Switzerland is small enough to cross in a day by train, but each region makes for a different trip: glaciers and car-free villages, the Italian-speaking lakes, old towns and wine terraces. Pick the region first, then the village inside it.
The Jungfrau valleys, the lakes of Thun and Brienz and the resorts of the Simmental, Saanenland and Frutigland, all linked by train, bus and cable car. The choice comes down to three things: altitude, whether cars can reach the village, and how long it takes to get to the mountain you came for.
3 car-free villages
The Valais is the canton of the high resorts: Zermatt, Saas-Fee, Bettmeralp and Riederalp let no private car in at all, while Verbier, Crans-Montana and the side valleys are reached by road. The choice comes down to how you arrive, how high you sleep, and what you want on the mountain.
4 car-free villages
The largest Swiss canton, reached by the Rhaetian Railway, where the valleys sit high: Davos is a working town at 1560 m, the Engadin villages sit above 1800 m around a chain of lakes. The choice comes down to how lively you want the evening and how far you want to travel each morning.
Lake Lucerne and its neighbours: a city at the end of the lake, lakeside villages linked by boat, mountain villages reached by rack railway or cable car, and the towns of Zug and Einsiedeln just beyond. You can sleep in the city and take the mountain as a day trip, or sleep on the mountain and come down for the evening.
2 car-free villages
One long lake with four towns strung along its north shore, on the same railway line and the same boat network, and two mountain resorts in the Vaud Alps above it. From Geneva to Vevey the pace drops and the vineyards start; above Aigle, Villars and Les Diablerets trade the lake for the mountain.
South of the Gotthard the language changes and so does the weather. Locarno and Ascona sit on Lake Maggiore, Lugano on its own lake behind the mountain, and Bellinzona guards the valley with its three castles. The choice is mostly between a working city, a lakeside promenade and a castle town.
This corner of the country trades glaciers for painted facades, abbey libraries and a river that becomes a waterfall. The distances are short, the trains are frequent, and one base can cover the Rhine towns, the Appenzell hills and the Alpstein without ever changing hotel.
1 car-free village
Between the Jura and the Alps lies the part of Switzerland where people actually live: capital cities, university towns and a language border that runs through the middle of it. Everything here is half an hour from everything else by train, so the choice is about the kind of town you want to walk out into in the evening.
1 car-free village
| Region | Guides | Car-free villages | Altitude of the bases | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bernese Oberland | 14 | 3 | 558 to 1638 m | Compare the bases |
| Valais | 11 | 4 | 490 to 1970 m | Compare the bases |
| Graubünden | 11 | 0 | 584 to 1822 m | Compare the bases |
| Central Switzerland | 10 | 2 | 425 to 1444 m | Compare the bases |
| Lake Geneva region | 6 | 0 | 375 to 1300 m | Compare the bases |
| Ticino | 4 | 0 | 196 to 273 m | Compare the bases |
| Eastern Switzerland | 6 | 1 | 401 to 1256 m | Compare the bases |
| Swiss Plateau | 6 | 1 | 261 to 958 m | Compare the bases |
Counts and altitudes come from the destination sheet of this site: the altitude is the village or town itself, not its ski area or summit.
Prices and availability change daily in the Alps, especially in July, August and over Christmas.