Switzerland

Photo: Swiss Alps

The pastoral beauty of the Swiss Alps invites visitors to explore its fields and crags.

Photograph by James P. Blair

Roughly the size of Vermont and New Hampshire combined, straddling the central ranges of the Alps, Switzerland boasts much more than snowy Alpine vistas and picturesque villages. • This is a culture rich in history dating back to Charlemagne. • Inhabited originally by the Helvetic Celts, the region fell under Roman rule in the first century B.C., which may help explain Switzerland's determination to hold itself above the turbulence of 20th-century Europe. • The fabled secrecy of the nation's banks remains largely intact. • Its cheeses and chocolates are among its gustatory marvels, but the full list is long indeed.

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