Switzerland

A cogwheel railway tunnels through the Eiger and Mönch to Europe's highest railway station, 3,454 metres above sea level. From the Sphinx terrace the Aletsch Glacier, the longest in the Alps, curves south for more than twenty kilometres, and on clear days the view reaches the Black Forest.

Our tip Ride the Eiger Express gondola up from Grindelwald on the earliest departure, as cloud tends to gather around the summit by early afternoon.

Lucerne's covered Chapel Bridge, painted gables and Lion Monument sit at the head of a fjord-like lake ringed by peaks. A paddle steamer to Alpnachstad connects with the world's steepest cogwheel railway up Pilatus, and Mount Titlis, with its revolving cable car and glacier, is under an hour away by road.

Our tip Walk the Musegg Wall in the late afternoon; its towers give the best elevated view of the old town and lake, and few visitors climb them.

A long gondola lifts you above Grindelwald to First, where a steel cliff walk hangs off the rock face beneath the Schreckhorn. An easy hour on foot leads to the Bachalpsee, a small lake whose still water mirrors the Bernese peaks, and the descent can be made on scooter-bikes or the First Flyer zip line.

Our tip Reach the Bachalpsee before nine, when the water is calmest and the reflection of the peaks is at its sharpest.

Sheer limestone walls rise almost a thousand metres on either side of this valley floor, and more than seventy waterfalls spill from them. Staubbach Falls drops beside the village church, while Trümmelbach Falls thunders inside the mountain itself, carrying meltwater from the Jungfrau through a series of lit corkscrew chambers.

Our tip Continue by cable car to the car-free village of Mürren for a quieter lunch with an unobstructed view of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau.

Zermatt is reached only by train, and its lanes of dark larch chalets lead toward the Matterhorn's unmistakable pyramid. The Gornergrat railway climbs to a ridge facing twenty-nine summits above four thousand metres, while the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise cable car rises higher still, to an ice palace and year-round snow.

Our tip Stand on the Kirchbrücke bridge at dawn to watch first light turn the Matterhorn's summit from grey to rose gold.

Palm trees and a lakeside promenade give Montreux an unexpectedly Mediterranean air, with the Dents du Midi rising across the water. Just along the shore, the Château de Chillon sits on a rocky islet, and to the west the terraced vineyards of Lavaux, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, fall steeply to the lake.

Our tip Arrive from Interlaken on the GoldenPass Express, which crosses the Bernese Oberland and Gruyère region without a change of train.