Switzerland
The mountains are the reason, but the railway is the country — Switzerland packs glaciers, four languages and Europe's most scenic train routes into a country you can cross in a morning.
Four languages, one
extraordinary railway
Switzerland is the European destination most Indian travellers already have a picture of, and the picture is usually accurate — the Matterhorn really does look like that, the trains really are that punctual, and Lauterbrunnen really is a valley with waterfalls falling off both walls. What the picture leaves out is how much variety is folded into a country you can cross in a morning.
It has four national languages. German in Zurich and Bern, French in Geneva and Lausanne, Italian in Ticino where the palm trees start, and Romansh in a few valleys of Graubünden. Cross a pass and the food, the architecture and the greeting all change. Bern is the capital, not Zurich or Geneva — a small medieval city on a river bend that most itineraries drive straight past.
The single best decision on a Swiss trip is to treat the railway as the attraction rather than the transport. The Glacier Express, the Bernina line over a UNESCO-listed pass, the cogwheel climbs to Pilatus and Gornergrat — these are the country at its best. Switzerland is genuinely expensive, and a Swiss Travel Pass plus a willingness to eat lunch from a bakery is what separates a comfortable trip from a punishing one.
When is your Switzerland?
Switzerland has two peak seasons and two quiet ones, and the quiet ones are quiet for a reason — a great many mountain railways and cable cars simply shut. Checking whether the lift you have come for is running matters more here than the weather forecast.
How to Explore the World
Six ways to find your next journey — by map, by moment, or by the feeling you are chasing.
Explore the world continent by continent, country by country — every place mapped to the right season.
The landmarks that define a journey, from ancient sites to natural marvels worth crossing the world for.
Beyond the headline sights — the quiet streets and local secrets our specialists know first-hand.
Each destination timed to its finest moment, so you arrive when it is at its very best.
Direct routes, visa-on-arrival and e-Visa options that make the world more reachable than you think.
Use any destination as a starting point — every journey is shaped entirely to your taste.
Swiss visa — what you need to know
Switzerland is in the Schengen area but not in the European Union, so Indian passport holders travel on a Schengen visa issued by the Swiss authorities. The Embassy in New Delhi applies one eligibility rule that no other Schengen mission on this site applies, and it stops some applicants before they start.
The Embassy states that the applicant should be legally residing and working in India for at least the last six months to be eligible to apply with the Swiss Representation in India. This is a Swiss condition on who may lodge in India at all, and it is worth checking against your own circumstances before you book anything — particularly if you have recently moved to India, recently changed employment status, or are applying from a country where you do not hold residence.
Applications are lodged with VFS Global and are accepted in Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Jalandhar, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Cochin, Mumbai, Chennai and Pune. Wherever you apply, the Embassy states that all visa applications submitted across India are processed by the Embassy of Switzerland in New Delhi. The Embassy does not take visa queries by telephone — written queries go to its visa mailbox, and application status is handled by VFS. Family members of Swiss, EU or EFTA citizens may instead apply directly at the Embassy or Consulate, by appointment booked in advance.
The Embassy publishes more than one number, so plan conservatively. Its headline guidance is that processing takes between 10 and 15 working days after submission at any VFS centre in India. Separately it states the Visa Code rule that a decision is taken within 15 days and that this period may be extended in individual cases. On top of that, some Schengen states must be consulted on certain applications, and the Embassy states that consultation may take up to 14 calendar days. Applications may be lodged no earlier than six months before your entry date, and the Embassy recommends starting as early as possible within that window.
Since November 2015 all Schengen missions in India capture fingerprints and a facial image, held in the Visa Information System. Personal appearance is mandatory if your fingerprints are not already on file — but the Embassy states that personal appearance and fingerprint scanning are not necessary for children under twelve. If your prints were taken in the last 59 months and a visa marked "VIS" was granted, you need not give them again, although you may still be called in if the earlier scans prove to be of insufficient quality.
The Embassy publishes an approved list of Indian travel insurance companies, and a policy from an insurer outside that list risks the application. The Schengen-wide minimum cover is €30,000, valid across the Schengen area for the whole stay. Because the list is republished periodically, check your insurer against the Embassy's current version before buying the policy rather than after. Final visa decisions remain with the relevant authorities.
Worth understanding before you apply. The Embassy states that the fee is due when the application is submitted and is not refundable — if you withdraw the application, or it is rejected, the fee is not reimbursed. It also reserves the right to adjust the rupee amounts at any time in line with exchange rates. If a visa is refused you have the right to appeal within 30 days of receiving the refusal, and the Embassy publishes a separate fee for that appeal. Visas for family members of EU or EFTA citizens are issued free of charge.
For all Switzerland journeys we design, we prepare your complete visa documentation package — the forms, the supporting documents, the sequence of submission. Our visa specialists help travellers prepare complete applications with careful document guidance. Final visa decisions always remain with the relevant authorities.
Travel Switzerland intelligently
Switzerland is expensive and superbly organised, which means the money you waste here is usually wasted on avoidable things — the wrong pass, too many hotel changes, and restaurant dinners every night.
Switzerland travel FAQ
The questions Indian travellers ask most often before booking Switzerland.
A country for every
kind of traveller
Almost everything worth seeing sits on the rail network, so the real planning question is not how to get between places but how few bases you can get away with.
A car-free village under the most recognisable mountain in the Alps, with the Gornergrat railway opposite it and glacier terrain above.
Interlaken between two lakes, the Lauterbrunnen valley with waterfalls off both walls, and the villages of Grindelwald, Wengen and Mürren beneath the Eiger.
The Glacier Express from Zermatt to St Moritz, the Bernina Express over a UNESCO-listed pass into Italy, the GoldenPass and the Gotthard Panorama Express.
The Chapel Bridge and the Lion Monument, lake steamers on Lake Lucerne, and Mount Pilatus and Rigi rising straight out of the water.
Lugano, Locarno and Ascona on subtropical lakes, and the three UNESCO-listed castles of Bellinzona guarding the road north.
French-speaking Switzerland — Geneva and its fountain, Lausanne, Montreux on the lakeshore, and the terraced Lavaux vineyards above it.
Bern's UNESCO old town inside a river bend, Zurich's lake and galleries, and Basel's museums on the Rhine.
Cable cars, cogwheel trains, lake boats and toboggan runs — Switzerland entertains children without anyone needing to hike.
Zermatt or Wengen for the mountain, Lake Geneva or Lucerne for the water, linked by a scenic rail leg rather than a transfer.
Tell us how long you have and whether you want mountains, lakes, cities or the great train journeys, and our travel designers will shape the route and the rail pass around it.
How far in advance
should you book?
Two things drive the Swiss timeline: an eligibility rule that has to be checked before anything else, and mountain villages with very little accommodation in them.
Confirm the six-month legal residence and employment condition in India before spending money on anything.
Choose an insurer from the Embassy's current approved list, then buy the policy — not the other way round.
From six months before entry, as early as you can. Allow 10 to 15 working days, and more if consultation is triggered.
Mountain villages sell out first. Work out the rail pass against the finished route, once the route is actually fixed.
What to pack
for Switzerland
You will move through several thousand metres of altitude in a single day here, so the country is packed for in layers rather than for a temperature.
Whatever the valley thermometer says, take a warm layer and a windproof up the mountain. A summit station can be far colder than the town you left twenty minutes earlier, and snow lies at altitude in midsummer.