Swiss Alps

The Swiss Alps are the high heart of Switzerland — the Valais and the Bernese Oberland, where the country's greatest peaks and glaciers gather. This is the postcard Switzerland of the Matterhorn above Zermatt and the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau rising over the Lauterbrunnen valley, stitched together by the world's most refined mountain railways. As a sub-region of the Alps, it is the range at its most polished: car-free resort villages, cog railways climbing to 3,000 m, and a public-transport network so precise that a traveller can plan a day to the minute.

The character here is engineered grandeur. The Valais holds the highest summits and the sunniest, driest valleys — Zermatt, Saas-Fee and the vineyards of the Rhône; the Bernese Oberland is greener and lake-fringed, centred on Interlaken between Lakes Thun and Brienz and the trio of Grindelwald, Wengen and Mürren beneath the Jungfrau massif. It is a compact world made for both serious alpinists and travellers who simply want to ride a train to a glacier and be back for dinner.

The Swiss Alps straddle the watershed between the Rhône, which drains the Valais westward toward Lake Geneva, and the Aare, which gathers the Bernese Oberland's melt into its lakes. The southern Valais wall — the Pennine Alps along the Italian frontier — is the highest ground, crowned by the Matterhorn and Monte Rosa; the Bernese Oberland throws up its own 4,000 m rampart in the Jungfrau region. Between them lie deep, rail-served valleys and some of the largest glaciers in Europe, the Aletsch among them.

As everywhere in the high Alps, weather turns fast; the Swiss habit of an early start and a checked forecast is a good one to borrow.

Geneva (GVA) and Zurich (ZRH) are the two international gateways, each roughly two to three hours by train from the mountain valleys, with Bern (BRN) a small domestic option in between. The real magic is what happens after you land: Switzerland's integrated rail network reaches deep into the Alps, and the single Swiss Travel Pass covers trains, postbuses, lake boats and many mountain railways on one ticket.

Within the region, the mountain railways are the road: Zermatt and much of the Jungfrau region are car-free, reached by cog railway from Täsch or Lauterbrunnen, and panoramic lines like the Glacier Express thread between the Valais and the eastern cantons. Movement is famously seamless and punctual, but note the practicalities: Switzerland uses the Swiss franc rather than the euro, mountain-railway fares are high (the passes pay for themselves quickly), and the highest excursions run to a seasonal timetable — check the last descent before you set out.