of order and safety that makes travel effortless, and it works equally well for skiing, summer hiking, lake trips and city breaks. It is the benchmark Alpine destination.

How many days do you need in Switzerland?

A long weekend suits a single city or resort; a week is the sweet spot, enough to pair a city like Zürich or Geneva with an Alpine base and ride one of the great scenic trains. Ten days or more lets you cross between regions and languages — say Zürich, the Bernese Oberland and an Italian-speaking valley in the south. Distances are short and the rail network superb, so you can see a great deal without rushing; the Swiss Travel Pass makes multi-stop trips simple.

Switzerland in winter or summer — which is better?

Both are excellent, and they are different holidays. Winter, December to March, is for skiing and the festive glamour of the resorts, with deep, reliable Alpine snow. Summer, June to September, is for hiking, lake-swimming, the open high passes and the scenic railways at their greenest — and is often the better choice for a first visit or a non-skier. Spring and autumn are quieter and beautiful but see some seasonal closures. For snow, winter; for the widest range of mountain experiences, summer.

What is Switzerland known for?

Mountains above all — the Alps, the Matterhorn, the glaciers and the scenic railways — alongside its precision and order: punctual trains, watchmaking, banking and a famously high quality of life. It is known for chocolate, cheese (fondue, raclette, Gruyère) and Lake Geneva wines; for four national languages in one small country; for neutrality and clean, safe, walkable cities; and for inventing the grand Alpine hotel and the modern ski holiday. Increasingly, it is known for sustainable, design-led luxury too.

How do you get around Switzerland?

By train, almost always. Switzerland has one of the world's best public-transport networks, with fast, punctual trains linking the cities and scenic mountain railways reaching the resorts and glaciers; the famous routes — the Glacier Express, the Bernina Express — are sights in themselves. The Swiss Travel Pass covers trains, buses and lake boats and many museums, making car-free travel easy and often preferable, since many resort villages are themselves car-reduced or car-free.

Boutique Hotels in Switzerland - Alpine Luxury Stays

Where to go in Switzerland

The instinct is to head straight for the mountains, and rightly so — but the cities are the usual way in. Zürich, on its lake at the foot of the hills, is the cultured, moneyed heart of German-speaking Switzerland, with a medieval old town, a serious art and dining scene and the country's best shopping; Geneva and Lausanne hold the French-speaking west on Lake Geneva, and Italian-speaking Lugano basks in the south. Each makes a civilised start or finish to an Alpine trip.

But the Alps are the reason to come. This is the home of the resort that invented the genre — from the discreet chalet glamour of Gstaad and the glitz of St Moritz to the car-free villages beneath the Matterhorn at Zermatt and the quieter, greener slopes of Arosa — and of mountain set-pieces that need no introduction: the Jungfrau and the Eiger, the glaciers reached by cog railway, the Glacier Express winding clean across the country. In summer the same peaks turn to hiking and lake-swimming; in winter they are among the finest skiing on earth. Whichever you choose, the scenic railways make the journeys between them an attraction in their own right.

Food, culture and where to stay

Swiss food is mountain food refined: cheese in all its forms, from fondue and raclette to the hard alpine wheels of Gruyère and the Grisons; rösti and air-dried meats; and, of course, the chocolate and the precision pastries. The cities add a polished modern dining scene and the lakeside café culture of the French-speaking west, while the wines of the Valais and Lake Geneva slopes are a well-kept local secret. Underpinning it all is the Swiss character — orderly, quietly proud, deeply attached to its landscape — and a genuine national commitment to sustainability that the best hotels now share.

The club's choices reflect that range. In Arosa, the Valsana is a fossil-fuel-free lifestyle hotel run on geothermal energy and a pioneering ice battery — among the greenest luxury hotels in the Alps. In Gstaad, Ultima Hotel Gstaad is the resort's most private five-star address, three linked chalets of just 11 suites and 6 residences. And in Zürich, the Hotel Ambassadoris a classical city base for the lake, the old town and the galleries. Eco-pioneer, private chalet or city classic — between them they map the modern Swiss idea of luxury, in three of its finest settings.

When to go

Switzerland is a true two-season country, and most of the year repays a visit. Winter, December to March, is the season of the Alps at their most famous: deep, reliable snow, world-class skiing and the festive glamour of the resorts. Summer, June to September, is arguably even better for first-timers — long, warm days for hiking, lake-swimming and the scenic railways, with the high passes open and the meadows in flower. Late spring and autumn are quieter and lovely, autumn especially for golden larches and clear mountain air, though some mountain lifts and resort hotels close for a few weeks between seasons. For skiing, come in winter; for the mountains at their greenest and most accessible, come in summer.