Travel to Switzerland

A few pounds of chocolates or cheese will be welcome, of course. Switzerland's chocolates and cheeses are superb. A few pounds of gold, or at least a few ounces, in the form of jewellery or a watch from one of the fine shops in Zurich's glorious Bahnhofstrasse or Geneva's Old Town would not go amiss either.

But many participants will most want to take home something much more expensive and difficult to handle, beginning with an airport or two. The reason is that flying into Geneva and Zurich remains one of the few pleasures in modern travel. First travel is the beauty of their locations in the heart of the mountains and the lakes. As the aircraft descends, the spirits soar – everyone knows they are going to have a good time.

Then there is the convenience of the airports themselves. Not merely the fact that they are relatively small and superbly equipped with everything from supermarkets to conference suites but that they are directly linked to Switzerland's extraordinary rail service. Within a few minutes of landing, everyone can be on board and well on their way to some remote Alpine village.

Inevitably people will be saying, I wish we had an airport like that at home! Not all Swiss cities offer this same immediate air-to-rail link, but that's only because their airports are even smaller and their settings possibly even more beautiful.

What would be the point of getting straight on a train when you land, say at Bern, in the midst of immaculate rolling farmland, or at Lugano, by the lake and its surrounding palm trees?

So an airport should be on every incentive planners' shopping shortlist in Switzerland. So should a mountain or two.

Yes, it is difficult to see how everyone will be able to take the Matterhorn of the Jungfrau home, but you can be certain they will want to. The reason is that Switzerland's mountains are better than anyone else's. They are not merely high masses of inanimate granite. They are decorated with pine forests and tiny glittering waterfalls and brilliant white snow and fairytale chalets and picture postcard cattle, until they are unbelievable beautiful.

That's their secret. They are so beautiful that one wants to touch them, to make sure they are real, and then, of course, to take them home.

Fortunately for planners, mountains are everywhere in Switzerland – it is literally impossible to go anywhere without seeing them – and perhaps the local folk might not even notice if one of two went missing. A couple of other interesting items to consider buying are: efficiency, for once participants experience the reliable nature of Switzerland they are sure to want to take that with them; and hotels, since Switzerland more or less invented luxury hostel-keeping and everyone is going to want one of these chic establishments for their own exclusive use back home.

To browse all our hotels in Switzerland, please visit: http://www.ghotw.com/switzerland/

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/destinations-articles/switzerland-such-convenient-beauty-4512282.html

Kristel van Winkel

Marketing Intern

Great Hotels of the World

Note to editors:

Great Hotels of the World

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Switzerland is a landlocked alpine country in Western Europe with roughly seven and a half million people and an area of just over forty thousand kilometres square. The country is made up of twenty six states called cantons and it contains three global cities, Geneva, Basel and Zürich. Switzerland is one of the richest countries in the world by per capita gross domestic product, plus Zürich and Geneva have respectively been ranked as having the first and second highest quality of life in the world.

It is bordered by Germany to the north, France to the west, Italy to the south and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland has a long history of neutrality and it has not been at war since 1815. The country hosts many international organizations, including the Red Cross, the World Trade Organization and one of the U.N.s two European offices. However, it is not a member of the European Union. Switzerland is multilingual and has four national languages - German, French, Italian and Romansh.

When it comes to places to stay, there is a great choice of Switzerland accommodation available including serviced accommodation such as hotels and bed and breakfasts, plus Switzerland self catering accommodation such as simple hostels, or perhaps a luxury Switzerland apartment.

Unlike many holiday destinations, Switzerland makes an ideal holiday destination during all four seasons of the year. During winter months, Switzerland offers world class conditions for both skiers and free riders alike and during summer months, the spectacular mountain scenery provides awesome paragliding, alpine mountaineering, mountain biking, rock climbing and beautiful walking trails for all levels. With plenty of shops, bars, restaurants and other year-round attractions available, Switzerland really is ideal for a holiday throughout the year.

