Luxury holidays to Switzerland: luxury hotel holidays, touring holidays and special interest holidays
Luxury holidays to Switzerland from Expressions Holidays. We have 30 years’ experience in offering luxury, tailor-made holidays for individuals featuring a personal selection of luxurious hotels, full of regional and local charm and character, which offer exceptionally high standards of comfort, service, facilities and cuisine. Switzerland did not just pioneer tourism, it invented it. Visitors still flock to its mountains for fresh air and restorative mineral springs, to the small valley villages to witness the country's sublime natural landscape, and to the larger cities for a taste of the livelier culture, artistic heritage, and romantic historical sites. With a wonderful climate and spectacular glaciers and summits, the country today is every bit as beautiful and worth visiting as it was when interest began in the 1800s. Home to four languages (Swiss German, French, Italian and Romansch) and a trinity of cultures (French, German and Italian), Switzerland is effectively four holiday destinations in one. Switzerland's Alpine resorts compound this sparkling reputation – Zermatt and St Moritz, Grindelwald and Gstaad, for example – and beyond its après-ski, edelweiss and chocolate-box scenes, the small cities are also appealing: Lucerne with its covered bridge, Neuchatel with its fountains, and Lausanne with its ancient universities, vibrant art scene, and spectacular Gothic cathedral. Throw in such cosmopolitan centres as Geneva, Zurich, and Basel, UNESCO World Heritage sites such as the frescoes of Müstair and the abbey of St Gallen, and it becomes impossible to deny the enduring appeal of the fantastic escape that is Switzerland. We will construct a holiday according to your requirements, based on our knowledge and experience.
Our bespoke, luxury hotel holidays can be
● Single centre or multi-centre● Long or short stays
● Combine a variety of different hotels in different regions
● Utilise a variety of transport arrangements to Switzerland and within Switzerland, combining flights, trains, ferries, hire-car and transfers
Included in all our holidays
● Concierge service● Handcrafted helpful hints and local information provided with all our holidays
● Personal service by your sales consultant who looks after all aspects of your holiday
● Full financial protection with our ATOL (3076) for all holidays including a flight and our ABTOT for all non-air holidays
Call us on 01392 441245
Luxury holidays to Switzerland: luxury hotel holidays, touring holidays and special interest holidays
Our hotels
Each of the hotels featured in our range of holidays to Switzerland have been personally selected for their exceptionally high standards of comfort, service, and cuisine. Most of the hotels we offer are four- or five-star, although we do offer some three-star options in order to make even the remotest of destinations available to our clients. Our selection of hotels includes the best and the most characterful in each area. Choose from grand palaces; lakeside retreats; cosy Alpine chalets; modern, boutique hotels; grand ski lodges; and converted castles.
Travel options
Although we believe that a holiday to Switzerland is made ideally for rail travel, it’s possible to combine flying there or back with trains one way and throughout your holiday in Switzerland. There are many flights a day to Zurich and Geneva with a short flying time of about 1 hr and 30 to 45 minutes from London. If you choose to embark on a self-drive touring holiday, it is about a 10-hour drive from London to Basel, on the border between Switzerland and France. Once in Switzerland, we recommend rail travel as travelling on trains in Switzerland is a real delight, although hire-cars are available.
By rail
Rail travel to and within Switzerland is an increasingly popular option, as well as being highly recommended. The journey by train from London to Switzerland is fast and easy. You take the Eurostar to Paris and then a TGV or Lyria service from Paris to Switzerland. With an early morning start from London you reach Lausanne or Zurich by early evening. Most of our rail holidays within Switzerland include a Swiss rail pass, enabling unlimited travel between destinations, often by boat as well as train. Some of the most dramatic and best-loved railway journeys in the world take place in Switzerland and are covered by iconic, scenic trains, often composed of panoramic carriages, such as the Glacier Express, the Bernina Express and the GoldenPass Line.
By air
We include a British Airways scheduled flight with all our holidays but can also include a carrier such as Easyjet if that gives you a local departure in the UK. British Airways and Easyjet operate a regular service from London to Zurich and Geneva.
By hire-car
Renting a hire-car in Switzerland is not essential with such a convenient rail network, you may wish to fly into Switzerland and then make your own way between hotels or have the use of a hire-car to explore the region. We can include a hire-car for you for all or part of your holiday to Switzerland.
