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The Rough Guide to Switzerland (Rough Guide Travel Guides) by: Matthew Teller List Price: £12.99 Price: £3.44 You Save: £9.55 (74%)Prices subject to change. |
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Binding: Paperback Dewey Decimal Number: 914 EAN: 9781843530640 ISBN: 1843530643 Label: Rough Guides Ltd Manufacturer: Rough Guides Ltd Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 704 Publication Date: May 29, 2003 Publisher: Rough Guides Ltd Studio: Rough Guides Ltd Sales Rank: 264682 Related Items:
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Editorial Review: Book Description: INTRODUCTION "In Italy for thirty years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love; they had 500 years of democracy and peace. And what did that produce? The cuckoo clock." Orson Welles as Harry Lime, in The Third Man (1949) Never has one throwaway movie line done so much to damage the reputation of a whole country. Even now, despite being one of the most visited countries in Europe, Switzerland remains one of the least understood. The facts are that until national reconciliation in 1848, Switzerland was the most consistently turbulent, war-torn area of Europe (so much for brotherly love), and yet, both before and after it found stability, it brought forth such literary and artistic pioneers as Hans Holbein, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Paul Klee, Hermann Hesse and Alberto Giacometti (so much for the cuckoo clock – a Bavarian invention, anyway). But two centuries of tourism have left their mark: faced by an ever-increasing onslaught of visitors, these days the Swiss are content to abide by a quaint stereotype of Switzerland that’s easily packaged and sold – the familiar Alpine idyll of cheese and chocolate, Heidi and the Matterhorn – while keeping the best bits for themselves. Come for a "Lakes and Mountains" package, or a week of skiing, or a short city-break, and you’ll get all the pristine beauty, genteel calm and well-oiled efficiency of the Switzerland that the locals deem suitable for public consumption. The other Switzerland – the one the Swiss inhabit – needs time and patience to winkle out of its shell, but can be an infinitely more rewarding place to explore. Within this rugged environment, community spirit is perhaps stronger than anywhere else in Europe. Since the country is not an ethnic, linguistic or religious unity, it has survived – so the Swiss are fond of saying – simply through the will of its people to resolve their differences. Today, a unique style of "bottom-up" democracy ensures real power still rests with the people, who seem to vote almost monthly on a series of referenda affecting all aspects of life from local recycling projects to national economic policy. The constitution devolves power upwards from the people to municipal governments and up again to the regions (known as cantons), only as a last resort granting certain powers to the federal government. This kind of decentralized structure means that the cantons – which are, in essence, tiny self-governing republics who have volunteered to join together – have mostly held onto their own, unique flavours. Although Swiss people value their shared Swissness above all, they also cherish their own home-town identity and their differences from their neighbours. Tensions exist between the four language communities, as they do between Catholic and Protestant, or between urban and rural areas, while regional characteristics remain sharply defined and diverse. Local pride is fuelled by a range of traditional folkloric customs, most of which stem from pagan or medieval Christian festivals. Most prominent of these is carnival, held around the country on or around Mardi Gras, the last day before Lent. The most exuberant celebrations, held in Luzern, Bern and Basel, feature bands, masked parades, street dancing and spontaneous partying that belie the stereotype of a placid, unadventurous Switzerland. A host of smaller events fills out the calendar and it’s still easily possible to stumble on village festivals that have been staged by local people for centuries past. This sense of cultural continuity sits oddly with the fact that Switzerland has grown into one of the world’s richest countries. Its economy is small-scale but thoroughly modern: traditional industries such as watchmaking and textiles now thrive by focusing closely on the luxury end of the market and have ceded prime position to engineering, pharmaceuticals and service industries galore. Tourism has been a high earner since the mid-nineteenth century, when the Alps became both a fashionable destination for wealthy travellers and a prescribed retreat for sufferers from respiratory diseases needing curative sunshine and fresh mountain air. And yet the country, seized by an increasingly anachronistic national Kantönligeist, still stands alone. In the 1940s, Switzerland was surrounded by hostile Axis powers; these days, it’s encircled by the "friendly" EU. With the end of the Cold War, recent damaging revelations of Swiss collaboration with the Nazi Third Reich, and increasingly close ties amongst Western European nations, Swiss neutrality rings ever more hollow – and yet, far from embracing a wider perspective, the country has collectively taken a step into conservatism. Commentators are noting sadly that Switzerland is only now embarking on the kind of multiethnic social integration that its neighbours began in the 1950s. Having taken centuries to bolt their country together from diverse elements, the Swiss seem instinctively to return to their sense of community spirit, expressed most tangibly in the order and cleanliness you’ll see on show everywhere. Yet the sterility so decried by Graham Greene (who wrote Harry Lime’s jibe about brotherly love), if it characterizes any part of the country, applies only to the glossy, neatly packaged tourist idyll of lakes and mountains. The three great Swiss cities of Geneva, Zürich and Basel are crammed with world-class museums and galleries. In Zürich and Lausanne, there’s a humming arts scene and underground club culture that feeds nightlife as vibrant as anything you’ll find in much larger European cities. The landscapes are dominated by the Alps and their foothills, but mountains aren’t the only story. In the north and centre are lush, rolling grasslands epitomized by the velvety green hills of the Emmental, traditional dairy-farming country. Vineyards rise tiered above Lake Geneva, the Rhône valley and the Rhine. The fairytale southeast is cut through by wild, high-sided valleys, lonely, dark and thickly forested. Most surprisingly of all, bordering Italy in the south you’ll find subtropical Mediterranean-style flower gardens, sugarloaf hills and sunny, palm-fringed lakes. For a small, little-regarded mid-continental country with a profound image problem, Switzerland has plenty more to offer than most visitors suspect. Synopsis: "The Rough Guide to Switzerland" digs beneath the hype to show you how to get the best of this beautiful country. A full-colour section introduces Switzerland's highlights from the iconic Matterhorn to Zurich's markets. Throughout the guide, there are inspiring accounts of every attraction, from world-class art galleries to classic train journeys. There is practical advice on where to find the best mountain walks, the most scenic ski resorts, and perfect Alpine hideaways. In addition there are accommodation reviews for all budgets and in-depth background on Swiss culture, history, and wildlife. Excerpted from The Rough Guide to Switzerland (Rough Guides) by Matthew Teller. Copyright © 2003. