Advantages: One of the most beautiful countries in the world, very diverse, very high standards, brilliant services all round
Disadvantages: The prices! No really, the prices! Some of the people can be very insular.

...of the country finally coming to a cut off point in a beautiful town called Rappiswil. On either side of the lake there are mountains which overlook you, most of which have cable cars so you can visit the top and see the fabulous views for miles around. Accomodation in Switzerland in general is extremely expensive and can cost as much as £150 per night, per person, that is for a basic two star hotel. The best advice for Switzerland is take a tent, stop with friends or drive 50 miles north over the border into Germany and stay in Munchen (Munich). Should you decide to stay in Switzerland in a hotel however you will find that the accomodation around Lake Zurich is endless in choice and all are clean and friendly. Every little village and town along either side of Lake Zurich has it's own charm and own set of hotels to offer. During the summer... Read review

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Advantages: A relaxing time in wonderful surroundings - the scenery is breathtaking
Disadvantages: The cost!

...but travel on the cablecar a further 2500ft to Belalp. From the cablecar a footpath leads to the very comfortable, very friendly and very attractive Belalp Hotel. Believe me, any stay in Switzerland will be further enhanced by staying in the Belalp Hotel! The entire Brig/Blatten/Belalp area is dominated by the largest glacier anywhere in Europe - The Great Aletsch Glacier.... Read review

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Advantages: nice old part of town | nice coffees and restaurants | safe
Disadvantages: not that special for sightseeing and going out...

...is possible but not comparable with cities like Zurich, Bern or international cities like London, Paris or Milan. What I really like are the restaurants and coffees. You can enjoy there your spare time with friends and relaxing there. Especially in summer it's very nice to enjoy the sunshine outside on the streets. Overall, I can give a recommendation for St. Gallen. If I would have the choice where to live, I wouldn't choose St. Gallen but it's worth a visit. It's a nice town for Switzerland and definitely more beautiful than my little village. I can give 4 of the 5 possible stars. So, see you possibly in St. Gallen! Thanks for reading! Raphael *** Links about St. Gallen *** http://www.st.gallen.ch/hotels/ - hotels in St. Gallen http://www.st.gallen-bodensee.ch/en/welcome.cfm? - Official tourist information of St. Gallen http... Read review

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Advantages: Great value, friendly and accommodating staff and clean rooms
Disadvantages: Some way from the UK.

...They all told me that Switzerland is expensive. But comparing the cost of the Bernerhof Hotel with similar hotels in the UK gives excellent value for money. The Bernerhof is a 3-star hotel so its unlikely to suit the backpacker or the Windsors but it'll suit those who are looking for comfort and facility at a reasonable price. And that's mostly all of us. I shared a twin room with a friend at £45 a night each for a room with a view of snow capped mountains in September from our private balcony, a very modern en-suite bathroom with a shower, and a room equipped with a cable television, telephone, modem connection and safe. The beds were comfortable and the room was spotless and well cleaned every day but there was street noise with the balcony door open. The hotel is a 2 minute stroll from Interlaken West railway and bus station... Read review

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Advantages: "Austria is Switzerland ……with history added." (J E Morpurgo)
Disadvantages: "Switzerland is Austria with history addled." (Ben Reich)

...suisse - to denote a particularly sugary sentimentality, as glutinous as glühwein, about the past. And, again like glühwein, the more tepid it gets with the passage of time, the more nauseating it becomes. This manifests itself not just in the Swiss hankering after a bygone rustic idyll (cow-bells, yodelling and Heidi-hi in general), but in more urban matters. Take Finance. One can easily imagine two old bankers sipping post-prandial coffees and cognacs in the fusty lounge of a Zurich hotel and reminiscing about the Good Old Days of the Forties, when the accounts of so many clients, Jewish at first and German later, became conveniently dormant and have had to be looked after by the obliging banks ever since. The Swiss will tell you they have a past of which to be proud. They can claim to have the oldest democracy in Europe, over... Read review

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Advantages: "A larger sort of Liechtenstein" (Ben Reich)
Disadvantages: "An inferior sort of Scotland" (Sydney Smith)

