Switzerland

Switzerland is expensive and worth it. The Alps here are the postcard standard — Zermatt, the Jungfrau, the Engadin — and the train network makes them absurdly easy to reach. Summer is for hiking and lake towns, winter for skiing some of the best terrain on the continent. Budget accordingly and don't try to rush it; distances are short but the views demand you stop.

A typical week: land in Zurich, train to the Bernese Oberland, and base yourself in Grindelwald or Wengen with cable cars out the door. Days are hikes between mountain huts, lake swims at Thun or Brienz, and a fondue you've earned. The trains run to the minute and the connections are engineered for sightseeing. Your money goes on beds and lift tickets — a Swiss Travel Pass blunts the transport costs, but nothing rescues the restaurant bills.

Be clear-eyed about the price: an unremarkable lunch costs what dinner does elsewhere, and a week here can equal a month in Portugal. July and August bring tour-bus crowds to Zermatt and the Jungfrau, and mountain weather can erase the views for days at a stretch — build slack into the plan. This is not a budget trip or a nightlife trip. It is the best-run mountain country on earth, and you pay exactly what that costs.