5 Fairytale Places in Switzerland
Some countries you travel through; Switzerland you step into, like the pages of a storybook. Green valleys hung with waterfalls, villages of painted timber, lakes so clear they look painted on — these are the five corners of Switzerland that feel most like a fairytale, and exactly how to visit each one.
01 · Lauterbrunnen Valley
A deep glacial valley walled by sheer cliffs, with no fewer than 72 waterfalls tumbling straight off the rock — the Staubbach Falls drop nearly 300 metres in a single silver ribbon. It’s said to have inspired Tolkien’s Rivendell, and standing on the valley floor, you understand why. Ride the cable car up to car-free Mürren or Wengen for the view back down.
Base yourself in Interlaken and take the train in — the valley villages of Wengen and Mürren are car-free, and the rail journey up is half the magic.
That same railway keeps climbing — right up to the highest station in Europe. If you make one big excursion from the valley, make it this one.
Don't Miss
The classic Bernese Oberland outing: the cog railway up to Europe’s highest station, past Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald to a world of glaciers and snow.
02 · Grindelwald
Cradled beneath the north face of the Eiger, Grindelwald is the picture-book alpine village — chalets scattered across green meadows, cowbells on the breeze, and glaciers hanging above the rooftops. It’s the gateway to some of Switzerland’s best mountain days out, from the First cliff walk to the ridgelines around the Jungfrau.
Based in Zurich instead? You can still fold Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen and Interlaken into a single, easy day.
Worth Booking
Three of the Bernese Oberland’s most beautiful spots in one guided day from Zurich — ideal if you’re based in the city and short on time.
03 · Lake Blausee
Tiny, jewel-bright and hidden in a private nature park, Blausee is a lake so clear and so intensely blue it hardly looks real. Wooden rowing boats drift over water you can see straight to the bottom of, past sunken tree trunks and darting trout. Local legend says its colour comes from the eyes of a heartbroken maiden — fairytale to its core.
04 · Appenzell
In Switzerland’s rural northeast, Appenzell is all hand-painted house fronts, rolling emerald hills and living traditions that never became a museum piece. Rising straight behind the village are the Alpstein mountains — and this is where it turns pure fairytale: a cable car to Ebenalp, the improbable Äscher guesthouse pinned to the base of a cliff, and the turquoise Seealpsee tucked in the valley below.
Take the Ebenalp cable car and walk down through the cave passage to the cliff-hugging Äscher — one of the most photographed spots in the Alps. Go early to beat the crowds.
05 · Castello di Bellinzona
Cross into Italian-speaking Ticino and the storybook turns medieval. Three linked castles rise above Bellinzona — Castelgrande, Montebello and Sasso Corbaro — a UNESCO-listed fortress system with ramparts you can walk and views clear across the valley. Palm trees, piazzas and espresso below; battlements above.
Some places you visit. These are the ones that feel like stepping into a storybook.
— Travel JournalAnd sometimes the fairytale is the journey itself. If you’re coming up from the Italian side, few arrivals beat the little red train that climbs the highest rail crossing in the Alps — gliding past glaciers and the frozen-blue Lago Bianco on its way over the Bernina Pass. A fitting grand finale to a storybook trip.
For the Journey
The Bernina Express is one of the world’s most beautiful railways — a UNESCO-listed climb from the palm-lined south up to the glittering lakes and glaciers around St. Moritz.
Come in December and the same valleys do a different trick entirely — and the markets over the border are worth the detour, which is what our guide to the best Christmas markets in Europe is about. From Bellinzona it’s under two hours to the Italian lakes, where the best hotels on Lake Como are.
Good to Know & FAQ
When's the best time to visit Switzerland?
Late spring to early autumn (May–September) is ideal for the valleys, lakes and mountain excursions — wildflowers in June, warm lake days in July and August, golden light in September. Winter is magic too if you're there for the snow.
How do you get around between these places?
By train. Switzerland's rail network is superb and reaches almost everywhere on this list; a Swiss Travel Pass covers trains, buses, boats and many cable cars, and often pays for itself over a few days.
How many days do you need?
You could see the Bernese Oberland highlights (Lauterbrunnen, Grindelwald, Blausee) in 3–4 days from a single base like Interlaken. Add 2–3 more to reach Appenzell in the northeast and Bellinzona in the south.
Photos via Unsplash. Bernina Express: Kabelleger / David Gubler (bahnbilder.ch), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
