Swiss Explorer

For a small country, Switzerland presents amazing contrasts and a unique scenic and cultural experience. Four languages, dramatic mountains, charming lakes, medieval towns, a near-perfect transport system and its own unique political and banking systems! Every Canton has its own laws, accent and building style – the different farmhouses are explored at the open-air museum of Ballenberg.

Interlaken in the Bernese Oberland means ‘between lakes’ (Lake Thun & Lake Brienz’) and gives access to much of the country from one convenient base. For selected summer dates we have arranged for a private guide to undertake a special itinerary for small groups of VJV clients by boat, rail, bus and on foot. The ‘Golden Pass Rail Line’ running from Zurich through Lucerne and Interlaken to Lake Geneva facilitates excursions along this route. Medieval Berne, capital of both the country and the region, has fine museums and medieval arcades and houses.

Historic Lucerne reveals medieval bridges, lakeside promenades, museums and the villa of Richard Wagner who, after marrying Cosima Liszt in the Protestant Church, proclaimed ‘Nothing will make me leave this place’. This spectacular environment has inspired both climbers and film-makers. The famous train up the North Face evokes ‘The Eiger Sanction’ and the Murren cable car and revolving restaurant evoke James Bond ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’, whilst Meiringen and the Reichenbach Falls were featured in the Sherlock Holmes story, ‘The Final Problem’.