Getting to Switzerland can be fairly inexpensive as a number of the budget airline operators including Easyjet, Bmibaby and Jet2 all fly into Geneva airport. Other major airlines including Swiss Air, British Airways, Lufthansa and KLM also offer competitive fairs from the UK. Flights to Sion airport are available every week during the winter season from London Heathrow airport. Basel, Zurich and Bern also accommodate flights from the UK.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/destinations-articles/switzerland-an-all-year-round-holiday-destination-678062.html

This luxury Swiss Alps Apartment in Haute Nendaz, 4 Valleys in Switzerland is ideal for family holidays in Spring, Summer and Winter.

What is definitely a glamorous way to see Switzerland is to head to those stylish and sophisticated sites where the James Bond movies were filmed. A number of different James Bond films have used locations in Switzerland over the years including one of the more recent movies, Goldeneye with Pierce Brosnan.





In Gimmelwald is a peak where 'On her Majesty's Secret Service' was shot. There at Schilthorn in the Canton of Berne you will see the scenic location. It was nicknamed Piz Gloria during the making of this Ian Fleming novel. Of course there have been attempts to cash in on the tourist friendly nature of Piz Gloria and there is a James Bond bar here where you can get your martinis, shaken not stirred. The bar rotates and gives excellent 360 views of the surroundings, but only when the weather is obliging. Some people claim that the Bond movie 'On her Majesty's Secret Service' was filmed in the nearby Jungfraujoch but this is not correct. However there are also mountain scenes shot in Switzerland from the James Bond movie A View to a Kill with Roger Moore, Grace Jones and Christopher Walken. Meanwhile the Goldfinger movie was filmed in Geneva at the Furka Pass and the Pilatus Aircraft Factory.





Take a tour of Swiss wine country





Starting at Lavaux you can see the centre of the wine industry in Switzerland. With lots of sunshine and high peaks, Switzerland has decent conditions for growing wine. Situated in the west of Switzerland, Lavaux is on the banks of Lake Geneva in a spectacular location. That is why it has been recognised as a world heritage site which is worthy of protecting. You will need car hire Switzerland to get between the different villages which make up Lavaux. This is infinitely preferable to taking the train though it is also romantic to get the boat along the coast of the lake. For music lovers there are two jazz festivals, one at nearby Montreux and the Cully Jazz festival. The Cully is on at the end of spring and is popular with people from all over Europe. Local wine growers bring their latest vintages to the festival to allow revellers to try.





See Switzerland's biggest mountain, the Matterhorn, a great place for skiing or walking





Zermatt is Switzerland's access point for what is one of the tallest mountains in the Alps. The steep ridges of the Matterhorn have been attractive to climbers over the years, many of whom have tried and failed to scale the summit. The Zermatt graveyard is full of the bodies of climbers who tried and failed to conquer the Matterhorn. Do not attempt to scale it unless you are very experienced and prepared for the consequences. The Matterhorn has since been dramatised in Novels such as 'Murder on the Matterhorn', a 1950's detective novel. Part of the Pennine Alps, Matterhorn gives access to Valais which is where you can find some of the best skiing in Switzerland.





Visit more mountains in the central Bernese Highlands





This stunning part of Switzerland is home to Interlaken, a small city which draws tourists from all over Europe. They are drawn to the opportunity to enjoy the great outdoors and there is fantastic walking, hiking and swimming here. You can also sail around Lake Thun. The city is easily accessible by car if you take the A8 autoroute. Driving gives you the freedom to see many areas of interest such as the Jungfrau Aletsch Bietschhorn which is a world Heritage site which is glaciated.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-articles/places-to-see-by-road-in-switzerland-1929350.html

Dom Greenwood used car hire Switzerland to follow his dreams and visit those old James Bond settings. He produced this article for free in return for getting a Ford Focus for the week with an unlimited mileage offer. It is just one of many cars offered by http://www.anyairportcarhire.com/

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