Contrasts of Switzerland
Experience Overview
All aboard the world’s first-ever ‘Swisstainable’ tour. Experience the local culture and delight in regional produce as you support the ecology and economy of Switzerland. Every hotel, experience, meal and transport is accredited as ‘Swisstainable’ - Switzerland’s national benchmark certificate for sustainability.
Highlights
Dining Summary
- 3 Dinner (D)
- 7 Breakfast (B)
- 2 Lunch (L)
Be My Guest
- Lake Geneva: In the green pastures overlooking Lake Geneva, enjoy Swiss hospitality and local wines, cheeses and breads with the owner of a local vineyard.
Iconic Experience
- St Moritz: Enjoy the views of St. Moritz by traveling along the most spectacular rail routes of Switzerland.
- Saint Moritz: Hop aboard the Glacier Express and take in the magical views of the alpine landscapes.
- Zermatt: Enjoy the tranquil atmosphere of Zermatt.
- Geneva: Spend the day taking in the spectacular views of Geneva.
- Switzerland: Marvel at the Alpine landscape as you drive past breathtakingly beautiful mountains and valleys.
- Lucerne: During an orientation with your Travel Director, see the Lion Monument, Old Town Hall and Chapel Bridge, the oldest wooden covered bridge in Europe.
MAKE TRAVEL MATTER®
- Switzerland: Meet the passionate beekeeper of Apidae, a local organization raising awareness and promoting education on bees, wildflowers and pollinators, for a talk on bees and biodiversity in Geneva County. Your visit directly supports United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 15: Life on Land.
Must-see Highlights
- Discover Zürich, St. Moritz, Zermatt, Geneva and Lucerne
- View the Matterhorn (weather permitting), the Jet d'Eau in Geneva, the Swiss Alps in Interlaken, the Lion Monument and Chapel Bridge in Lucerne
- Scenic Train Ride on the Glacier Express from St. Moritz to Zermatt and train from Geneva to Lucerne
Stays With Stories
- Zermatt: Enjoy panoramic views of the unique mountain landscape of the Alps at the Hotel Ambassador in Zermatt. The view of the majestic Matterhorn peak accompanies you into a world of comfort: luxurious beds, state-of-the-art facilities and personalized service.
Trip Details
Product Code: 19132
Tour Type: Group Tour
Accommodation: Deluxe
Transport: Private
Guide Language: English
Travel Styles:
Family, 55+
Tour Operator:
Trafalgar (CA)
Supplier Code: 284.510A
Starts: Zurich, Switzerland
Finishes: Zurich, Switzerland
Duration: 8 days
Departures: Guaranteed
Physical Rating:
Easy
Includes
Whats Included
- An expert Travel Director and professional Driver
- Cherry-picked hotels, all tried and trusted
- All porterage and restaurant gratuities
- All hotel tips, charges and local taxes
- Breakfast daily and up to half of your evening meals
- Must-see sightseeing
- Audio headsets for flexible sightseeing
- Luxury air-conditioned coach with Wi-Fi in most countries or alternative transportation (such as rail journeys)
- Train from Z�rich to St. Moritz
- Glacier Express Train from St. Moritz to Zermatt
- High-speed train from Zermatt to Vevey
- Golden Pass route train journey from Geneva to Lucerne
- Optional Experiences and free time
- On occasion, hotels of similar standard and location may be utilized
Price
Price per person: (Double Occupancy) CAD $6,565 ($821 /day)
Itinerary
Zürich is your springboard to a spectacular journey through Switzerland. Meet your Travel Director and fellow travelers to explore the city's ancient heritage and modern verve during your orientation tour this afternoon. This evening, meet your Travel Director and fellow travelers to launch your Swiss experience for dinner.
Accommodation: Mövenpick Airport
Meals: Dinner
Your love affair with the snow-capped peaks of Switzerland begins on a scenic train journey via Chur to the stylish resort of St. Moritz, set against the beautiful backdrop of Lake St. Moritz. Admire the inspiring natural setting and perhaps travel on one of Switzerland's most spectacular rail routes across the Bernina pass this afternoon, enjoy dinner at your hotel this evening.
