Switzerland is a picture-postcard country of magnificent alpine grandeur and deep valleys which in summer are clad in fluorescent green grass. There are brown timber houses with a riot of colourful flowers tumbling out of window boxes and tinkling cow bells in the fields.

The cities of Switzerland are not the main attractions of the country, but certainly warrant a visit. The capital, Bern (Berne), has a picturesque heart with colourful fountains and an ancient animated clock which starts pealing at 4 minutes before every hour. There is also a bear pit housing some living versions of the symbol of the city.

Zürich, the largest city in Switzerland, makes a pretty picture with flower beds and lawns along the edge of the lake, and swans gliding majestically near the shore. The adjacent business centre contains plenty of banks and very expensive jewellery and watch shops.

Picturesque Luzern (Lucerne) has 14th century covered wooden bridges decorated with pictorial panels and 15th century buildings with exteriors decorated with elaborate paintings. Also in the old town is the Jesuit Church with an interior that is an explosion of rococo gilt and marble. Carved into the rock of a cliff face is the Lion Monument, dedicated to the Swiss guards who died defending King Louis XVI during the French Revolution.

My favourite valleys, Lauterbrünnen and Grindelwald, are particularly dramatic with views of mountains, glaciers and waterfalls. In Lauterbrünnen the thundering water of the Trummelbach Falls, a series of seven glacier-bed chutes, are actually within the Eiger mountain and can be seen by taking a lift built inside the mountain. Other waterfalls plummet down the sheer walls of this narrow glacier-cut valley. The English poet Lord Byron compared the Staubbach Waterfall to the "tail of the pale horse ridden by Death in the Apocalypse". This waterfall near the road on the outskirts of the village of Lauterbrünnen, plunges 300 metres into the valley, dissolving almost entirely into fine spray.

The car-free villages of Mürren and Gimmelwald, accessible by funicular, are perched on the hillsides and offer spectacular views of the Jungfrau, Mönch and Eiger peaks. Picturesque Grindelwald, under the north face of the Eiger, is in the adjoining valley and accessible by motor vehicle. From here a chair lift or a railway gives access to the mountains.

From Interlaken (via Lauterbrünnen) there is a spectacular train trip to the Jungfraujoch taking 2½ hours each way. Part of the steep track is in tunnels through the Eiger and the Mönch with fantastic views from two windows blasted in the sides of the mountains. On the summit there is the Ice Palace cut into a glacier and an unforgettable panorama of mountains and glacier. It is only worth going on this trip in clear weather as the price is nearly as steep as the railway track. The cost of $157.25 return or a discounted price of $118.50 on the 6.34am train, returning on an early train. Take warm clothes, sunglasses to reduce the glare from the snow and your own food to reduce the costs.

In the Eastern part of Switzerland there are the expensive ski resorts of Davos, Klosters (where the British Royal Family goes to ski) and St. Moritz. This is a mountainous area, but I feel the scenery is more spectacular and there is more for the tourist in the Lauterbrünnen/Grindelwald area.

The massive Abbey Church at Einsiedeln, set in a small town in the middle of the countryside, has an extraordinarily ornate pink and white rococo interior with frescoes, cherubs and gold ornamentation. This church has to be seen to be believed and is the most elaborate I have visited.

In the valleys there are concrete avalanche shelters and concrete barriers, looking like a row of enormous widely-spaced teeth, to slow the flow of an avalanche. Quite a lot of the mountain-side roads are covered, like a tunnel with one side open, so the snow can flow over the top of the reinforced concrete roof. Set in the countryside are underground military installations, with only the discreet entrances visible in the hillside.

The grass in the parks is left to grow very long and walking or sitting on the grass is considered anti-social so benches are set on the path, not on the grass. Switzerland is environmentally conscious, and there are signs at traffic lights requesting motorists to turn off their vehicle engine while waiting at a red light. The cemeteries are beautifully kept and each grave is ablaze with pansies and daffodils, two striking examples of which are in Einsiedeln and Interlaken.

Some practical information on Switzerland - Switzerland is also known as Schweiz, Suisse, or Svizerra depending on the language of the speaker. Located where Germany, France and Italy meet, these languages are each spoken in an area of the country, with German spoken by two-thirds of the population. Switzerland is not a member of the European Union, or the United Nations for that matter, or the Euro common currency group. The currency is the Swiss franc. Exchange rate (mid 1999) was Sfr1.006 to $1.

Each vehicle entering Switzerland requires a one-year road pass called a vignette costing $39.75 and purchased at the border. If you are very lucky there will be a valid road pass sticker already on the windscreen of your vehicle from a previous user. The roads are excellent and no additional tolls apply, but driving in the mountains is not fast. Travelling in Switzerland is easy as it is a safe, clean country and English is widely spoken. Food and fuel are a lot more expensive than in neighbouring countries and there is an additional environment tax on diesel making it even more expensive than petrol. Stock up before entering Switzerland.

Because there are no large road-side service stations with space for motorhomes to overnight, freecamping was not as easy as in neighbouring countries. Nevertheless we managed to find somewhere suitable each evening even if we were woken gently in the morning by the tinkling of cow bells.