Summer in the Alps is arguably better than winter, and most of it involves a train.
Ride the Glacier Express
Eight hours, 291 bridges, 91 tunnels, and panoramic windows the length of the carriage. Zermatt to St. Moritz. Reserve seats — it sells out.
Go up the Jungfraujoch
The highest railway station in Europe at 3,454 metres. Snow year-round, the Ice Palace, and a view down the Aletsch Glacier.
Take a steamer on Lake Lucerne
Paddle steamers still run the full lake. Ride to Vitznau, take the cogwheel railway up Rigi, come down the other side by cable car.
Walk the Eiger Trail
Two and a half hours beneath the north face, from Eigergletscher down to Alpiglen. No technical skill required, extraordinary scale.
Swim in the Aare
Bern locals float the river through the city on summer afternoons. Get out at the marked exits — the current is faster than it looks.
Visit Chillon Castle
A thirteenth-century castle on a rock in Lake Geneva, and one of the most visited buildings in the country for good reason.
Do the chocolate train
A Belle Époque carriage to Gruyères for cheese, then Broc for the Cailler chocolate factory. Yes, it is as touristy as it sounds. It is also excellent.
Paraglide off Interlaken
Twenty minutes over two lakes with the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau lined up behind you.
See Lauterbrunnen's waterfalls
Seventy-two of them in one valley. The Trümmelbach falls run inside the mountain.
Sit still in Appenzell
Rolling green, painted houses and cows with bells. The antidote to an itinerary that has become a list.
