Travel to Switzerland

The Glacier Express

Settle into a first-class panorama car on the “slowest express train in the world,” which connects St. Moritz and Zermatt in just under eight hours. Between them lie 291 bridges, 91 tunnels, and the 6,700-foot-tall Oberalp Pass. Narration provided by STS points out some of the most spectacular scenery in Europe: dense forests, snow-peaked caps including the Matterhorn, rushing mountain streams, and centuries-old villages.

The romantic Route Express

Climb aboard a bright yellow postal bus for this trip through the Swiss Alps. The bus leaves from the Reuss Valley in Uri and begins a thrilling ride over the 8,000-foot high Furka Pass and glides directly by eye-popping Rhone Glacier before continuing down into the sleepy village of Gletsch in the Valais. (On this voyage you can also include a ride on the Furka steam train.). Leaving Gletsch, the bus climbs a serpentine road to Grimsel Pass, 7,100 feet at its peak. Passengers have a bird’s-eye view of mountain lakes before descending into the Hasli Valley and the town of Meiringen. The yellow bus route continues beyond glaciers, alpine meadows, and past dairy farms, eventually reaching the Reichenbach Valley and pulling onto Grindelwald, the resort village at the foot of the Eiger North Face.

The Mont-Blanc Express

Begin this scenic tour in the canton of Valais. Once across the wild Trient Gorge and ascending to breath-taking heights towards Chamonix, passengers will thrill at the sights of steep mountain sides and waterfalls crashing down outside the train windows. Shady forests alternate with cozy mountain villages, until the tour reaches the magnificent Mont Blanc glacier, Europe’s tallest peak. Swiss Travel System tickets are valid from and to Chatelard. Connecting tickets to and from Chamonix are sold on board. Valid entry documents for France are necessary.

The William Tell Express

This trip connects the historic cradle of Switzerland with Italian-speaking Switzerland. It begins on a nostalgic paddle steamer that plies the calm waters of Lake Lucerne. A three-course lunch is served on board. Upon arrival in Fluelen, passengers transfer to a panorama train bound south for the Ticino. The train chugs up the St. Gotthard mountain range through a series of switch-back tunnels and onto Bellinzona, where visitors can tour castles standing guard over this medieval city. From Bellinzona, the train moves on to Lugano or Locarno.

The golden pass line

This journey connects central Switzerland and Lake Geneva. Passengers depart from historic Lucerne and cross the famous Brunig Pass en route to Interlaken, where they have the option to embark on an excursion to the Jungfraujoch, also called Top of Europe. Afterwards, take the Salon Bleu train and head toward Gstaad. Leaving Gstaad, the train makes an electrifying descent towards Montreux and passes through vineyards and sprawling country estates en route to Lake Geneva.

The Bernina and Heidi Express

  Crossing the Alps from north to south, this route covers the breathtakingly lovely canton of Graubüenden and affords ideal views from first- and second-class panorama cars.

Travel over graceful viaducts, through galleries carved into the sheer rock, switch-back tunnels, mountain streams, glaciers and even an Alpine garden.

This route also carries passengers up to the 7,400-foot Bernina Pass.

LUCERNE FESTIVAL PIANO

The festival focusing on keyboard instruments held in November, will take place for the ninth time in 2006. With its compact offer of classical and jazz piano music, modern and historic instruments, it is quite unique in Europe. Exhibitions, workshops, films, etc. on the topic of keyboard instruments will complement this offer. Among others, Hélène Grimaud, Lang Lang, Alfred Brendel and Evgeny Kissin will play at this festival. For the third time now, the PIANO Off-Stage! festival will take place in parallel to the classical concerts. For six days, eleven renowned jazz piano players from Germany, Italy, Greece, the U.S., and Switzerland will present a true fireworks of their virtuosity at eleven choice localities in the town of Lucerne.

For more information go to www.lucernefestival.ch

Basel

Basel is Switzerland's third most populous city (166,563 inhabitants (2004); 690,000 inhabitants in the conurbation stretching across the immediate cantonal and national boundaries made Basel Switzerland's second-largest urban area as of 2003).

It is located in north-west Switzerland on the river Rhine, the city functions as a major industrial centre for the chemical and pharmaceutical industry. Its borders are both Germany and France. The Basel region, culturally extending into German Baden and French Alsace, reflects the heritage of its three states in the modern Latin name: "Regio TriRhena". It has the oldest university of the Swiss Confederation.

Sports in Swiss

You can have more than 2,000 miles of biking paths, Switzerland is a haven for bicyclists of all levels. But you needn’t bring your bike to travel on two wheels: Many Swiss train stations are stocked with current models available for rent.

The price includes insurance, and a Swiss Travel System ticket entitles you to a special rate. Designed for convenience and to help you get rolling, many trains feature special compartments to transport bikes. Rented bikes can be stashed for free, and there’s a minimal charge to carry ones that are not property of the Swiss Travel System.

Since many visitors travel to Switzerland intending to ski the world-famous peaks (at altitudes above 3,000 feet, there’s perennial snow cover), Swiss Rent-a-Sport offers the latest gear, ranging from skis to snowboards.

Lausanne

In a country of spectacular natural beauty it is the most beautiful of cities,Lausanne is a city of incredibly steep hills that has developed tiered above the lake on a succession of compact but cute terraces. Amazing views of blue water, sunlight and the purple mixed with grey of the looming, whitecapped Savoy Alps peep through between gaps in buildings or at the ends of steeply dropping alleys. There are plenty of parks, and the tree-lined lakefront promenades spill over with lush, sheets of electric colourful flowers. Attractive, interesting, worthy, and well aware of how to have a good time, it’s simply Switzerland’s sexiest city.