The Rough Guide to Switzerland

I purchased this guide along with the Michelin guide. The Michelin guide was useless, I primarily used this guide for my trip. The only gripe I have is that it needs to be updated as a number of the restaurants were no longer open. Other than that, I highly recommend it for Swiss travel.

Areas of the country are easy to locate. Good regional maps. Some accommodations provided (nice to have moderate listings as opposed to many travel guides that list the high priced, luxury places) and eating places, but kept minimal so that the majority of the book focuses on things to see and do. Particularly like the "travel details" section at the end of each chapter that gives trains and bus information which includes length of time to travel between cities.

I'm the author of the Rough Guide to Switzerland - I couldn't resist responding to the review below titled "A must for a Swiss trip" by 10za. Rough Guides may have started out 22 years ago as "rough" backpacker guides, but the guide I wrote is anything but! As well as budget sleeping & eating options all round Switzerland, we cover high-end choices in detail. Here's a brief rundown. In Geneva we give full, hands-on reviews of the best six luxury hotels, and seven more midrange hotels, plus critical assessment of fine restaurants such as Le Bearn and Miyako. In Zurich, discriminating reviews of five luxury hotels, ten more midrange hotels (six in-town and four out-of-town), and eight of the city's grandest restaurants. Where to stay inexpensively - and very expensively - in St Moritz, Montreux and Gstaad. The cheapest nosh in Bern and the finest cuisine in Lugano. You get the idea. Had to put the record straight.

Thanks for the great review, Milesyao! (see below for what s/he says). To answer your criticisms:* Major scenic train routes are covered on p.38.* Picking & choosing sights; see 2nd edition update, due for publication next year, which will have more on this.* Web addresses, ditto.* Cross-border coverage, ditto again.* For details of Gimmelwald, see p.271 (top and bottom of the page).Hope this helps!Matthew TellerAuthor, Rough Guide to Switzerland

The Rough Guide To Switzerland stands out because of its thoroughness: it goes well beyond the usual travel-book sketches to include specific information on transportation, accomodation, dining and local customs. Unlike other guides, it has extremely useful information on local regulations, for which Switzerland is sadly famous. For example, it notes that ``parking in Switzerland is hellish,'' and goes on to describe in detail the parking regulations in Zurich and Geneva (which almost require you to have a law degree to understand). Note, however, that some of the information is outdated, and you should check in advance with the local tourist office because some rules have changed since the book's publication. The Rough Guide also gives excellent travel tips.