International · Switzerland
Switzerland
Four languages, twenty-six cantons, one immaculate train timetable.
Ideal length
8–12 days
Bespoke from
₹6.8L / pax
Time zone
GMT +1
Visa
Schengen
Featured packages
Featured packages for Switzerland.
The Place
Switzerland is the cleanest, most precisely organised travel on earth. We design summer journeys around the Glacier Express, walks above Zermatt, and one night at a Heidi-house in Appenzell, and winter trips around St. Moritz, Verbier, and a private ski guide who knows every off-piste line.
Language
German, French, Italian, Romansh
Plug
Type J · 230V
Tipping
Rounded up, not expected
Tap water
Drinkable everywhere
Best time
June to September, December to March
Getting there
Direct flights to Zurich & Geneva
Currency
CHF
Why we go
Three reasons Switzerland stays on our atlas.
When to go
Signature experiences
The reasons you came for, and a few you didn't.
SignatureGlacier Express, end to end
St. Moritz to Zermatt in a panoramic carriage: eight hours, 291 bridges, 91 tunnels.
SunriseFirst-light Matterhorn
A 5 a.m. funicular to Gornergrat for the moment the peak catches fire.
FoodCheese in Gruyères
An afternoon at a working alpage with the cheesemaker who supplies our table.
WalksLauterbrunnen valley walk
Seventy-two waterfalls in a single U-shaped valley, best on foot, in slow stages.
WinterPrivate ski guide, Verbier
Off-piste lines through the Four Valleys with a UIAGM guide who reads the snow like a book.
SlowLake Lucerne paddle steamer
A century-old steamboat dinner across glassy water with the Alps for backdrop.
A possible shape
One way to spend your time in Switzerland.
Not a fixed trip, a sketch to argue with. Every Gallivant journey is rebuilt around your dates, pace, and people.
Day 1
Land Zurich · Lucerne
Private transfer to a lakeside grand-dame hotel. Walk the old town in the evening.
Day 2
Lucerne · Rigi
Cogwheel up Mount Rigi, then a paddle-steamer dinner on the lake.
Day 3
Grindelwald & Jungfrau
First Cliff Walk, then the Jungfraujoch, top of Europe by rail.
Day 4
Lauterbrunnen valley
Slow morning waterfall walk. Afternoon train to Zermatt via Brig.
Day 5
Zermatt
Gornergrat sunrise. Late lunch at a 14th-century mountain hut.
Day 6
Glacier Express
Zermatt to St. Moritz across the Oberalp Pass, eight unhurried hours.
Day 7
St. Moritz
Engadine valley walk, an afternoon at the Segantini museum, dinner at Badrutt's.
Day 8
Onward · Milan or home
Bernina Express south, or back to Zurich for the flight home.
Where you'll sleep
Three archetypes, one shortlist.
Belle Époque grande dame
Badrutt's Palace, St. Moritz
The hotel that taught the Alps how to do winter. Suites overlook the frozen lake.
Modernist mountain lodge
The Omnia, Zermatt
Carved into the rock above the village. Every window frames the Matterhorn.
Architectural retreat
7132 Hotel, Vals
Peter Zumthor's thermal baths, a Tadao Ando wing, and absolute quiet.
On the plate
Food, drinks, and the rituals around them.
Which season
The year, in four moods.
Field notes
Small things that change the trip.
Practical Switzerland knowledge from people who keep going back.
- 01
The Swiss Travel Pass usually pays for itself by day three, we issue it at arrival.
- 02
Trains run to the minute. Be early or you are late.
- 03
Card is accepted everywhere; carry CHF only for high-mountain huts.
- 04
Reserved-seat carriages on the Glacier Express are first-class only; we always book first.
- 05
Pharmacies close at 6.30 p.m. and all day Sunday. Plan medication accordingly.
- 06
There is no 'cheap' Switzerland, but there is good-value Switzerland, and we know where it lives.
Questions
What we get asked about Switzerland.
Pair this with
Trips we often run alongside.
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