Interlaken

The composer Felix Mendelssohn wrote: «If you haven't seen the Interlaken contryside, you haven't seen Switzerland.» The fashionable holiday resort with village character and a spacious park nestles between Lakes Thun and Brienz at an altitude of 570 metres above sea level and boasts a fantastic view of the Jungfrau Massif. The "Höheweg", a 700-metre-long boulevard, is Interlaken's promenade wooeing passers-by with windows of exclusive boutiques, watch and jewellery shops and luxurious hotels.

Lucerne

Legend has it that an angel with a light showed Lucerne's first settlers where to build a chapel, and in good weather even an atheist might describe the city's location as heaven-sent. Lapped by a scenic lake, surrounded by mountains of myth - a picture of this once small fishing village and its wooden Kapellbrücke (Chapel Bridge) is enough to connote the very essence of Switzerland.

Between the 13th and 19th centuries, Lucerne (Luzern in German, or 'the city of lights') made its fortune as an essential stop on the trade route over the Alps. Then its charming medieval centre and its fabulous position began attracting tourists. It's never looked back