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Switzerland

Where tradition still counts for a lot, but where innovation sparks global attention time and again. To state the obvious: stunning Alpine landscapes and snowfields, watches and clocks par excellence, finest chocolate, superb cheeses, health-giving Birchermüesli, a penchant for politeness and punctuality, and serene, laze-about Sundays. In tandem, CERN and the Large Hadron Collider, and ground-breaking medical and environmental technologies. The birthplace of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Mario Botta, Sophie Henriette Gertrud Taeuber-Arp, Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, Peter Zumthor, Heidi author Joanna Spyri, Roger Federer... and Helvetica.

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Adelboden

The village of Adelboden (meaning “noble ground”), first settled in the 15th century; population now approaching 4,000. Located in the western part of the Bernese Oberland region, at the top end of Engstlige Valley – 45 minutes from Bern, two hours from Zurich, and two-and-a-half hours from Geneva. This is a particularly idyllic part of the canton of Bern, Switzerland’s second-largest state (and home to the awe-striking Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau mountains).