Travel in region Jungfrau

Nowhere is perfect, but let’s face it, Switzerland gets pretty darned close. 

To reach the top of the Waldspritz sledding run above the village of Grindelwald in the Swiss Alps, I hiked 90 minutes into the backcountry, dragging a small runnered sled by a rope to roughly 7,400 feet.

For the first time in a decade, I went away without my husband.

Switzerland, for the second year in a row, topped U.S. News & World Report’s rankings of the world’s best countries, marking its sixth time in the number one spot since 2017. Well known for its stunning mountains, lakes, and valleys—and for the cheese and chocolate from the cows that graze its verdant pasturelands—the Bernese Alps and the Jungfrau Region epitomize Switzerland. Here’s how to visit some of its highlights and experience why Switzerland’s quality of life and cultural influence are consistently ranked so high.

From 11,362 feet, summertime in Switzerland’s Jungfrau region looks like a half-colornized photograph. Peering down from the viewing platform at Jungfraujoch, the mountain saddle that connects the Jungfrau and Mönch peaks in the Bernese Oberlands, you can trace the jagged, piny line where the limestone-and-ice mountains melt into the fertile green valleys below.

Beautiful cities and lakes. Magnificent mountain resorts. Secluded Alpine getaways, and some of Europe’s most scenic train journeys. Given that it’s not possible to see everything Switzerland has to offer in one trip, the experts who brought you The Rough Guide to Switzerland have compiled the best things to do in a destination you voted one of the most beautiful countries in the world.