Our bespoke, luxury hotel holidays can be
● Single centre or multi-centre● Long or short stays
● Combine a variety of different hotels in different regions
● Utilise a variety of transport arrangements to Switzerland and within Switzerland, combining flights, trains, ferries, hire-car and transfers
Included in all our holidays
● Concierge service● Handcrafted helpful hints and local information provided with all our holidays
● Personal service by your sales consultant who looks after all aspects of your holiday
● Full financial protection with our ATOL (3076) for all holidays including a flight and our ABTOT for all non-air holidays
Call us on 01392 441245
Luxury holidays to Switzerland: luxury hotel holidays, touring holidays and special interest holidays
Regions of Switzerland
The Bernese Oberland. Nestling into the steep valleys dusted with rich green vegetation, are beautiful chocolate box villages that border the many serene lakes. Mystical grottoes have been carved into the rock by centuries of melting and re-freezing ice. Twisting rivers and streams have etched out their pathways down the mountainsides, flowing tranquilly in places and turbulent in others. Some of our favourite places in the Bernese Oberland include: Wengen, a picturesque village clustered between sheer rock faces; and Grindelwald, a village overlooked by harsh snowy peaks, the famous Jungfrau, and the Gletscherschucht glacial gorge.
The Grisons and the Engadine. Dotted with National Parks, Grisons and the Engadine are best known for the dramatic Alpine scenery and the major winter sports resorts; yet, in the spring, summer, and autumn months, the region has far more to offer. Historic towns, scenic lakes and glaciers, and chic villages packed with gourmet restaurants and boutique shops come into their own in the sunshine. This is also the region through which the iconic Glacier Express and Bernina Express scenic trains run.
Lake Geneva. Lake Geneva is popular for water sports and hiking holidays, as well as relaxing lakeside spa breaks; and, in the winter, it is close enough to the ski slopes to make a very laid-back skiing destination. Chic towns and villages sit behind rows of palm trees, basking in the Mediterranean climate, sheltering gourmet restaurants, luxury boutique shops, and a range of stunning Swiss hotels. There is perhaps nowhere more glamorous in Switzerland than Lake Geneva, and nowhere where the history and culture is so grand and visually captured in the buildings, parks, and gardens of Geneva itself.
Lake Lucerne. Immersed in history, folklore, and bustling modern culture, Lake Lucerne brings together everything that makes Switzerland in summer so special. The city of Lucerne itself is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. White-walled, tiled-roof townhouses crowd together on the water’s edge; bridges on stilts take visitors from one side of the river to the other; and the high original rampart wall is visible in the distance. Outside the city, you are free to enjoy the Alpine panoramas from a boat, or from one of the hiking trails that score the mountainsides.
Saanenland. This is the region of Gstaad and the surrounding nine villages, such as Schönried, Zweisimmen, Saanen, and Saanenmöser, which prove to be continually popular in summer and in winter. Priding itself on being a haven of wellbeing, the Saanenland offers a taste of idyllic nature, whilst remaining one of Switzerland’s chicest locations.
Ticino. A smattering of small lakes marks the upper boundary of Ticino, but it is Lake Maggiore and Lake Lugano that dominate the south, prompting many of the long, straight valleys that lead into Italy. The River Ticino winds its way down from its source on the Ticino border, meeting dams, lakes, and trickling and tumbling waterfalls on its way. Palm trees line the lakesides, medieval Italian castles form the centre-points of towns, and colourful, higgledy-piggledy houses look out across the water or from their tiered position on the steep mountainside.
Valais. Perhaps most famous for the icy Alpine resort of Zermatt, Valais is a canton that captures a blend of those Swiss mountain resorts and northern Italy’s flourishing wine-producing vineyards. This mix is complicated further by the dual-language of the canton; the west of Valais speaks French, and the east speaks German. Terraced vineyards cloak the slopes of southern Valais, uniquely watered by glacier run-off. Valais is also popular amongst cycling, mountain-biking, and hiking enthusiasts. Over 8000km of marked hiking paths line the mountainsides, and well-maintained and well-marked cycling paths are combined with high-altitudes to establish a network that is unrivalled in Switzerland.
The cities of Zurich, Bern and Basel are serious places, rich in history and culture, learning and art. Mediaeval houses and traditions are well-preserved whilst life is modern and cosmopolitan too.
Capital
Bern
Airports
Zurich and Geneva
Currency
Swiss franc
Size
41,285 sq kilometres
Population
8 million
Average temperature
The weather in Switzerland is influenced by the four main European air currents, resulting in a temperate climate on the Central Plateau but which otherwise varies between regions. In July the average temperature is about 23 degrees Centigrade and slightly higher in lakeside areas. In January temperatures average approximately 3 degrees Centigrade.
Unmissable holiday experiences in Switzerland
Zermatt and seeing the Matterhorn, train to the Jungfraujoch, seeing the face of the Eiger, Rheinfall, wooden covered bridge in Lucerne, Gehry architecture in waterside Basel, Einstein museum in Bern, Jazz festival in Montreux, Glacier Express, Bernina Express, Gornergratbahn in Zermatt, climbing Rigi, Lavaux vineyards above Lake Geneva, Chateau Chillon, Carolingian frescoes in Müstair, Kunsthaus Zurich, Cresta Run St Moritz, steamer on Lake Lucerne, Monte Bre above Lake Lugano by funicular, abbey of St Gallen, jet d’eau in Geneva, pastural scenery of the Simmental.
