Switzerland runs on timetables. Here is what to put on yours.
Which summit is worth the cable-car fare on a grey morning. Whether Lucerne or Interlaken makes the better base. Reviews of every tour you can book in Switzerland.
Five bookings a first week in Switzerland is usually built around.
What each one costs, how long it takes, and what travellers say once they are back down.
01The summit dayJungfraujoch: Top of Europe Day Trip from ZurichUp through the Eiger to the highest railway station in Europe, out of Zurich and back before dinner.
02The Titlis classicMount Titlis and Lucerne Day Trip from ZurichThe rotating cable car onto the glacier in the morning, the Lucerne waterfront in the afternoon.
03The chocolate hoursAward-Winning Geneva Chocolate &Old Town Tour with Boat Ride (3h)Geneva old town on foot, a boat out on the lake, and a tasting at the end of it.
04The twenty minutesTandem Paragliding Experience from InterlakenOff the ridge above Interlaken with a lake on either side and the Eiger straight ahead.
05The cheap first morningZurich Old Town Walking TourZurich old town on foot: guild houses, the river crossings and where the city actually eats lunch.
Cogwheel, cable car or glacier: three ways up a Swiss mountain, and what the ticket costs.
Every summit here sells a different day. The rack railways run whatever the sky does, the cable cars stop when the wind gets up, and the glacier days want boots you probably did not pack.
★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · Mt Rigi and Lucerne Day Trip from Zurich With Boat Ride
Top of EuropeThe rack railway through the Eiger to 3,454 metres.
Onto the iceIce caves, glacier walks and tunnels cut into the blue.
Every summitTitlis, Pilatus, Rigi, Schilthorn and the rest, by cable car and cogwheel.
Off the top by airTandem flights from the ridges above Interlaken and Zermatt.
All 66 ways up a Swiss mountain →
In Switzerland the base decides the trip. Six of them, and what each reaches by lunchtime.
The country is small and the trains are relentless, so where you sleep matters more than how long you stay. Six starting points, what each one puts within a day, and the tour to book from it.
The Swiss days out travellers book before anything else.
Every Swiss tour review →These carry more traveller reviews behind them than anything else in the country. What each one includes, and what it costs to join.
1
Award-Winning Geneva Chocolate &Old Town Tour with Boat Ride (3h)
Meet your English-speaking guide in central Geneva for a three-hour walk through five chocolateries, a pastry shop, and a surprise stop. You’ll taste about 12 treats, hear stories of chocolate and Geneva, visit the Old Town, and cross Lake Geneva by boat. Guides may include Paul, Ethan, Olivia, Anatole, or Isabelle.
From · $131
Read our review →
2
Mount Titlis and Lucerne Day Trip from Zurich
from $215
3
Heidiland and Liechtenstein Tour from Zurich
from $120
4
Tandem Paragliding Experience from Interlaken
from $252
5
Jungfraujoch: Top of Europe Day Trip from Zurich
from $380
6
Jungfraujoch Day Trip from Zurich: Swiss Alps & Bernese Oberland
from $386
7
Chamonix & Mont Blanc Panoramic Sky-Glass Bus Guided Day Trip
from $131
8
Mount Pilatus Summit from Lucerne With Lake Cruise
from $223
Switzerland eats better than its reputation suggests.
Fondue in a Lucerne cellar, the tasting line at Cailler, the Gruyères dairy on the road to Geneva. The food days are cheap by Swiss standards, which is why they fill first in winter.
What a day out in Switzerland actually costs.
The mountain tickets are the reason this country has its reputation. Grouped by price, so the expensive day can be planned around the cheap ones.
Old-town walks, Foxtrail trails, castle and museum entries, the short lake boats.
- 1Chaplin’s World Entrance Ticketfrom $39
- 2Zurich Old Town Walking Tourfrom $33
- 3Zurich City Tour with Audio Commentaryfrom $44
Rhine Falls and Gruyères by coach, the lower cable cars, glacier caves, half-day city runs.
Jungfraujoch, the panoramic trains, private drivers and the tandem flights.
Almost everything in Switzerland is a day trip from somewhere else.
Two hours on a train covers most of the country. That is why the coach and minibus days out of Zurich, Lucerne and Geneva reach further than the map suggests, and why nobody here changes hotel as often as they plan to.
Three things that only happen in Switzerland.
Cable cars and cold lakes exist all over the Alps. A city-wide puzzle trail, a dining car crossing 291 bridges, and a railway station inside a glacier do not.
Foxtrail
Foxtrail lays a trail of clues through a Swiss town and hands you nothing but the first one. A chalk mark on a wall, a code punched into a door, a tram ride you take only because the fox said so. It started in Lucerne and now runs in most cities, including underground stretches that need a torch. Teams of four work best and nobody finishes in the time they expected.
- 1Baden Foxtrail Aquae★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 29 reviews
- 2Einstein in Zurich: Walk in Time Exploration Game and Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.0 · 25 reviews
- 3Lugano Fox Trail Galileo★★★★★★★★★★ 3.5 · 18 reviews
The panoramic trains
The Glacier Express takes eight hours to cross 180 miles, which is the entire point. The Bernina line climbs to 2,253 metres without a rack rail and unwinds down the Brusio spiral viaduct on its way to Italy. Both run on compulsory seat reservations, the panoramic carriages go first, and the dining car is booked separately.
- 1Gruyères Tour from Geneva With Train, Chocolate and Cheese★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 258 reviews
- 2St. Moritz and Panoramic Bernina Express Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.0 · 215 reviews
- 3Glacier Express, Swiss Alps & Lucerne Tour | From Zurich★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 164 reviews
Jungfraujoch
The railway tunnels up through the Eiger and comes out at 3,454 metres, at the highest station in Europe. There is a post office, an ice palace cut into the glacier, and a terrace looking down the Aletsch. It is the most expensive ticket in the country and worth nothing in cloud, so the summit webcam decides the morning, not the itinerary.
- 1Jungfraujoch: Top of Europe Day Trip from Zurich★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 1,647 reviews
- 2Jungfraujoch Day Trip from Zurich: Swiss Alps & Bernese Oberland★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 1,409 reviews
- 3Jungfraujoch Top of Europe Day Trip from Lucerne★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 840 reviews
Four Swiss bookings that will not wait until you land.
Most of this country can be arranged from a hotel lobby the night before. These four run on seat reservations, weather windows and instructor calendars that filled up months ago.
- 01Jungfraujoch: Top of Europe Day Trip from ZurichThe Jungfrau railway sells timed tickets and the clear mornings go first. Cheaper early trains are capped and sell out weeks ahead in summer.
- 02Glacier Express, Swiss Alps & Lucerne Tour | From ZurichSeat reservations are compulsory on the panoramic trains, separately from the rail ticket, and the window seats go long before the carriage does.
- 03Tandem Paragliding Experience from InterlakenTandem flights run on a weather window. When a clear day arrives the pilots are already booked, so the slot is taken before the forecast is.
- 04Private Ski Lessons – 3 hours ZermattPrivate instructors are held by the same families every season. A Christmas or February slot in Zermatt is gone by autumn.
Half the mountain tickets in Switzerland are worth nothing in bad weather.
A cable car into fog costs exactly what one into sunshine costs. Swiss forecasts and summit webcams are unusually accurate, so check both at breakfast and keep a low-altitude day on the shelf: a chocolate factory, a cellar, a museum town, or a Foxtrail that runs whatever the sky is doing.
By place, Zurich to Zermatt
By kind of day: summit, lake, cellar or trail
Zurich, Lucerne, Interlaken, Zermatt, Geneva: the run most first trips end up doing.
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