A Swiss train chugs through the countryside

Riding a Swiss train is the closest thing to a perfect travel experience.

The stations are neat and orderly. The trains always run on time. The friendly staff speak perfect English. The seats are supremely comfortable. The toilets are clean enough to prepare a meal, and the engines traverse the steepest mountain passes with effortless efficiency. 

And let´s not forget the view out the window which is all yours to gape at as the train weaves through verdant valleys, over viaducts, beneath snow-capped peaks, beside mountain streams, through switch-back tunnels and up mountainsides. It´s picturebook stuff as you whiz past dark-wood chalets, quaint village farmhouses and bell-donning cows grazing happily on the greenest grass you´ve ever seen.

Switzerland has 5,000 kilometres worth of railway tracks and more scenic routes than you have fingers and toes. 

If you´re stumped about where to start your perfect Swiss train journey, consider  ¨the Bernina Express¨, a classic route which crosses the Alps vertically and chugs from mountaintop St Moritz to Tirano in Italy. If time is no object, the seven-hour Glacier Express from Zermatt to Davos is incredibly scenic. Alternatively, the Golden Pass is something of a greatest hits tour, leaving from Zurich and trundling through some of Switzerland´s most popular towns - Lucerne, Interlaken and Montreux - before pulling into Geneva.  

The world´s best train system does, however, come at a price. Individual journeys are not cheap, but you´ll save yourself a Swiss bank account-sized wad of cash if you invest in one of the Swiss train passes that are available to foreigners and allow for unlimited travel on trains, boats and buses.