Home to spectacular mountain ranges, world-renowned chocolate and cheese, and beautiful cities boasting some of the highest standards of living in the world, Switzerland is a place you will undoubtedly leave planning to return.
Mountain adventure, cobble-stoned cities and chocolate feature on tours of Switzerland
Tours of Switzerland start and end in Geneva, Lucerne and Zurich, where you will quickly learn that package bonuses like included meals, and entrance to museums and attractions, are a huge benefit due to the country’s somewhat steep prices. When you compare tours Switzerland you will find itineraries the offer included entry to the Grindelwald Museum, an Emmental cheese dairy farm, the CERN scientific centre, and Swiss chocolate, Alphorn and Kambly biscuit factories, along with discounted excursions that save your wallet from the usual tourist rates.
Other activities offered by tours of Switzerland include reservations for cog railways and/or cable car rides in the famed Swiss Alps, authentic Swiss fondue meals with entertainment, stopovers in Rhine Falls, Chillon Castle, Mürren, and Lichtenstein, and even the occasional chocolate treat. There are also plenty of optional excursions under tour comparison Switzerland, such as lake cruises, horse and carriage rides, visit to local farms, and sleigh rides when the weather is right.
Travellers on tours of Switzerland enjoy a lot of benefits aside from saving coin, such as scheduled train reservations – which are very expensive when booking as you go, knowledgeable local guides leading orientation tours of Geneva, Lucerne, Zurich, Montreux and Bern, exclusive accommodation in mountain resorts, discounts at Swiss watch stores, free engravings for Swiss Army Knives, and guidance on money exchange for Swiss Francs.
Switzerland is packed with natural beauty and things to see, but if you want to explore further afield you will find numerous itineraries combining with Austria, Germany and other highlights of Europe.
Itching to plan your trip? Take a look at our tour comparison Switzerland and find the right itinerary for you.
Want a taste of that insider Switzerland tourism knowledge we mentioned before? We have collected the best facts from real life tour guides. Impress them on tour with how much you already know.
- Switzerland is a landlocked country divided into 26 cantons, and is a quadrilingual country with four official languages: German, French, Italian and Romansh.
- Switzerland is dotted with cities each more beautiful than the next, with medieval legend in the capital of Bern, financial white collar workers and extremely high quality of life in Zürich, lake and Alp access in picturesque Lucerne, unique French-speaking Geneva, the gateway to adventure sports in Interlaken, and the hilly home to the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne.
- Switzerland is inevitably associated with snow-capped mountains, with Mt. Pilatus, Mt. Rigi, Mt. Titlis, Mt. Stanserhorn and the perfectly-triangulated Matterhorn some of the most well-known along with the ‘Top of Europe’ at the peak of Jungfraujoch in Berner Oberland.
- Some of Switzerland’s most stunning towns with access to the mountains include Lauterbrunnen, home to 300-metre Staubbach Falls, Zermatt snow resort, and the skiing and snowboarding hot spot of Verbier.
- Switzerland has an impressive number of panoramic train rides, including the Glacier Express to St Moritz, the Wilhelm Tell Express and the Bernina Express.
- Europe’s largest waterfalls, Rhine Falls, are situated in Switzerland near the town of Schaffhausen.
- The town of Montreux is home to a killer jazz festival held every July since 1967 along with a world-famous Freddie Mercury memorial as Queen recorded many of their songs in the peaceful town’s studios.
- Art Basel is an international fair started in Basel in the 1970s, which has since grown to include three shows annually – in Basel, Hong Kong and Miami, Florida.
- The legend of William Tell, the archer so accurate he could pierce an apple placed on someone’s head, is Swiss.
- Switzerland’s data code, CH, is derived from the Latin Confoederatio Helvetica.
- Huldrych Zwingli, was a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland and is considered the father of Swiss Protestantism.
- A number of major organisations find their home in Switzerland, including the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) founded by Henri Durant, CERN (the European Organisation for Nuclear Research), the European headquarters of the UN, and the International Olympic Committee.
- Switzerland has brought us many reputable companies and brands, including health-care company Roche, Novartis and Alliance Boots, watches such as Rolex, Omega, TAG Heuer, Vacheron Constantin, Patek Philippe, and Swatch, Nestlé, Wenger, Victorinox, banks including UBS, Credit Suisse, and Julius Bär, Zurich Financial Services, ABB, supermarkets Migros and Coop, mining corporations Glencore and Xstrata, and temp agency Adecco.
- Famous Swiss people include businessman Gottlieb Duttweiler, hoteliers César Ritz, Caspar Badrutt and Reto Wittwer, tennis’ Roger Federer and Martina Hingis, and first global balloonist Bertrand Piccard.
- Switzerland’s most important cultural and entertainment contributors include artist Paul Klee, architect Le Corbusier, author of the classic children’s tale ‘Heidi’, Johanna Spyri, Musicians Mani Matter and DJ Bobo, playwright Friedrich Dürrenmatt, television Emil Steinberger, and Bond girl Ursula Andress.
- Switzerland is known for its war neutrality, offshore bank accounts, being the only country with direct democracy (referendums passed on all major decisions) and Dadaism.
- Lord Byron’s poem The Prisoner of Chillon is about Genevois monk Francois Bonivard, who was imprisoned from 1532 to 1536.
- Aluminium foil, Velcro, muesli, the bobsleigh and calculus are all Swiss inventions.
- The Patrouille des Glaciers mountain race is organised every two years by the Swiss Armed Forces, with both military and civilian teams competing.
Courtney Gahan is a serial expat, traveller and freelance writer who has bartered with Moroccan marketeers, seen the sun rise at Angkor Wat and elbowed her way through crowds on NYE in NYC