...at the drifting minstrel in Tennessee Williams' Orpheus Descending - filmed as The Fugitive Kind with Marlon Brando - advice that is ignored with dire consequences. I often think of this as I pass through Switzerland. Although I have sometimes absent-mindedly allowed the sun to set on me in that country, I have never stayed the night there, unless you count a few sleepless hours on an overnight train from Boulogne to Milan. I did once put up at a hotel squeezed between the French and Swiss customs posts just outside Geneva, apparently in No Man's Land, but was assured in the morning by the owner that we were safely still in France. So am I qualified to write about Swiss holidays? Call me an anorak if you like, but I keep detailed records of these things and know that I have been to Switzerland exactly fifteen times. Fleeting visits, obviously... Read review

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Advantages: Beautiful country
Disadvantages: Quite expensive and very cold in winter

...is directly at the Vierwaldstättersee in the very heart of Switzerland. You can get there by car or bus and place your bookings on www.swissholidaypark.ch. It is not cheap, still a great experience. They have different Restaurants, a relaxing area where you get massages, honey baths and just about everything you can imagine, as well as a swimming-pool. If the weather is not good enough for you, you do not have to leave the house, as everything is connected if you stay in the Hotel and not in one of the bungalows. There is a bar and a games room with bowling, dart games and videogames. People: Everyone who visits Switzerland says the people there are friendly. To be honest, I have to say that most of them are always in a hurry and make unhappy faces when they walk along the street. If you ask them something they normally answer in your language... Read review

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Advantages: wonderful scenery
Disadvantages: touristy in places and not cheap to buy drinks

..., but there was really very little between them on this train (NB this 1st class pass is now included as standard). Anyone that travels regularly by train in Britain will know what the train sounds like when moving in and out of a big station – screeching and scraping sounds galore. This was nothing like that – we were out of the station before we even noticed we were moving! That just about sums up the trains, so I’ll skip to our arrival at Thun. This is in central Switzerland on the other end of the Thunersee (a lake) from Interlaken. It was just a short boat ride (10 minutes) from there to our lakeside hotel in Hilterfingen. The hotel was called the Bellevue au Lac. We were given a room on the 4th floor with a balcony overlooking the lake – fantastic view! The food here was excellent – 4 course meals every night and a good continental... Read review

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Advantages: Complete flexibility; The company motto is: "nothing is too much trouble"; It has a large following of guests who come back year after year; Reps are experts on their resort, speak the local language, and are available 24 hours a day.
Disadvantages: Expensive; Switzerland is not much of a party nation, so ravers are better off in Ibiza.

...of resorts and, more importantly, they decide how long to stay, when to fly out, what to do, and often have a choice of hotels, though in Switzerland, most hotels tend to be of an equally high standard. During my time in Switzerland the STS guests basically had little alternative but to be completely happy with the whole package: the four-star hotel offered spacious balcony apartments, wonderful meals and first class service, not to mention a bar, indoor swimming pool, sauna and steam room. Temperatures (bearing in mind it was summer and a mile above sea level) ranged from 35 to 45 degrees Celsius, but the high altitude meant fresh, clean mountain air and a breeze which kept the humidity at bay. Most importantly, the Rep worked tirelessly to make sure that the guests were met on arrival, whisked off to their rooms where their luggage would... Read review

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Advantages: Great Forehand, Simple Game and Consistent
Disadvantages: None

...on the ATP tour. He won his home tournament in Switzerland. He overcame Igor Andreev in four sets the final to secure the title in front of a jubilant crowd. The Swiss public will be glad to see that they have a truly world class tennis player, after the sad retirement of female star Martina HIngis. Federer is probably the biggest sportsman in Switzerland and looks set to be for the long term future. *STATS* ---Career--- Federer has won a total of 17 singles titles and 6 doubles titles in his short career. He has earnt nearly 4 million US dollars on the tour plus more from sponsorship and endorsements. His overall match record is played 396, won 282. His record this year is astonishing. He has played a total of 50 singles matches on the ATP tour and has won 46 of them. He has secured 6 singles titles and earned over 3 million US dollars... Read review

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