For the ultimate alpine experience, Switzerland is the place to be. Matterhorn, Jungfrau, Monte Rosa or Piz Bernina, these are just a few of the fifty peaks over four-thousand meters high. Famous massifs include Berner Oberland, Wallis (Valais) and Jura, and there are many, many more. Wintertime is for the skiing jet-set of course, but in summer, from July until September, hiking trails and mountain huts are open all across the country. Popular are the regions of Valais (Wallis) with the Jungfrau and the Aletsch glacier, Graubünden in the east, Tessin (Ticino) in the south, and Fribourg in the west.

There are 6 official national long distance hiking trails, and 53 regional long distance trails. This number is growing. European long distance trail E1, E2 (small tip), E4 and E5 pass through Switzerland, coinciding with national trails. The Swiss Alps are literally strewn with more than 150 excellent mountain huts for hikers to stay overnight and have a meal. In the height of summer the huts in popular regions can get crowded. Given all the information available on the internet, in guide-books and on maps, you can easily plan your own hiking itinerary from hut to hut, combining day-hikes into a multi-day itinerary ranging from an easy hike with kids to crossing glaciers in full gear for the experienced mountaineer.

In addition, no other country in Europe is so completely neat and orderly as Switzerland. Truly everything is well-organized, from cable cars to accommodation, from trail maintenance to waymarking, from maps and guidebooks to around the clock alpine rescue from the air. The Swiss Alpine Club even boasts the world's most futuristic mountain hut, the dazzling New Monte Rosa Hut, to be opened late in 2009. If it were possible to order fine weather in advance, the Swiss would surely be the first to offer this service.