Switzerland Tour Packages From the UK

What Do Switzerland Tour Packages Include?

More than a flight and a room.

Every holiday here is fully escorted. Return flights from the UK, airport transfers, hotels, a set of meals and the rail journeys and excursions on the plan are all included, with a leader who travels with the group. Travelsphere calls that person a Holiday Director and Newmarket calls them a tour manager. The job's the same: getting everyone onto the right carriage with their cases.

What changes is the detail. Some tours include dinner most nights while others leave the evenings to you, and a summit that's included on one trip is a paid optional excursion on another, so read the inclusions line by line.

Touring, One Base or the Italian Lakes?

Think about how often you want to pack a suitcase.

A touring holiday across Switzerland

The Best of Switzerland moves you between hotels, so each journey actually takes you somewhere new. You fly into Zurich, stay in Davos and ride the Bernina Express over the Bernina Pass to Tirano and back. Then the Glacier Express takes you to Brig, with lunch served at your seat. Interlaken is your base for the Bernese Oberland: Trümmelbach Falls, car-free Mürren, the Schilthorn and a cruise to Spiez Castle. Finally the GoldenPass line carries you down to Lausanne, and you fly home from Geneva without doubling back.

Pick this one if you want the famous panoramic lines in a single trip. Our pages on Bernina Express holidays and holidays on the Glacier line go deeper into each.

One Swiss village, out by rail each day

Newmarket's Swiss Alpine Glories and the GoldenPass Train keeps you at the Roc et Neige in Château-d'Oex, a chalet village in the Pays-d'Enhaut that sits right on the GoldenPass line. You'll ride it down to Montreux one day and over to Interlaken another. There's time in Grindelwald under the north face of the Eiger, too, and in Gruyères, where the cheese takes its name from the town.

An Italian lakes base with Swiss days out

Newmarket's Italian lakes tours fly to Milan and stay just over the border. Lake Como, St Moritz and the Bernina Express gives you boat trips, the gardens of Villa del Balbianello and a day crossing the Alps to the Engadin resort in its name. Lake Maggiore, Zermatt and the Centovalli Railway is based in Baveno. From there you head over the Simplon Pass and up by shuttle to Zermatt below the Matterhorn, then ride the Centovalli Railway through its hundred valleys to Locarno. You'll get warm evenings by the water, with longer excursion days to reach the mountains.

Where in Switzerland Do These Tours Go?

• Graubünden: Davos, the Engadin and the Bernina Pass
• Bernese Oberland: Interlaken, Grindelwald, Mürren and the Lauterbrunnen valley
• Lake Geneva: Montreux, Lausanne and Château de Chillon
• Valais: Zermatt and the Matterhorn
• Ticino: Locarno, on the Centovalli line

Zurich and Geneva are mostly where you land and leave. Neither Lucerne nor Bern is a base on any of these tours, so if Lucerne's lake steamers or the arcades of Bern top your list, see our Lucerne holidays page.

Which Month Suits Which Package?

Most of these holidays run in summer, when every mountain railway is open and the meadows are green.

Planning an autumn trip around the Glacier Express? It takes a break between mid-October and early December, so check the Glacier Express timetable first.

Is a Snowy Package Worth It?

Yes, if you want the snow without a ski holiday. Winter in Switzerland stays in Interlaken all week, so you unpack once. You'll take the cogwheel railway from Grindelwald up to Kleine Scheidegg for lunch below the Eiger, walk past the frozen falls of the Lauterbrunnen valley, and ride the GoldenPass Express to Montreux for Château de Chillon and a wine tasting. Then there's chocolate-making at Maison Cailler and a fondue in Gruyères, home of the cheese. No ski boots, no lift pass, no early starts!

For a festive break, the Swiss Christmas Markets tour pairs a chalet village with an evening among the lakeside stalls in Montreux. Our Christmas holidays in Switzerland page compares the festive options, and the guide to the best time to visit Switzerland covers every season for a rail traveller.

How a Package Handles the Hard Parts

Booking city hops in Switzerland yourself is easy. The panoramic lines are another story. A seat reservation is obligatory on the Glacier Express and isn't covered by a rail pass, while the Bernina Express runs only with panoramic cars, and the Rhaetian Railway says you need a paid reservation on top of a valid ticket. In summer those seats go early.

A package books them for the whole group before you leave home. Hotel moves are planned in, so you're not dragging cases between platforms at Brig or Spiez. Prefer to go it alone? Our Swiss Travel Pass guide and the Grand Train Tour of Switzerland page show how to put it together yourself.

Which UK Airports Do the Flights Leave From?

Travelsphere lets you choose your UK airport. Its brochure is upfront that if you fly from a regional airport, your Holiday Director may meet you in resort rather than on the plane. Newmarket flies from a range of regional airports. The Best of Switzerland is open-jaw, into Zurich and home from Geneva, which saves a long day back across the country. Travelsphere says all its holidays are financially protected by ATOL and ABTA.

Passports and Money for a Swiss Holiday

Switzerland is in the Schengen area, so your passport needs to meet the Schengen date rules, and you'll register fingerprints and a photo at the border under the Entry/Exit System. Check the GOV.UK Switzerland entry requirements before you book.

The currency is the Swiss franc.

Which Package Suits You?

• First time in Switzerland: The Best of Switzerland covers the most ground.
• Rail fans: the same tour, or Swiss Alpine Glories to ride the GoldenPass both ways.
• You'd rather unpack once: Swiss Alpine Glories or either Italian lakes package.
• Solo travellers: any of them, as on all our escorted Swiss rail holidays, since you're with a group and a leader.
• A short festive trip: Swiss Christmas Markets.
• Snow without skiing: Winter in Switzerland.

Before You Book

There's plenty more on Switzerland by train, from single routes to every panoramic line. When you're ready, the cards above link straight to each tour's current dates.

Questions people ask