Why 'safe' Switzerland isn't as boring as you think

“Chocolate is happiness you can eat,” reads the slogan of the Aeschbach chocolate factory in Root, Switzerland.

That is certainly true on its interactive Chocoworld tour, which features piles of glittering chocolate coins, oodles of the stuff moulded into sculptures, and seemingly endless samples. Given the beauty of its mountains, lakes and vineyards, and the palpable purity of its air, the country might wish to repurpose that message as “Switzerland is happiness you can inhale.”

The idea of breathing easy seems more apt still, given that Switzerland has recently been named the safest country in Europe to visit this summer. Not only is it on the FCO “safe” list of destinations that don’t require self-isolation on return, but Covid-19 numbers have been remarkably low. Granted, this is a small country with a population of fewer than nine million, but cases have ­totalled around 35,000 to date (compared to the UK’s 300,000) and deaths have remained below 10 per day for the past three months.

For plenty of other reasons, a trip to Switzerland seems like the ideal antidote to lockdown. From walking to picnicking and from swimming to cycling, it is almost laughably easy to enjoy the great outdoors here. Even in town, there is open air – most places have a lake, pool or swimming baths ­complete with a wooden scaffold of stepped diving platforms, from low-slung to ear-popping, and somewhere good to eat and drink nearby.

In ­Zurich, check out the beautiful, tree-fringed men’s swimming pool in the Schanzengraben, the remains of the 17th-century fortifications and moat opposite the Old Botanical Garden – and if you’re not a man, don’t worry. At night the platform above the water transforms into the Rimini Bar, where visitors of both sexes are welcome to relax on a pontoon and sip a spritz.

In the lovely medieval city of ­Lucerne, the splendid 19th-century swimming baths, or Seebad, sit on the lake. Cabins surround two open-air pools that have retained their Belle Époque glamour without sacrificing 21st-century convenience: a roof terrace with a restaurant serves local specialities, and you can drink in the majesty of Mount Pilatus beyond.

There is no question of visiting Basel without a dip in the Rhine, and the Rheinbad Breite is the ideal location. It has a pool and decking built out over the river, with a sauna and a terrific fish restaurant, Le Rhin Bleu, in which to relax afterwards.

Meanwhile, just 30 minutes’ drive from Ascona, a charming Mediterranean-style town on the northern shore of Lake Maggiore, the green, rock-lined pools of the Valle Verzasca beckon. The startlingly clear water is straddled by the double-arched pedestrian bridge known as the Ponte dei Salti (“salti” means “leaps”, this is the tiny Italian segment of Switzerland). If you are brave enough, you can jump from there.

Clear, pure mountain air is wonderful – but there are other ways to enjoy the landscape, and other scents to absorb. There are vineyards all over Switzerland, but the French-speaking cantons of Vaud and Valais are the best known for wine – at least by the Swiss, who drink such a large proportion of what gets made that the rest of the world barely gets to hear about it.

Valais, in the south-west, produces 40 per cent of the Swiss harvest and is known as the “California of Switzerland”. Small and perfectly formed, its south-facing vineyards line the northern bank of the Rhône in an undulating ribbon. There is great walking to be had along the old Bisse de Clavau, from Sion to St Léonard (a bisse is an irrigation channel, used to bring glacier water to the vineyards). Built in 1450, it is easy to follow – just remember to bring a torch for the tunnel – and lined with ancient dry­stone walls that absorb the sun and radiate warmth back on to the vines. The walk is about five miles and you won’t go hungry: there are stalls, offering samples of local products, along the way.

Another way to combine fresh air and wine-tasting is to hire a bike and cycle through the vineyards. The twinned Valais Wine Museums are situated in Sierre and Salgesch. The former has temporary exhibitions, the latter a permanent display, and they are just 15 minutes apart by bike. More energetic cyclists may want to try the route from Saillon to Martigny, a little further west along the Rhône. The only issue here is which direction to travel in, since there is the possibility of a tasting at either end: the Caveau de Saillon offers the wines of the region, which boasts about 30 varieties – but make sure you try fendant, the white wine made from the chasselas grape, which is the local speciality.

