by The destruction of the city
Europe’s best crossroads city, Basel, is a short tram ride from Germany and France. Everyone who stays in a hotel or guest house here gets free public travel – from the moment you check in, your booking is the same as your ticket from the airport. Not only is Basel brilliant for transportation nerds, it’s also an art haven, focused on recreation, especially in the summer months. Locals can swim home after work, or more likely wade due to the current of the Rhine, keeping their clothes and belongings dry in a locally made waterproof Wickelfisch bag. This may be Switzerland, but Basel’s art student vibe helps keep costs down. You are allowed to visit the university’s botanical gardens, including the tropical house. Chill at Café Zum Roten Engel at Andreasplatz for kaffee and kuchen or at the Fischerstube, home to the locally famous Ueli beer. The hip Basel youth hostel on the banks of the Rhine was renovated by design group Buchner Bründler and features double rooms with their own en suite.
B&B with en suite from £70pp; youth pressure.ch
Mountain sports
Laax is the Swiss mountain resort that teenagers should visit, especially if they are into skating. In addition to an indoor hall, the new Laax Freestyle Academy will open this summer with a skate bowl, short ramps and trampolines, as well as expert instruction. Riders Hotel is the unofficial heart of Laax and embraces the season in the same way that it approaches the winter months. There are DJs and yoga sessions, rooms come in configurations to suit couples, families and groups of friends who want to go in together, and are a pleasant mix of cool concrete, plywood and large windows with dreamy views. It is also classified as one of Switzerland’s bike hotels, with a workshop and repair area on site.
B&B doubles from £164; ridershotel.com
Land of the lakes
There are around 1,500 lakes in Switzerland, from the big hitters of Lac Léman and Lake Constance to smaller ideals. In the Bernese Oberland, Blausee (“Blue Lake”) lives up to its name. Only 6,400 square meters of pine-framed perfection – its deep turquoise waters are truly impressive. Take a trip on a glass bottom boat or enjoy a gentle walk in the surrounding woods. Blausee is easy to reach – bus 230 will deliver you directly to the shore from Adelboden. The Hotel Blausee is the perfect place to base yourself, with beautiful views across the lake. Spa and food include fresh trout; The owners will also pack you a picnic, so you can go into the hills to enjoy it.
Double bed & breakfast from £185; blousee.ch
Groovy Montreux
Even as the Montreux Jazz Festival ends next week (July 20), the musical legacy continues throughout the year with jazz at Funky Claude’s Bar and tours of the Mountain Studios where Queen recorded six albums. Montreux also makes a great base for visiting the Lavaux vineyard terraces by train, taking a cable car to Glacier 3000, as well as exploring Lac Léman with a standup paddleboard. Just behind Montreux, the Hotel Masson is a three-star charmer, with old-fashioned grace, gardens overlooking the lake and some of the most affordable room rates in the area.
B&B double from £220; hotelmasson.ch
Hiking and cycling
Hike four hours and a million miles from the glitz of Gstaad, the hamlet of Abländschen almost enough but a tiny church surrounded by endless green meadows and small streams, backed by the Gastlosen range. So far, very Heidi. However, the Hotel Zur Sau, despite its traditional appearance, is quietly radical. As part of a foundation that aims to harness tourism to help make this area a sustainable place to live, all of its workers, as well as its food, are sourced locally. There are walking and cycling paths from the hotel and if you are car free, an electric mail bus, the 185, stops outside the hotel four times a day (twice in either direction).
B&B doubles from £200; bergdorf-ablaendschen.ch
Force style
Back in 1996, the village of Vals in the Surselva region hired the architect Peter Zumthor to create a building to cover its thermal waters. His multi-awarded building, Vals Therme, which uses more than 60,000 slabs of Vals quartzite alongside water that springs from deep underground at 30C, has been a place of architecture-student pilgrimage ever since. It’s definitely worth a look: you can pop in for a cocktail at its Blue Bar. But to stay, Brücke 49 is a more affordable, chic guesthouse owned by designer Ruth Kramer, who created a stylish, spare interior in light gray, offsetting local Vals granite with sheepskin and wool. Brücke’s warm heart continues with an organic Swiss breakfast – and guests have half-price entry to the Spa.
double B&B from £219; badger49.ch
Italian-Swiss fusion
Five different countries border Switzerland, but Ticino, next to Italy, is the part that the Swiss try to keep to themselves. Mountains descend to the pastel colored villages and towns of Lake Lugano, and fabled Swiss efficiency comes with an extra dollop of Italian charm. It’s no surprise to learn that this is Switzerland’s foodiest area; not just vineyards and cheese making (although they are very good) but edible flowers in the Piano di Magadino national park. Italy albergo diffuso A movement – where restored village houses are used as places to stay – has also caught on here. Corippo, in the village of the same name, offers simple rooms and stellar food. An hourly bus from Tenero station takes you within a short walk of the village.
double B&B from £195; corippoalbergodiffuso.ch.
