Pretty Lucerne is widely considered the most quintessential Swiss town. Photo / Shutterstock
Switzerland may be small (just a third the size of New Zealand’s North Island) but with the right tour you can easily see its greatest hits in eight days, writes Sarah Pollok.
Switzerland is the land of Lindt chocolate and the great Matterhorn. It gave us Rolex watches and Gruyere cheese, and despite having just eight days, I wanted to see it all.
Doing so via a coach tour was something I admittedly had reservations about, largely owing to my love of independence and flexibility, especially when travelling. However, as I discovered, this form of transport may just be the best when visiting Switzerland.
Climbing on to the pristine coach idling in Zurich, I hear our group before I see them; a lively crowd of mostly Americans, couples like Charles and Darleen or Karen and Carole in their 60s and 70s, yet as eager to explore as any 20-year-old.
The first stop is a one-hour zip around Zurich’s old town, just enough time to take in Switzerland’s slick financial hub, with pristine concrete streets, vibrant flower boxes and seemingly no other tourists. Instead, immaculate Swiss stride along in crisp suits, a picture of calm and efficiency.
Plugged into headsets, we get a brief political and religious history from Davor as we wander along the river and past a plaque marking Winston Churchill’s famous visit and speech on European unity in 1946. We end the walk, not at a Lindt chocolate shop, but at Sprungli, which Davor describes as the “real deal” as we peruse gleaming cabinets of chocolates before returning to the bus.
In less than an hour, I’ve already had a taste of what to expect on this tour: charming streets, Swiss treats and Davor’s wealth of knowledge. Pulling out of the city, the large bus windows are soon filled with muscular tree-covered mountains that rise up, up, up behind little alpine cabins and blankets of wildflowers. It’s nature’s most beautiful movie playing from my window, and I happily plug in my earphones and watch the show.
“If you go to Switzerland and you don’t go up to the mountains, it’s like you’ve never been to Switzerland,” says our Italian driver, Massimo, as he expertly navigates the coach up a steep road bound for Julier Pass. Named after Julius Caesar, the pass was heavily used by Roman legions, and aside from being an efficient route between, it’s also supremely beautiful. Hugging the edge, a giant ravine to the right, thick pines blanket the towering mountains.
It’s quickly obvious that, like New Zealand, Switzerland is a country one must drive around to fully appreciate. Flying from one major town to the next skips the very things that make Switzerland unique: the mountain landscapes and petite alpine towns, the sound of cow bells tinkling in the distance as you stand on a mountain pass, or the rush of earthy, cool wind that whips through your hair.
Even better, I don’t have to keep my eyes on the road, which soon turns to unforgiving hairpins as we travel along the Alps. Instead, I gaze through the giant windows at the tiny towns we pass, each like something plucked from a Grimm Brothers tale, with pastel-painted shutters and thick walls made from stone or logs, all charming and built to endure metres of winter snow.
Unlike New Zealand, Switzerland is surrounded by other countries and culture blends at the seams. In Lugano, you’re technically in Switzerland but Italian influence is obvious from the stone arcades to the leather loafers. Meanwhile, in Montreux, a heavenly Swiss town on the edge of Lake Geneva, they are so influenced by France (which shares half the lake with the Swiss) that French is the primary language.
“So many people catch the ferry across the lake and work in Montreux as the salaries are much higher in Switzerland,” Davor says when I ask how the influence is so strong.
Arriving at midday at the delightfully trendy hotel Mona, the cloudless blue sky is mirrored in the impossibly vibrant lake, which glitters under the brutal sun. Hopping on a hotel bike, I ride 7km along the flower-lined promenade, passing people paddleboarding or splashing in the cool water, sunbathing in little coves or sat on benches tending to drippy gelato. Alone, I never would have stumbled upon this French Riviera-style town, yet it’s so perfectly European, so delightfully charming, and I know it’s a place I’ll return to with family.
Then, there are the undeniably Swiss places, like Zermatt, where we stay at the foot of the Matterhorn (aka the mountain on the Toblerone bar). The petite alpine town is a prestigious place to spend the night, Davor says while handing out tickets for the slick red Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn that climbs from Täsch to Zermatt.
Thirty minutes later, we step out on to the little main street, which hums with people sporting Patagonia jerseys and North Face hiking packs, dipping in and out of the restaurants and boutiques that line the narrow avenue. Mesmerised by the chocolate fountain in a Lindt shop, I’m delighted to find our log-cabin hotel anticipates my craving and a block of milk chocolate awaits on the bed.
The next morning, I wake at 6am to tick off another Swiss icon, the Matterhorn. It’s a 20-minute walk to the best viewpoint, and my lungs strain at the altitude, but I arrive just as the sun catches the giant mountain. It’s another pinch-me moment as the steep, brawny mountain face I’ve only seen on chocolate wrappers is illuminated orange. Around me, there’s nothing but dawn birdsong, the distant rush of Matter Vispa river and faint tinkling of cow bells; the symphony of Switzerland.
On other days, we visit Italy’s Lake Como (where the wealthy summer), overnight in St Moritz (where they spend winter) and pass a leisurely afternoon in Stresa, a resort town beloved by the likes of Queen Victoria and Hemingway, on Italy’s stunning Lake Maggiore.
After visiting Zurich, the financial centre, and Bern, the political centre, we end our adventure with two nights in Lucerne, which Davor describes as the tourism centre. Widely considered the most quintessential Swiss town (and unsurprisingly, the most visited), the bustling lakeside city boasts a stunning 14th-century “Chapel Bridge”, preserved Medieval fortifications and kilometres of tree-lined promenades with views of the dramatic Alps and glittering blue lake.
It’s also here that we tick off our final Switzerland highlight, the great Mt Pilatus. Once thought to be home to dragons, locals avoided climbing it for centuries, but today visitors can ride the world’s steepest cog rail right to the top in just 30 minutes. Fitted with wide windows, I watch as we climb with surprising pace, whipping through the forest before passing the tree line, then clinging to the edge of a staggering ravine, my ears popping once, twice and a third time before we’re delivered on to a large concrete platform nestled 2132m high in the mountains.
We have 90 free minutes and three short trails to choose from: one short and sharp to a tall viewpoint, another that gently ascends another peak, and a third that hugs its middle, with a series of steep staircases and cool caves to wander through.
Tackling the highest viewpoint, I pause at an empty part of the trail, alone and silent save for the crunch of hiking boots below and, as always, faint cowbells, and reflect on the past week.
In just eight days, I’ve seen the Alps and ridden scenic rails, watched hours of splendid mountain scenery and immersed myself in a tapestry of European cultures. I’ve indulged in Swiss chocolate, seen medieval glockenspiels, and while I haven’t purchased a Rolex, I’m leaving with even more valuable memories.
SWITZERLAND
GETTING THERE
Fly from Auckland to Zürich with one stopover in Shanghai with Air New Zealand and Swiss International Air Lines.
DETAILS
The Best of Switzerland tour with Globus takes travellers from Zurich to Zurich over eight days. Prices start around $6029 pp, based on double occupancy for a July 18, 2026 departure.
New Zealand Herald Travel travelled courtesy of Globus.