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.: WHERE TO GO – AND WHEN Although Switzerland is best known for its mountain scenery, there are any number of hooks on which to hang a visit, whether you choose to stay in one city or resort, take in the hiking or cycling possibilities of a region, or make a tour of exploration around the whole country. Getting about is easy, with an unrivalled network of trains, buses and boats cutting journey times between the regions to an hour or two in most cases. You’ll find places to stay and get a hearty meal wherever you end up, even in the wildest of mountain valleys. Thankfully, Switzerland has no big metropolises on the scale of Paris or London. Swiss towns and cities were preserved from bombing in World War II, and all of them have at their core explorable networks of medieval alleys and old houses and churches. Geneva is positioned at the tip of the idyllic Lake Geneva in the southwest, a short distance from the graceful lakeside city of Lausanne. In the northeast, Zürich too is set on its own lake, within striking distance of the peaceful Bodensee (Lake Constance). The diminutive Swiss capital Bern has a fine cobbled Old Town, while equally attractive Luzern (Lucerne) lies in the centre of the country on its own, famously beautiful lake. Basel is located on the Rhine at the point where France, Germany and Switzerland meet, while at the opposite end of the country, Lugano basks on the shores of an azure lake a few kilometres from the Italian border. Any of these – or smaller but no less characterful regional towns such as St Gallen, Schaffhausen, Neuchâtel, Chur, Fribourg, Sion or Bellinzona – could serve as a base for a relaxing short break, especially during the temperate summer months (June–Sept). At other times they can get distinctly chilly, although most receive generous dumps of snow in the winter, which, combined with glittering sunshine and frozen lakes and rivers, paints the most romantic of urban pictures. There are almost limitless possibilities for exploring the great outdoors. The Alps run in a band across the centre and south of the country, with resorts big and small plus stunning scenery guaranteed wherever you head for. The two main seasons run from late May to October, and from mid-December to mid-April; between these times, most mountain resorts close down altogether (see p.436 for more). The best-known Alpine region is the Bernese Oberland, focused around the tourist hub of Interlaken and boasting such famous names as Wengen and Grindelwald; to the south, in Valais, sit Verbier, Crans Montana and, at the foot of the iconic Matterhorn, Zermatt. In Graubünden in the southeast are Davos, Klosters and St Moritz. Justifiably popular, all these places boast some of the best skiing and hiking in Europe. It’s relatively easy in even the busiest centres (which are still nothing like the mega-resorts of the French and Italian Alps) to head off the beaten path and explore alone, or to aim for smaller, more manageable satellite resorts in adjacent side-valleys. However, you may prefer to shun the big names altogether and seek peace and quiet in the less frenetic hinterlands. Two regions stand out: in the northwest, the scrubby Jura mountains are an ideal landscape for long lonely walks and bike rides; while in the south, the wild valleys of Alto Ticino lace the southern foothills of the Alps with little-known hiking trails, a world away from the chic lakeside resort of Locarno nearby. Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Not as good as other Rough Guidesbut I couldn't find anything better for Switzerland. I love Rough Guides but I was frankly disappointed with the Switzerland book. It was just missing some of the essentials that others books had like where is a laundry or internet cafe and marking that on the map rather than just giving an address. And the accommodation suggestions were not as useful as in other RGs. And there is less information of interest i.e. local facts, anecdotes and history. Hopefully, RG will address these in the next edition. I do note that Lonely Planet book was not good either and both are a bit out of date published 2003 / 4. But, it got me around Switzerland in one piece and I will still be buying RGs. Read More: Rating:  - Excellent guide!Have had it for several years now. Used it on both trips to Switzerland. Extreamly helpful. Offers a lot of additional background information, legends, stories, histories, etc. They are a joy to read. I found there aren't so many maps, especially for small towns, can be a bit difficult to orientate sometimes. So took a star off. Overall, an excellent guide! You won't need any other guides to travel to Switzerland. Rating: - A Good Book for BeginnersIf you have know other books on Switzerland then quite possible yuo won't need to buy anymore, very good facts and also maps, handy size. I bought Austria & Switzerland from the same series... Rating:  - The best oneThis is the best guide which I can find in bookstores. Rating: - Good for those on a budgetI would recommend this book to anybody on a budget. We stayed in both Geneva and Zurich and found that we got to see a lot more than we would have without the R.G. The book doesn't concentrate on expensive art galleries and opera houses. Instead you get to find out about real places. How else could we have seen the "Smurf’s village" in Geneva - actually a group of bizarrely designed modern buildings! In addition, reading about the history, the culture and the people you visit add greatly to your holiday. To get the most out of your holiday, I would definitely recommend this Rough Guide book. |
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