Planning a trip to Switzerland and wondering where to go and what to see? On this page, you can find travel inspiration, destination guides, and helpful tips for visiting Switzerland. From the most popular cities to spectacular mountain destinations, find out what to expect and how to plan a perfect trip!
If you have been to Switzerland before, then you probably already know that this country always leaves you wanting to return. It’s just so incredibly beautiful!
If this is your first time planning a trip to Switzerland, don’t make the mistake of just visiting the cities and thinking that you saw the best. There is so much more to see and do! Visiting just a few bigger cities (no matter how beautiful) doesn’t do this country justice. The same counts for the most popular mountain destinations – they are all well worth more than a day!
And while it might be tempting to see ‘everything’ on your first short trip, often, you’ll have a much more enjoyable trip if you just choose just a few areas and explore them a bit deeper.
Switzerland is one of our absolute favorite countries in the world (in our top-3, together with Italy and Portugal). Since we live within less than a day’s drive away, we visit Switzerland very often. Usually at least twice a year – hiking in summer and skiing in winter.
We haven’t been everywhere (that would be absolutely impossible), but we have spent a lot of time in various destinations all over the country and know many areas quite well.
On our blog, we feature just a few of our favorite places in Switzerland – the ones we visited most recently and found the time to write about… But if you have a question about a place we didn’t describe in detail, feel free to leave a reply under a related article and we might be able to help you out with some advice.
Below, you can find our travel guides for some of the most popular tourist destinations all over Switzerland. We also share some of our favorite places and insider tips that will help you plan a truly memorable trip. Take a look!
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Switzerland Travel Tips & Destination Guides
ITINERARY
BERN & BERNESE OBERLAND
- Bern:
- Interlaken area:
- Jungfrau Region:
- Kandersteg:
LUCERNE & CENTRAL SWITZERLAND
- Lucerne area:
- Best Things to Do in Lucerne
- Best Day Trips from Lucerne
- Mt Pilatus from Lucerne
- Pilatus Golden Day Trip (the BEST way to visit Mt Pilatus)
- Stoos Ridge Hike
- Engelberg:
VALAIS REGION
- Zermatt:
- Hiking in & near Zermatt:
LAKE GENEVA
- Geneva: Best Things to Do in Geneva
WINTER TRAVEL
- Affordable Skiing in Switzerland
- Skiing in Engelberg
- Skiing in Wengen-Grindelwald
- Jungfrau Region in Winter
Getting Around
If you are just visiting the Swiss cities and several of the most popular mountain destinations, you do not really need a car. You can easily visit all the most popular places in Switzerland by train. The most popular option is the Swiss Travel Pass which includes unlimited travel on trains, public buses, and boats.
Here can find our complete guide with all the info about the Swiss Travel Pass. And you can buy the pass here.
However, if you want to get a bit off the beaten path and explore more places in a short time, having a car will often be easier and not always more expensive. Also, there are so many amazing areas in the mountains that would be very difficult to see without a car. Sometimes it might make sense to rent a car for just a part of your trip as well. Here you can find the best deals for car rental.
Driving in Switzerland can be a bit challenging because traffic is often very busy, there are roadworks on the highways all the time, and you have to be very careful not to speed because they have cameras all over the place and the fines are really high. Furthermore, often, you spend half of the time driving in tunnels with not much to see. But when you leave the main highways and get into the mountains – the scenery is amazing!
Good to know: When driving on the highways in Switzerland, you need to have a vignette showing that you paid the toll. It costs 40 CHF and is valid for the whole calendar year. If you arrive in Switzerland by car, you can buy it at the border and if you rent a car, it should already have a vignette. In winter, you’ll need winter tires (obligatory!) and snow chains in the mountains.
If you find the train system overwhelming and don’t feel like driving by yourself, you can also consider organized tours. There are all kinds of day tours from all the major cities in Switzerland that allow you to easily visit the most popular places without having to plan much.
TIP: For tours and tickets, check the GetYourGuide website. It has a great selection of tours and tickets for all the most popular places in Switzerland. Furthermore, their customer service is amazing and they have the most flexible cancelation policy on the market. This is where we book all our tours when we travel.
Most Popular Tours
Below are some of the most popular tours in Switzerland. For a complete selection, see here.
Best Time to Visit
There is no bad time to visit Switzerland and all seasons have something special and unique. You can visit the cities at any time of the year and also some popular mountain peaks such as Mt Titlis, Jungfraujoch, Klein Matterhorn, or Gornergrat are accessible 365 days a year.
The best time to visit Switzerland for winter activities is from the end of December to late March. For outdoor activities and hiking in the mountains – come between late May to September – early October.
Spring can also be really nice, but mostly in the cities and the valleys. It can still be quite wet and muddy in the mountains.
READ ALSO: Best Time to Visit Europe
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