Switzerland is a little more than half the size of Maine and nothing is very far from the main roads and railroads. Cog railroads and cable cars go to the middle heights and well defined paths to the feet of the climbs. Comfortable huts are spotted throughout the mountains.
Little Switzerland manages to have three international gateway airports: Zurich, Geneva and Basel. Travel is quick and highly scenic by car or train throughout the country. The electrified rail system covers three thousand miles.
With a 400,000 population Zurich is the nation’s largest city and its leading banking and financial center. Geneva enjoys an international reputation for culture and sophistication and is home to the World Trade Center and the United Nations. Basel, second-largest of Swiss cities, sits on the Rhine River and like Zurich is a business and corporate headquarters city. Switzerland’s capital is Bern.
Geneva is headquarters for more than 140 international organizations whose bureaucrats knew what they were doing when they selected Geneva for a home. The Rhine River rises in the heart of Geneva as it leaves the Lake of Geneva. The city also sits astride the winding river called the L’Arve and, as a backdrop, has the Alps, with Mt. Blanc at 15,771 feet the highest peak in Europe.
Since Geneva is a city of conferences and business meetings that take place mostly at times other than the summer, July and August are good months for a choice of accommodations. The Geneva Tourist office offers the free use of a sightseeing map and of a tape keyed to a two-hour walk through the historic section of the city. The tapes come in five languages.
Switzerland Metro Map Photo Gallery
