Switzerland

Switzerland is nature's greatest hits played by an orchestra that never misses a note. The Matterhorn actually looks like that. The lakes really are that blue. And the trains, gliding along cliff ledges and through flower meadows precisely on schedule, turn simply getting around into the trip's highlight. Ride the Glacier Express between Zermatt and St Moritz and watch the country scroll past like a documentary you are inside. Summer means hiking villages like Wengen and Grindelwald, car-free and cowbell-soundtracked, where trails start at the hotel terrace. Winter means some of the world's great ski weeks, finished with fondue and wine in timbered restaurants. Lucerne and Lausanne add lakefront elegance, Zurich adds urban polish. Switzerland is expensive and worth it: a country that simply works, set inside scenery that does not seem legal.