12 Things I Love about Switzerland – Beautiful Country

1. The mountains

I love the Swiss mountains. They are beautiful. And they are everywhere, and they are near. You do not have to drive 200 miles to see a mountain. There are many mountains that I can see from my apartment. If I want to go hiking to a mountain, 5 or 10 minutes by car and I can already be in the mountain. In 30 minutes by car around my house, there are enough mountains to hike for a year!

And we have some very famous mountains such as the Matterhorn or the Jungfrau. But you do not go there every weekend with the prices of cable cars that are horrendous.

2. The lakes

There are tons of lakes in Switzerland. From tiny lakes to huge lakes.

And a lot of them are beautiful and in an awesome environment. And we also have several impressive artificial lakes with large dams. We even have the tallest dam in Europe (and the tallest gravity dam of the world!), the Grande Dixence dam. All these lakes make for beautiful views and very lovely hikes! For instance, the closest lake to my house is only 10 minutes away by car. And there are also many small rivers.

3. The smallness

This one is going to be crazy for some people. But I like that Switzerland is small.

From the center of Switzerland, you can go everywhere in less than four hours. That is awesome. I do not like great distances. And even big cities in Switzerland are still relatively small. And small towns have perfect sizes.

The capital of my state, Fribourg, is small enough that you can cross it on foot. That is awesome! When I was in the United States, I felt that it was too big. Another advantage of this is that you can save a lot of time and money for your travel inside your own country!

4. The villages

There are a lot of small villages in Switzerland. They are so peaceful and so typical

My village is around 150 people. It is in a small municipality of about 3000 people. This size is perfect for me. You can know your neighbors. You can know a lot of people in the village. And you know every place around the village.

Small villages are something you do not find in every country. Indeed, small villages tend to disappear in many countries. There are many reasons for me to live in a village. And we are not too far away from the city. Fribourg, the state capital, is about 15 minutes away. I would not like to live in a town.

5. The chocolate

Swiss chocolate is very famous already. I probably do not have to tell you that Swiss chocolate is delicious! We have many great chocolate factories in Switzerland. There are two factories close to me. In Fribourg, there is a Villars factory. And in Broc, there is a Caillers factory. The latter is a mandatory visit for a lot of people visiting Gruyères.

I am not a huge fan of dessert and sweets in general. But Swiss chocolate is fantastic. It is excellent, and there are many varieties. You can find many kinds of chocolate. There are enough to satisfy most tastes. When I visit people outside the country, I always bring Swiss chocolate with me, and everybody is always happy to receive it. And to eat it!

6. The cheese

Switzerland has a lot of great cheese. From Gruyères to Vacherin and even goat cheese. And of course, the very famous cheese fondue. There are many varieties in the different states of Switzerland. In my region, the most famous is the half-and-half fondue with half Gruyères and half Vacherin. But a good Vacherin fondue is also fabulous. Mrs. The Poor Swiss has been enjoyed Swiss cheese a lot since they joined me in Switzerland.

You can find a lot of small dairy shops in many villages. For instance, in our village, there two cheese shops and factories. And each of these little shops has their specialties and generally use milk from farmers of the village. It is a very local production, and it tastes incredible!

7. The cleanliness

Switzerland is very clean. Streets in cities and villages are being cleaned quite often. And most people in Switzerland are very respectful and do not throw things away. Even in some very touristic places, you can feel it is very clean. I rarely see trash when I go hiking in the mountain. And when I do, I try to take it with me if I carry a bag pack.

And inside places are also generally very clean. You can sit on the ground in most places. I think this is a good sign. There are many countries I have been where I would not sit on the floor in any place. I wish more people in other countries would have the same mentality. It does not take a lot of effort to pick up your trash. And even if it is not yours, pick it up anyway!

8. The calm

This one is related to the other points. I like so much to be able to live in a very quiet place.

A lot of the time, the only thing I can hear is the birds and the cowbells. Calm is awesome. I wish it would be even quieter since I live relatively close to the main road. But quiet and calm are fantastic. It is probably only achieved in small villages. But I feel that Switzerland, in general, is quiet and calm. You can find many places where you can rest. It is peaceful and more healthy to live in a quiet area. It will also ease your stress. And I sleep much better in the calm of Switzerland than in most places.

9. The safety

I feel safe in Switzerland. There was never a time when I did not feel safe in Switzerland. I am not going to say that Switzerland does not have any crime. There are crimes, of course, especially in some big cities and even more so in some places in these cities. There are some parts of some cities where I do not like to go.

I have traveled to many countries. And in almost all of them, there was someplace I was not comfortable with. Here, I know many people who let their house open most of the time. Or let their bikes unlocked on the street and find them back every night. I would not go that far myself. But I think it tells something about safety in Switzerland.

10. The snow

I like winter for all the snow that we get.

We generally get snow everywhere, even at a lower altitude. My village is only 700 meters above sea level, and we get more than enough snow. Snow is great! It is gorgeous. And this amount of snow allows me to go skiing. Since the mountains are quite close, I can ski in several places in less than 30 minutes. I do not need to drive four hours to go skiing, like many places in the world. It saves me a lot of time. And it also saves some money! Even though skiing is an expensive hobby, there are ways to ski for less in Switzerland.

I would not like living in a place that does not get any snow. Winter should have snow. I think it is the order of things. Even if you need to plow the snow in winter, I think it is worth it!

11. The punctuality

This one is starting to wear off. But it is still better than any country I have visited.

Most people are very punctual in Switzerland. For instance, if you have an appointment at 9 am, people expect you to be there at 9 am sharp. The most famous example in Switzerland is the train. When the train has a few minutes of delay, they are already announcing it and apologizing for it. Punctuality is awesome. If the train is said to leave at 9:02 am, there is very little chance that you can catch it at 9:03 am. I do not like Swiss public trains, but at least they are on time!

When we invite people to our place, 95% of the people are here on time. I am saying it is starting to wear off because some Swiss people tend to be always late. Another problem is often with doctors and health professionals. Their appointments are very often late. But overall, people are on time, and appointments are on time as well.

12. Hiking trails

I already mentioned that I loved the mountains in Switzerland. But there is another thing that I love about the mounts. It is the hiking trails.

We have many hiking trails in Switzerland. There are more than 60’000 kilometers of trails available. All these trails are well indicated and well maintained. And they are free! You do not have to pay to go hiking into a nice forest following a well-defined trail!

If you like hiking, Switzerland will be an excellent place for you. And when you think that nothing is far in our small country, it makes it a great place to hike.

Conclusion – Switzerland is awesome!

In conclusion, I believe that life in Switzerland is awesome!

From all the countries and places I have traveled, Switzerland is the only place where I want to live! It is beautiful, calm, and safe. Everything is close by. You can go to a mountain or a lovely lake in less than one hour. You can sleep at night with almost no noise but the bells of the cows. And you can eat great cheese and great chocolate. What else can we ask?

Of course, Switzerland is not perfect. I do not think there is such a thing as a perfect country. I already wrote about five things I hate about Switzerland. But overall, these are small things compared to what I love about this country.

If you want to learn more, you can also watch this video about things to love and hate in Switzerland if you visit here:

What about you? Do you agree with my list? What do you love about Switzerland?