Accommodation: Reine Victoria
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Embrace the glamour and romance of a bygone era. Watch the epic alpine landscapes drift past as you chug along one of the world's most unforgettable rail journeys from the comfort of the Glacier Express. Cross hundreds of bridges and the Oberalp Pass at 2,044 m (6,700 ft) above sea level. Enjoy an included lunch on board as you journey past lakes and glaciers bound for the resort town of Zermatt, at the foothills of the imposing Matterhorn. Upon arrival, your Travel Director will take you on an orientation of the town.
Accommodation: Ambassador
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Spend a full free day soaking up Zermatt's crisp mountain air and panoramic vistas. Relax in beautiful surroundings or consider an Optional Experience to the Klein Matterhorn for the most spectacular mountain views.
Accommodation: Ambassador
Meals: Breakfast
Travel by train to Geneva and continue to La Ferme Enchantée for a memorable Be My Guest experience over lunch. This sustainable farm also hosts beehives, and you'll even meet the beekeeper during a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience. This afternoon, return to Geneva where the orientation will include views of the Old Town, Jet d'Eau and the Flower Clock. Later, explore the city on your own. Stroll through the ancient maze of medieval streets and quiet squares or consider a cruise – enjoying views of the lakeside villages.
Accommodation: Royal Manotel
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Picture-perfect landscapes are your constant companion as you journey from Geneva along the Golden Pass route. Stop at Interlaken in the heart of the Swiss Alps, located at the foot of a trio of famous peaks — the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau. Spend some time at leisure and enjoy superb views of the peaks of the Bernese Oberland. Follow the Brünig Pass to the lakeside town of Lucerne in central Switzerland, where you'll stay for the next two nights. See the Iconic Chapel bridge and the poignant Lion Monument, built in memory of the Swiss Guards who bravely defended Louis XVI during the French Revolution on your orientation tour. The evening is free to spend as you wish, but you could choose to show off your vocal talents and learn how to yodel during an optional fun-packed Swiss folklore show with fondue dinner.
Accommodation: Radisson Blu
Meals: Breakfast
Mountain peaks surround you as you spend a day at leisure in beautiful lakeside Lucerne. Consider an Optional Experience to a nearby Mountain Peak, explore the medieval streets and shop for delicious Swiss Chocolate. Before we enjoy our Farewell dinner together, you might want to enjoy an Optional Experience riding a carriage through one of Switzerland’s most beautiful mountain villages.
Accommodation: Radisson Blu
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Say a fond farewell to Switzerland and newfound friends at the end of a remarkable holiday. Your Travel Director will give you tickets for the short train journey from Lucerne to Zürich Airport, which can be used at your convenience for your onward journey on the final day of your tour. Alternatively, join a coach transfer to Zürich Airport.
Meals: Breakfast
Similar Tours
Tour Operator
Trafalgar (CA)
Family owned and run since 1920, The Travel Corporation (TTC) is the world leader in immersive travel experiences across an extensive range of travel categories. Each year TTC's 40 award winning hospitality and travel brands connect over 1 million happy travellers to the world. We give you access to the 12 DMC’s behind these brands, so you can build your business by capitalizing on the extensive experience, local expertise, and financial assurance of TTC. LOCAL EXPERTISE The world leaders in travel for over 100 years, we offer unparalleled local expertise with a global footprint. Our 12 DMCs, led by experienced in-destination teams, deliver experience rich travel solutions in more than 80 countries. Additionally, our market based teams are on hand to support across our 40 offices worldwide
In Business Since 1931
Reviews
James Demers - Traveled, May 2025
Beautiful scenery, on trains that are actually a pleasure to ride. The tour guide handled all ticketing and payments to service providers. This removes all worries and lets you fully relax and enjoy the trip. I would suggest that the guides use an app like WhatsApp to keep the group informed and up-to-date on the schedule. People who "go missing" while out on their own could check in (or be checked up on) much more easily. Well-organized and covers a lot of ground. People considering this tour should be prepared to spend a large fraction of their time on trains.
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 05/20/2025
Eric Armentor - Traveled, May 2025
Enjoying Switzerland. Good contact from the company before the trip. Well thought out agenda. Nice array of locations, scenery, accommodations, food and drink.
