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Introducing Switzerland
If you could travel through only one European country, which might you choose? Italy? France? Germany? How about a taste of three in one? That can only mean Switzerland!
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Known as a summer and winter sports paradise (just look at those glistening white 4000m-plus Alpine peaks and glittering lakes), Switzerland is where people first skied for fun. Illustrious names evoke all the romance and glamorous drama of the mountain high life: Zermatt, St Moritz, Interlaken, Gstaad, the Jungfrau, Verbier and more. Cities like Geneva (the most cosmopolitan), Zürich (the most outrageous), Basel and Lausanne heave with heady artistic activity and sometimes incendiary nightlife.
Beyond the après-ski chic, edelweiss and Heidi lies a complex country of cohabiting cultures. It not only has four languages (Swiss German, French, Italian and Romansch), but the cultural variety to match. You could be chomping on sausages over beer in an oom-pah-pah Stübli one day and pasta over a glass of merlot in a granite grotto the next. And if over-indulgence becomes a problem try one of the country's thermal baths, from Yverdon-les-Bains to Scuol.
The grandeur of the finest churches, such as the cathedrals in Lausanne and Bern, contrasts with sparkling but lesser-known treasures like the frescoes of Müstair or the abbey complex of St Gallen (both World Heritage sites).
The list of enchanting towns is endless: from Lucerne with its covered bridge to Neuchâtel and its fountains; from Gruyères with its cheese, and Grimentz with its traditional timber houses to the sgraffito-blazoned buildings of Engadine towns like Scuol and Zuoz.
Whether visiting the remotest Ticino villages or sampling the finest of Valais wines, you'll find Switzerland a chocolate box bursting with unexpected flavours.
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Ready to go? These recommended tours make it easy:
- journey from Chamonix to Zermatt along the Haute Route
- climb Switzerland’s highest mountain, the Matterhorn
- or why not see the real Europe
- search for cheap flights to Switzerland
Last updated: Nov 27, 2009
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Switzerland
Our Top Picks For Switzerland
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1 Basel
Modern art and contemporary buildings by likes of Frank Gehry and Herzog & de Meuron
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2 Lucerne
Iconic timber bridges, a stroll through the old town and cruises on the mountain-ringed lake
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3 Bern
Bear pits, a dip in the Aare, Paul Klee in the Kunstmuseum and Einstein's house
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4 Lac De Neuchâtel
The château of Neuchâtel, colourful historic fountains, the Gothic Église Collégiale and lake cruises
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5 Lausanne
The Art Brut gallery, hilly medieval centre, Olympic museum and lakefront Lavaux vineyard hikes
Fast Facts about Switzerland
- Average life expectancy
77.9 (men), 83.7 (women)
- GDP per capita
Sfr65,830 (2007)
- GDP
Sfr480 billion (2007)
- Highest point
Dufourspitze at 4634m
- Area
41,285 sq km
- Unemployment rate
2.4% (2007)
- Inflation
2%
- Population
7.59 million
- GDP growth
1.9%
- Non-Swiss nationals
20.7% of population
- You Fondue?
Most of the world left fondue back in the 70s, but in Switzerland it's always in style. The classic fondue is bread dunked in Emmental and Gruyère cheeses mixed with white wine, potato flour and a dash of nutmeg - consumed, of course, on shag-pile carpet.
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Our favourite Switzerland Blogs (beta)
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Biodynamic Farm and Farmstand in Appenzell Switzerland
Blog: Green Earth Guides ~ Traveling Naturally - 23 November 2009
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The Biomechanical Giger Bar
Blog: Brilliant Tips Travel Blog - 23 October 2009
The Giger Bar is a bar themed and modeled by H. R. Giger, a Swiss surrealist painter, sculptor, and set designer who won a Visual Effects Academy Award for his design work on the film Alien. Built under Giger’s close personal supervision, the bar reflects his original concept of a representation of human bodies and machines in a cold, interconnected relationship described as “biomechanical.” The bar’s interior is themed and modeled by the artist to reflect the films he designed, most notably “Alien.” With the cavernous, skeletal structure covered by ...
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Jurassic World Treasure
Blog: Tripalong - 24 August 2009
It’s a dream come true for every dinosaur-mad eight-year-old. And I have to confess that even at the grand old age of 30-something with two kids under my belt and the third en route, I too am excited. Call it the Jurassic adventure of my lifetime – to view herds of fossilized, dinosaur footprints found in Switzerland [...]
