Switzerland: A Guide to Exploring the Country by Public Transport

Thoroughly updated, this seventh edition of Bradt's guide to Switzerland offers a unique perspective on getting the most from this mountainous country while travelling only by public transport. Switzerland boasts the world's finest public transport network – the comfort, efficiency and frequency of trains, buses, boats and cable cars explain why many Swiss don't own cars – yet is still enhancing services, including recently around Geneva. The Swiss Travel System is a revelation.

Moreover, using public transport is a must. Visitors cannot reach many fine Swiss sights by road, and over a dozen car-free resorts enable them to experience the serenity and clean air of the country's mountains (208 above 3,000m). Walkers and cyclists enjoy superb networks – almost 64,000km of footpaths and many surprisingly unhilly cycle paths beside lakes and rivers.

Written by a railway expert who has been visiting this mountainous country since childhood, no other guidebook is devoted to Swiss public transport, which is the easiest, most enjoyable and responsible way to travel. The guide encompasses culture, architecture, landscapes, walking and cycling, plus fascinating facts for railway enthusiasts, numerous tips for reducing costs in a country known for being expensive, and ample advice for gastronomists.

Switzerland offers some of the world's most stunning landscapes. Above and beyond mountains and lakes, each region offers something different and often curious – such as the world's smallest vineyard (dinner-table-sized and owned by the Dalai Lama) – while four official languages add cultural variety (although English is ubiquitous in tourist areas).

Switzerland's cities are among the world's most beautiful, safest and pedestrian friendly. Its capital, Bern, is a World Heritage Site with 6km of covered arcades, where even jaded shoppers will delight in hundreds of independent shops. Luzern's lakeside setting is unrivalled, with mountains in every direction, floodlit city walls and an historic centre. Lausanne and Geneva overlook Lac Léman, and Basel enjoys a broad sweep of the Rhine.

Whether you love culture or cycling, gastronomy or walking, with Bradt's Switzerland, you can enjoy the qualities that help ensure Switzerland is consistently ranked among the world's most liveable countries – while travelling confidently on public transport.

Anthony Lambert has been visiting Switzerland since childhood and has a deep affection for the country. At an early age, he was captivated by the sheer scale of the montane landscapes in which his family walked, and the character and number of mountain railways, cable cars and chairlifts, which all seemed much more fun than cars. Decades later, while researching this book, Anthony realised that cars were a pointless encumbrance in many parts of Switzerland, so often took up to 25 separate journeys per day on public transport. Now a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, Anthony has written or contributed to several guidebooks, 20 further books about railways and travel, and has written about travel and railway journeys for The Daily Telegraph, Orient-Express Magazine, New York Times, The Sunday Times and Wanderlust. He was consultant editor for the nine-volume The World of Trains, and has journeyed on the railways of over 55 countries.