Central Europe
Mountains, lakes, and a country that works like a watch.
Switzerland is Europe's showpiece — snow-topped Alps, mirror lakes and impeccable cities where the trains run to the second and the chocolate is a food group. It's tiny, four-language, and effortless to travel: a scenic railway drops you from a glacier to a lakeside café in an afternoon. Zürich, the biggest city, is the sophisticated, moneyed front door — banking and bijou old town by day, a surprisingly lively lake-and-art scene by night. Breathtaking, spotless, and eye-wateringly expensive.
What things cost: Switzerland is the most expensive country in Europe, full stop — a coffee, a beer, a bowl of soup each cost what a meal would elsewhere, and hotels are steep. You pay for a country that works flawlessly, is spotlessly clean and sits among the Alps. Tap water is free and excellent, and a supermarket picnic saves a fortune. When a zone below says 'low', that means low for Switzerland — still not cheap.
Sometimes the event picks the city for you.
Eleven days of premieres, stars on the green carpet and world cinema across the city's grand old picture houses — Switzerland's biggest film event, and a stylish reason to visit in the crisp early autumn.
Zürich · Cinemas citywide
Zürich glitters in December — a giant Swarovski-crystal tree inside the main station, wooden chalets of mulled wine and raclette on the squares, and lights strung the length of Bahnhofstrasse. Cold, sparkling and thoroughly festive; wrap up warm.
Zürich · Main station & old town squares
Zürich's spring festival, where the guilds parade in historic costume and a snowman effigy, the Böögg, is stuffed with fireworks and burned on a pyre — the faster his head explodes, the better the summer, so the legend goes. A gloriously odd, only-in-Zürich spectacle.
Zürich · Sechseläutenplatz & old town
One of the world's biggest technoparties — a million ravers follow floats booming house and techno around the lakefront on a single delirious August day. Free, huge and joyous; the one day buttoned-up Zürich completely lets go.
Zürich · Around the lake basin
