Photogaph by Fotograferen.net/Alamy Stock Photo

Farmland

Photograph by Prisma Bildagentur AG/Alamy Stock Photo
Photograph by Prisma Bildagentur AG/Alamy Stock Photo

A patchwork quilt of farmland covers much of Switzerland’s Central Plateau. It’s also the most densely populated region of the country.

Ticino

Ticino Switzerland
Photograph by MARKA/Alamy Stock Photo

The southernmost canton in Switzerland, Ticino is the only one where Italian is the sole official language

Findel Glacier

Photograph by Iris Kuerschner/laif/Redux
Photograph by Iris Kuerschner/laif/Redux

Findel Glacier weaves a sinewy trail near Fluhalp in southern Switzerland.

Highways

Photograph by Prisma Bildagentur AG/Alamy Stock Photo
Photograph by Prisma Bildagentur AG/Alamy Stock Photo

Highways cut through the bucolic countryside in the canton of St. Gallen, in Switzerland’s northeast.

Altenrhein

Photograph by Westend61 GmbH/Alamy Stock Photo
Photograph by Westend61 GmbH/Alamy Stock Photo

A boat motors its way out of a channel in Altenrhein in the canton of St. Gallen.

Aargau

Photograph by blickwinkel/Alamy Stock Photo
Photograph by blickwinkel/Alamy Stock Photo

The low hills and fertile valleys of the canton of Aargau in northern Switzerland make for prime farmland.

Thal Nature Park

Photograph by Slawek Staszczuk/Alamy Stock Photo
Photograph by Slawek Staszczuk/Alamy Stock Photo

Tinges of color herald autumn in Thal Nature Park, tucked into the catchment area of Basel, Bern, and Zurich cantons.

Bex

Photograph by Sebastien Mathier/Alamy Stock Photo
Photograph by Sebastien Mathier/Alamy Stock Photo

The small spa resort town of Bex (pronounced “bay”) is famed for its Mines de Sel, Switzerland’s only operational salt mines.

Belalp

Photogaph by Fotograferen.net/Alamy Stock Photo
Photogaph by Fotograferen.net/Alamy Stock Photo

Switzerland’s “chocolate box” image—white-capped mountain peaks set against cloudless blue skies, quaint chalet villages, and flower-filled meadows—is justly earned. Here, snow blankets the Swiss village of Belalp near Blatten in Valais.

Werd Island

Photograph by F1online digitale Bildagentur GmbH/Alamy Stock Photo
Photograph by F1online digitale Bildagentur GmbH/Alamy Stock Photo

A narrow bridge connects Werd Island in Lake Constance with the Stein am Rhein mainland in northern Switzerland.