In Martigny, the Distillerie Morand dates from 1889 and offers visitors a cocktail tasting (pre-booked). Between the two, in Fully, there is the kooky, slightly makeshift Fol’terres agritourism pavilion: you can also try local wines here.

For those who like to visit individual producers, one of Switzerland’s finest, Marie-Thérèse Chappaz is also based in Fully. Be sure to book. All things considered, restraint is advisable, and so is an electric bike. And if you still can’t decide on your route, consider that Saillon has a thermal complex, Les Bains de Saillon with several pools, some heated, a hammam, a sauna and a hotel, all tucked into the foot of a scenic green slope. In Switzerland, it’s impossible to avoid mountains and swimming baths, even when tasting wine.

Switzerland’s second most renowned canton for wine is Vaud, around the city of Lausanne on the edge of Lake Geneva (Lac Léman to locals). Its Open Cellar Days, delayed this year because of the pandemic, are now taking place over the weekend of Aug 22–23. A “passport” gives access to more than 300 wineries, with the chance to taste wine, sample local produce and buy bottles to take home. Drink-driving is avoided via free public transport and shuttle buses – and the Vaudois, who are proud of their wines, ensure that the weekend is a non-stop party.

A gentler alternative is to walk through the wine cellar of Lausanne’s Royal Savoy Hotel, where the canton’s six wine regions are spelt out in tiles along the floor, then take the lift to the open-air rooftop bar, where you can try some ­–uperb chasselas or pinot noir (the country is, if anything, even better at light, fresh, perfumed reds than at pure, floral whites) while looking out over the mountains where your wine was born.

However lazy a wine-lover you are, it’s a shame to miss the vineyards of Lavaux – one of those six regions. Planted in the 12th century, these spectacular, terraced rows are classified a Unesco World Heritage site. Download the Vaud: Guide app for a directed wander past churches and castles, wineries and the medieval market town of Lutry. If you want to organise an individual winery visit while in the Vaud, one of the region’s best is Cave Caloz – a biodynamic property where peaches grow among the vines and a flock of sheep acts as a natural lawnmower in spring and autumn. Again, make sure you book ahead.

In Lausanne, known as the Olympic city because the organisation’s committee is based there, the Olympics Museum is well worth a visit. I am always wary of taking teenagers to museums, as their conspicuous boredom can make the experience pointless, but this place is a judicious combination of information and interaction.

Watching my then 15-year-old stepdaughter guide her 10-year-old sister around the costumes, posters and information boards (did you know that the ancient Olympics always coincided with the second full moon after summer solstice?) was heartwarming – even if they, and their other sister, preferred the room full of computerised Olympic activities.

For some of us, art has been one of the cruellest deprivations of the lockdown. In Basel, the much-anticipated Edward Hopper exhibition at the Fondation Beyeler has been extended until late September. If anyone is equipped to help us process our feelings about the isolation that pandemic precautions forced upon us, it is surely Hopper, the great depictor of the loneliness of modern American life.

When your contemplative moment is over, there is always the opportunity for a cathartic jump into the Rhine – or, if you’re there in early autumn, for some open-air music: the Im Fluss ­festival, in the first half of September, is a series of free concerts performed on a stage floating on the river. Listen, look around you, and breathe. For the moment, this is the best antidote to Covid-19 we have.

How to do it

Getting there

British Airways flies to Basel, Zurich and Geneva. Or take the Eurostar to Paris then the TGV-Lyria to Geneva, Lausanne, Basel or Zurich (both are running reduced services but the domestic Swiss trains are running normally).

Where to stay

In Zurich

Baur au Lac hotel has a summer open-air cinema and offers a nostalgic boating experience, in vintage boats, with a captain and a picnic.

In Basel

Teufelhof guesthouse has rooms designed by artists and a wine cellar where you can see remnants of the two sets of city walls, from the 11th and 13th centuries.

In Lausanne

For wine lovers, the Royal Savoy has a rooftop bar and a terrific restaurant with a huge terrace; the Beau Rivage Palace has a new 16,000 sq ft spa that opened in June.

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