Switzerland, peak by peak and lake by lake.
Which Jungfraujoch train clears the cloud. What a Titlis day costs once the cable car is in. Whether the airport transfer is worth fixing in advance. Every Swiss tour, reviewed.
The Swiss summits worth a whole day.
Jungfraujoch, Titlis, Pilatus, Rigi and the Matterhorn. Five mountains, five completely different days out, and one thing in common: the ticket is the tour.
Zurich is where Switzerland starts, and it is far more than a stopover.
Almost every Swiss day trip leaves from the Hauptbahnhof: Titlis by nine, the Rhine Falls by lunch, Lucerne and back before dinner. Give the city its own morning first, down the Limmat and up the Felsenegg cable car.
What a day out in Switzerland actually costs.
Switzerland has a reputation and it is mostly earned. The whole catalogue split by price, so the affordable half is as easy to find as the splurge.
Old-town walks, lake boats, cable-car tickets and museum entry. The everyday half of the country.
- 1Zurich Old Town Walking Tourfrom $33
- 2Zurich City Tour with Audio Commentaryfrom $44
- 3Lake Lucerne Panoramic Sightseeing Cruisefrom $39
The standard day out: the Rhine Falls with Stein am Rhein, a chocolate and cheese afternoon, a summit ticket with the train included.
Jungfraujoch, private drivers, a panoramic seat on the Glacier Express, and the guided days that come with a car and a driver.
The Swiss days travellers book most.
Every review →The tours that carry more travellers than anything else in Switzerland, and what each one gives you for the fare.
1 Award-Winning Geneva Chocolate &Old Town Tour with Boat Ride (3h)
Taste 12 Geneva chocolate creations, explore the Old Town, learn local stories, and cross Lake Geneva by boat on this lively three-hour tour.
From · $131
Read our review →2
Mount Titlis and Lucerne Day Trip from Zurich
from $215
3
Heidiland and Liechtenstein Tour from Zurich
from $120
4
Tandem Paragliding Experience from Interlaken
from $252
5
Jungfraujoch: Top of Europe Day Trip from Zurich
from $380
6
Jungfraujoch Day Trip from Zurich: Swiss Alps & Bernese Oberland
from $386
7
Chamonix & Mont Blanc Panoramic Sky-Glass Bus Guided Day Trip
from $131
8
Mount Pilatus Summit from Lucerne With Lake Cruise
from $223
Lucerne sits under two mountains and on one very good lake.
The Chapel Bridge and the Lion take a morning. The rest of the day belongs to the water and to whichever summit you pick: Pilatus by cogwheel railway, Rigi by paddle steamer and rack train, Titlis over the pass at Engelberg.
Three things Switzerland does that nowhere else can.
Cable cars and cheese boards exist all across the Alps. A railway tunnelled through the Eiger, a mountain that put itself on the chocolate wrapper, and a tasting room at the factory gate do not.
The Jungfrau Railway
The line climbs inside the Eiger and the Monch and stops at 3,454 metres, which makes Jungfraujoch the highest railway station in Europe. Trains run all year, and the summit keeps its own weather: check the live webcam before you commit, because a bright morning in Interlaken means nothing at the top.
- 1Jungfraujoch: Top of Europe Day Trip from Zurich★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 1,647 reviews
- 2Jungfraujoch Day Trip from Zurich: Swiss Alps & Bernese Oberland★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 1,409 reviews
- 3Jungfraujoch Top of Europe Day Trip from Lucerne★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 840 reviews
The Matterhorn
Zermatt is car-free, so every arrival is by train from Tasch, and the mountain stays hidden until you are standing in the village. Gornergrat takes the classic view, Glacier Paradise takes the altitude, and the paragliding flights take the photograph everybody else came for.
