Switzerland might look tiny on paper, but with most of its land gobbled up by the Alps, this little European nation packs in a lot of elevated space.
Wherever you go, you’re in for one hell of a drive: roads unfurl along the shores of great lakes and glaciers, mountain passes corkscrew up to fairy-tale medieval castles, and on the high roads, every glorious bend makes you want to screech to a halt and yodel in delight.
Neatly wrapping it all up is the big one – the 1,643km (1,021-mile) Grand Tour of Switzerland – an epic, efficiently signposted lap of the country that links 12 UNESCO World Heritage sites and shows off the Alpine nation from its most flattering angles.
Short on time? Don’t worry – here are seven other incredible road trips in Switzerland to give you a head start.
Best road trip for glaciers and mountain peaks Obergoms–Andermatt; 35km (22 miles)
The wows never leave your lips, and the Alps never leave your rear-view mirror on this astonishingly steep, snaking, stop-the-car-and-grab-the-camera drive from the remote valley of the Goms in Valais to mountain-encrusted Andermatt in Uri.
If you begin to feel rather Bond-like behind the wheel, it’s no coincidence: this road starred in the car chase scene in the 1964 movie Goldfinger and brings out the 007 in everyone.
Swerving precariously around switchbacks, it tops out at the 2,429m (7,969ft) Furka Pass, where you can peer across the lunar rockscape of a wind-battered plateau and park to see the deeply crevassed Rhône Glacier and its ice grotto before the long, sweeping descent to Andermatt.
Planning tip: Drive the Furka Pass west to east for full-on, hairpin-riddled drama and views of austere peaks and glaciers that will draw constant gasps. Open roughly from June to October, the best time to go is the summer, as the road closes when the snow arrives. Check conditions before heading out.
Best road trip for rural Switzerland Appenzell–St Moritz; 200km (124 miles)
Switzerland’s rural, folksy heart beats loudest in the Appenzell region, snuggling up to Liechtenstein in the country’s northeast. It’s a terrifically unsung region for a road trip, with rolling dairy country giving way to lavishly frescoed towns. A week? Doable. Two weeks? Now you’re talking…
The route passes Säntis mountain (at the summit of which you can see six countries), the seven wavy limestone peaks of the Churfirsten range and the pretty medieval hamlet of Werdenberg before crossing little-but-lovely Liechtenstein, with an essential stop-off at its castle-topped capital, Vaduz.
The mountains soar ever higher as you cruise south to vine-rimmed Maienfeld – the setting of the beloved Swiss children’s book Heidi – and the gorge-spanning Salginatobel Bridge, a feat of engineering
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Although the birth of luxury timepieces are often associated with Geneva and Basel, the cradle of Swiss watchmaking lies deep in Switzerland’s Jura Mountains. Since 1748, the postcard-worthy Vallée de Joux has been the birthplace of world-renowned watch brands, including Audemars Piguet, Jaeger-LeCoultre, and David Candaux.
With mixed amounts of snow across Europe's ski slopes the week before Christmas and with ever decreasing amounts of expected snow, many resorts are pushing for greater climate action and alternative ways to find income, particularly as artificial snow isn't the panacea it was once thought to be.
From December 2023, as part of its Mobility Plan, Verbier Tourisme will introduce a multi mode of transport booking service developed by Antidots. This innovative booking platform will incorporate all modes of transportation, covering entire journeys from any locations worldwide. As a result, it will now be possible to plan, book, and pay for your journey to Verbier through a single platform. This solution marks the first integration of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) with a valley lift, specifically the one connecting Le Châble and Verbier. It provides travelers with an all-inclusive transportation package, encompassing train and plane services, VTC and taxi options, car rentals, buses, and coaches, as well as free shuttles and the Châble-Verbier gondola. All of these services are conveniently bundled together on the Go Verbier platform, allowing for a seamless experience with a single payment.
Snow is falling around me in large, cinematic flakes. It’s 8.45 on a Tuesday morning in mid-January. I’m sitting at the top of a wide empty ski slope, ready to strap into my snowboard. Within minutes, I’m schussing down the powder-soft run, then back to the resort, ready to open my laptop and start a day of work.
In the snowy heart of the Swiss Alps, one hotel is changing the game for what après-ski means. Traditionally, après-ski is all about kicking back after a day of skiing, maybe with a hot drink or a beer in hand. It's a time to relax and share stories of the day's escapades on the slopes. But at the Tschuggen Grand Hotel, they're offering something different, something more.
World travelers are well aware of the most expensive cities in the world, particularly in 2023 when global prices rose on average by 7.4%. Three new surveys offer an insight into whether the most expensive cities merit the high price tags—are they the most sustainable and the ones offering the best quality of life?
It’s believed that the Norwegians invented modern skiing as we know it, and the first destination ski resort was Switzerland’s St. Moritz around 1864—more than half a century before the oldest operating mountain in the U.S. opened. It was the ski loving but mountain-challenged British that popularized the very notion of the ski vacation, traveling to the Alps for food, fun and skiing.
A European country has taken over the top spot as the world’s most powerful passport, according to a new index by VisaGuide.World. As of December, the Spanish passport has claimed first place from Singapore, a new study by the visa advice website has found.
Finding the best walking shoes for travel can be tough. You want something comfortable enough to get you through a full day of wandering around, but not so comfortable that it screams “I'm a tourist!” And since nobody wants to tote around a bag (checked or otherwise) filled with shoes, the ones that do make the packing list cut need to be versatile enough to wear with multiple outfits.
A few years ago, at a reception at the Polish embassy in Bern, Switzerland, an elderly Jewish man pulled the ambassador aside and relayed an unbelievable story. They were standing on holy ground, the man said, a place where near-secret acts of heroism played out during World War II. Intrigued, the ambassador, Jakob Kumoch, tasked his staff with looking into the man’s claims. Soon, an incredible history emerged.