Best places to visit in Switzerland: top cities, regions and sights

Use this table to choose one city base and one mountain base. Nights are per stop and assume train travel between them.

Step 1: decide how many nights you have. With 7 nights, take Lucerne (3) plus Lauterbrunnen or Interlaken (4). With 10, add Zermatt (2) and Lake Geneva (2). With 14, run the grand rail tour through St Moritz and Lugano.

Step 2: pick your mountain base by what you want to see. The Jungfrau region gives valleys, waterfalls and the Jungfraujoch; Zermatt gives the Matterhorn and the Gornergrat; the Engadin gives wide high valleys and the Bernina line.

Step 3: pick your city base by arrival airport. Zurich suits Lucerne and the east; Geneva suits Lake Geneva, Lausanne and Zermatt via Visp. Both have direct trains to Interlaken.

Step 4: check the season. Mountain villages fill in Jul–Sep and Dec–Mar; many lifts and boats run reduced hours in shoulder months.

Step 5: book trains and mountain stays early. Seat reservations are not needed on most trains, but popular panoramic routes and village hotels sell out.

Prices in Switzerland are high by any standard: budget carefully for hotels, mountain railways and meals. A rail pass often pays off on a multi-stop trip, but compare it against point-to-point tickets for your exact route.

A hire car is rarely worth it. Villages such as Zermatt, Mürren, Wengen and Gimmelwald are car-free or restricted, and parking in cities is expensive. Trains, postbuses and boats cover the same ground.

Weather changes fast above 1,500 m. Keep a flexible day for the big summit, since cloud can hide the view you paid for. Cheaper viewpoints such as Harder Kulm, Männlichen and Rigi often deliver as much as the priciest ones.

Check opening dates for cable cars, mountain huts and lake boats, and check whether your travel dates fall in a Swiss public holiday or school break, when domestic demand spikes.