From a funicular halfway up Rigi you could be forgiven for subscribing to the chocolate-box vision of Switzerland; a country of Alpine mountains, lakes, A-frame cabins and meadows of edelweiss.
But Switzerland is also the cool, clean sophistication of Zurich with its international business centres, world famous galleries, museums, Bahnhofstrasse boutiques, vaults of ingots and an avant-garde art world. Its appeal lies in the fact it has both.
This tiny, powerful country is like an amalgamation of German, Italian and French culture. A mix that's reflected everywhere in Switzerland, almost as if the best of each country had been borrowed and pooled to create something quintessentially Swiss.
For many, Switzerland is Gstaad and St Moritz, the playground of the perma-tanned, designer-clad rich. There's more to life on the slopes here than glamour, après-ski and celebrity-spotting. This is a world driven by a genuine and healthy passion for the outdoors, for speed and snow - the place for the ultimate in downhill exhilaration.
The Alps are spectacular, but the region of Jungfrau-Aletsch which includes Switzerland's longest glacier, the 24km Aletsch glacier, has been singled out for UNESCO World Heritage status. Hiking is wonderful in the mountains.
In the Schilthorn Region, the lofty farming village of Gimmelwald (1400 m) makes a good base for walks to waterfalls through rocky crags, forests and, in summer, flower-filled meadows. In fact throughout Switzerland, hikers are helped on their way with well-marked trails, all graded according to length and difficulty.
Even in the wildest areas, it is a truly civilised country.
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