Unless you've been there, Switzerland may appear as cool and perfect and unapproachable as a movie star. A mind's eye vision of the country may conjure up images of pastoral Alpine scenery, peaks like cathedral spires, expensive clocks, and chocolate box towns with flowers spilling over windowboxes. Now, all those things are there, but there is so much more to this country and its people that you must go and stay for some time before you can begin to understand it. If you're going for the mountain sports or for the skiing, there are few places that can equal it. Few countries are as clean and safe, fewer still can boast such a diversity of language and cultural influences. You've got to see it to know it.

For most people, Switzerland means impressive mountains, snowfields and crystalline glaciers. In summer, those snowfields recede to reveal lush, pastoral meadows bedecked with alpine flowers and a people quick to kick off their ski boots and turn their faces to the sun. Summer in Switzerland is irresistible for serious bikers and hikers and just simple strollers. Sailboats and rowboats mingle with steamships on emerald lakes. White water devotees put their kayaks and rafts into rivers like the Rhine, Rhone and Inn, all born in the Swiss Alps and offering a challenge at ever turn. Golf clubs and tennis racquets come out of the closets and the Swiss roll up their sleeves to work and to expose themselves to summer.

Warm weather visitors like to castle hop, climb mountains by cable car or funicular, drive country roads past centuries-old barns the color of wine barrels. They stop at friendly restaurants and linger over specialties of the house. All major cities have large museums, galleries and concert halls that show the country's dedication to culture and the arts. There are folk museums in charming villages that evoke memories of Swiss legends.

Switzerland would fit neatly into Vermont and New Hampshire. It is possible to cross the country by car, say from the gateway city of Zurich in the north to Lugano in the southern lake district in less than four hours. It takes a little longer from the other gateway of Geneva in the southwest to the eastern borders of Austria and Italy. The question is: why rush? There's just so much to see.

Those who prefer to leave the driving to others can see the country by rail. The Swiss have one of the most efficient transportation systems in the world and their trains run with the precision of a - dare we say it - Swiss watch.