- 1Matterhorn Paragliding flight in Zermatt (20-25min)★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 207 reviews
- 2FLYMATTERHORN VIP Paragliding from Zermatt, With Matterhorn View★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 192 reviews
- 3Zermatt & Mt. Gornergrat Small Group Day Trip from Zürich★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 72 reviews
Swiss Chocolate
Cailler has been making chocolate at Broc since 1898 and Lindt keeps a nine-metre chocolate fountain running in Zurich. Both let visitors taste at the source, and the better days pair it with Gruyère from the dairy up the road, which is the correct order.
- 1Award-Winning Geneva Chocolate &Old Town Tour with Boat Ride (3h)★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 3,721 reviews
- 2Zurich Sights: Cruise, Lindt Chocolate and optional FIFA Ticket★★★★★★★★★★ 4.0 · 1,028 reviews
- 3Maison Cailler chocolate factory Visit★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 339 reviews
Geneva faces France, and half its best days cross the border.
The Jet d’Eau and the old town fill a morning. After that Geneva is a departure board: Chamonix under Mont Blanc, Annecy around its own lake, Gruyères for cheese and then chocolate, and the vineyard terraces running east to Montreux.
- 1Award-Winning Geneva Chocolate &Old Town Tour with Boat Ride (3h)from $131
- 2Chamonix & Mont Blanc Panoramic Sky-Glass Bus Guided Day Tripfrom $131
- 3Annecy – Venice of the Alps – Tour from Genevafrom $99
Interlaken sits between two lakes and everything above it is vertical.
Lauterbrunnen has seventy-two waterfalls and a valley floor people jump off. Grindelwald has the First cliff walk with the Eiger over its shoulder. Interlaken is the base for both, and for the kayaks on Lake Brienz when the water turns that improbable turquoise.
Four Swiss bookings that will not wait until you arrive.
Most of Switzerland can be bought at the station on the morning. These four cannot. They run on seat quotas, timed slots and fixed transfer fares that only exist in advance.
- 01Jungfraujoch: Top of Europe Day Trip from ZurichThe train up runs to timed slots, and the early departures that beat the cloud go first.
- 02Glacier Express, Swiss Alps & Lucerne Tour | From ZurichSeat reservation is compulsory on the panoramic trains, and the summer runs fill weeks ahead.
- 03Private Arrival Transfer: from Zurich Airport to Zurich CityA fixed fare is quoted before you fly. The rank outside arrivals quotes nothing.
- 04Private Arrival Transfer: from Geneva Airport to Geneva CityGeneva arrivals split between the Swiss and the French side; a booked driver knows which door you came out of.
A grey day in Switzerland is a chocolate and cheese day.
Mountain weather turns fast, and a summit ticket in fog buys you a white wall. The indoor answers are genuinely good here: tasting rooms at the factory, a dairy with the vat running, a castle on the lake shore, museums that were built for rain.
By base — the town you wake up in
Zurich266 tours
Lucerne121 tours
Geneva119 tours
Jungfrau Region93 tours
Basel63 tours
Lake Geneva49 tours
Bern36 tours
Zermatt31 tours
Lugano23 tours
Graubünden20 tours
The Swiss Alps47 tours- Every region →
By experience — mountain, lake, table or track
The Grand Tour spine, six stops from Zurich to Geneva.
The newest Switzerland tour reviews.
All recent →
Crash Landing on you Tour with Private Transportation
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Full-Day Private Zurich Sightseeing Tour and Chocolate Tasting
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Zurich Hauptbahnhof Train Station to Zurich Hotel
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Zurich Scavenger Hunt and Sights Self-Guided Tour
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Day trip to Swiss Villages from Zurich – Small Group Tour by Car
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Zürich, Lindt Chocolate, Rheinfalls and Stein am Rhein
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Private Transfer: Zurich or Airport ZRH to Basel by Luxury Van
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Zurich Private Tour: Stein Am Rhein Schaffhausen and Rhine Cruise
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Zurich Private Tour – Gruyères, Cheese, and Lavaux’s UNESCO Wine
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