Destinations

Saas-Fee lies at 1,800 m at the head of the Saas valley, surrounded by thirteen four-thousand-metre peaks, among them the Dom (4,545 m), the highest mountain lying entirely on Swiss soil. The car-free village is regarded as the Pearl of the Alps and is known for its year-round glacier ski…

The Great Aletsch Glacier is, at around 20 km long, the longest and largest glacier in the Alps and the heart of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch. From the Aletsch Forest and the viewpoints Eggishorn, Bettmerhorn and Moosfluh you look out over the mighty stream of ice,…

The Matterhorn, at 4,478 m, is one of the highest and at the same time the most famous mountain in the Alps. Its almost free-standing, pyramidal shape on the border between Swiss Zermatt and Italian Breuil-Cervinia is regarded as one of the most photographed mountain motifs in the world. The…

The Ticino cantonal capital Bellinzona guards, with three medieval castles, the important north-south link over the Alpine passes. Castelgrande, Montebello and Sasso Corbaro, together with the defensive wall that once reached right across the valley, form a unique fortification ensemble that has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000….

The Verzasca valley north of Locarno is famous for the exceptionally clear, emerald-green water of the river Verzasca. Its landmark is the double-arched stone bridge Ponte dei Salti at Lavertezzo, often called the Roman bridge. At the valley exit, the 220 m high Verzasca dam holds back the lake, known…

The Lago Maggiore stretches from Ticino into Italy; its Swiss northern end around Locarno and Ascona is known for a mild, almost Mediterranean climate, palm promenades and camellia blossom. Locarno holds, at around 197 m, the lowest point in Switzerland at the lake's surface. Above the town stands the pilgrimage…

Founded in 1914, the Swiss National Park in the Engadin is the oldest national park in the Alps and a strict total reserve: nature is left entirely to itself, and visitors may not leave the marked trails. On around 170 km² live ibex, chamois, red deer, marmots and bearded vultures….

The Bernina Express links Swiss Graubünden with Italian Tirano over the most spectacular stretch of the Rhaetian Railway. The Albula and Bernina lines have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2008. Without a rack, the narrow-gauge railway climbs on the tightest curves to over 2,250 m at the Bernina…

The Piz Bernina, at 4,049 m, is the highest peak of the Eastern Alps and the only four-thousander east of Monte Rosa. It lies in the glaciated Bernina group on the border between the Engadin and the Italian Valtellina. Famous is the Biancograt, an elegant firn ridge regarded as one…

St. Moritz in the Upper Engadin is regarded as the cradle of alpine winter tourism, which began here in 1864, and twice hosted the Olympic Winter Games (1928 and 1948). The fashionable high-altitude resort at 1,822 m lies on a chain of turquoise Engadin lakes before the Bernina massif and…

The Schilthorn (2,970 m) carries on its summit the revolving restaurant Piz Gloria, which became world-famous through the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969). From the viewing terrace the panorama spans around 200 peaks as far as Mont Blanc and into the Black Forest. The cable car…

The Lauterbrunnen valley is a deeply cut trough valley with almost vertical rock walls, over which around 72 waterfalls plunge. The best known is the Staubbach Falls, which drops nearly 300 m freely into the depths. The valley is considered one of the most beautiful in the Alps and inspired…