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 05/20/2025
Tracey - Traveled, May 2025
Gorgeous train rides, but on your own to learn. We happened to be late to our tour due to weather issues with our travel and had to catch up to the tour group. I got very little help from both Trafalgar's customer service (because I didn't buy the flights through them) or our tour guide - just an email saying "take the train from Zurich to St. Moritz". Very disappointed in Trafalgars' lack of effort to help us because we hadn't bought our flights through them. We had bought the trip insurance, which was a joke, it did not cover anything for us to catch up. We found the train info booth and they were happy to help us. Beautiful trip, and the train rides go past gorgeous countryside, however what they don't tell you is how early the mornings are every day and the train rides can get very long. The itinerary could use a re-working, for shorter train rides each day and longer says in smaller towns. This would probably make the trip longer than a week, but would be more worthwhile to get a chance to experience the towns. Also, at least our tour guide didn't use the voice boxes much, and never on the trains. So we missed a lot of information about where we were and the history of Switzerland that you would normally get on a Trafalgar tour - that was disappointing. I don't feel as if I learned much about Switzerland than I have on previous Trafalgar trips.
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 05/20/2025
Patricia Findlay - Traveled, May 2025
It's comparable to other tours we have been on. We thought it should have been top of the line but it really was not. The tour was very busy. There was lots of walking which some people found difficult and was not expecting.
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 05/19/2025
Victor Tuohy - Traveled, May 2025
Love those mountains, lakes, and valleys. Very good hotels and meals. Great attention to detail. Tour Director *Personal information removed by Feefo* spent whatever time was needed to make sure all of the guests' questions and concerns were addressed. It had to be good - I took over 2000 photos plus over 200 video clips. Great train rides, tours, and scenery, particularly the Bernini Pass and Matterhorn. With a good personality, and great organizational and communication skills, tour director *Personal information removed by Feefo* got 34 people to all the right places at the right times to insure highly successful outcomes. We were glad to be with her. A real fun trip.
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 05/16/2025
Trusted Customer - Traveled, May 2025
Go do it! Easy to navigate. Well organized, Great host Amazing country side, Great train network, Great to be on top of the mountains. Wonderful experience!
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 05/19/2025
Evelyn D - Traveled, April 2025
Scenery is the hallmark of the trip, ranging from awesome amazing to spectacular. Excursion to Kleinhorn Glacier Paradise in Zermatt is THE best highlight not to be missed. The folklore show is very enjoyable with traditional Swiss food served- cheese and chocolate fondue, veal stew with rosti. The excursions are well-curated and recommendable. We didn’t join the Lucerne ones though as we preferred to walk about town. The included Be My Guest lunch at farm/winery was so warm and charming with strings of light around and billowing ceiling cloth canopy and great hosts. Our tour director *Personal information removed by Feefo* was fab, very competent and organized, knowledgeable, lively and funny. The group was great too. All handled themselves perfectly we did not miss a single train and there were lots taken, always departing early in the morning. The accommodations were excellent and beautiful other than unexpected broken AC in Geneva on a warm day, and the Zurich Movenpick. Zurich Movenpick, though used just as a springboard stay, is quite in need of bathroom maintenance (sleep area is good), but their breakfast buffet is excellent. The welcome dinner main courses were both delicious. The farewell dinner main courses can be prepared better though the ingredients were good. Overall these were big improvements over some welcome and farewell dinners before. The lunch on long train ride to .zermatt can also be improved. The dinner buffet in St Moritz was excellent. This was a busy on-the-go trip but well worth it for what you see and experience.
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 05/11/2025
Randy - Traveled, April 2025
Non stop scenic views. A lot of rail time but probably the best way to cover the distance and the best views. The one night stays feel a little rushed but unless you have a specific sight to visit the itinerary covers a lot. Be prepared to be on time in the mornings, trains won't wait. Zermatt excursion is a must for most spectacular view. Switzerland is expensive, but, our guide did a superb job of directing us to water refills, best snack purchase locations and free toilets.
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 05/11/2025
David Wetherbee - Traveled, April 2025
Great trip!
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 05/11/2025
Trusted Customer - Traveled, April 2025
Colette was a great tour guide. She took very good care of us. Loved her! Switzerland is beautiful!
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 05/05/2025
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