I have been a connoisseur of travel books since I was in elementary school， and once adored Lonely Planet。 I spent a few months living in Zurich， and then a year living in a small ski resort in the Suisse Romande called Villars-sur-Ollon。 This text was my guide for my time in Zurich， and I found it to be terrible。 Lonely Planet focuses too much on the cities now， and provides little context aside from an oddly chosen and dry assortment of history/culture narrative at the end of the book。 For Swi I have been a connoisseur of travel books since I was in elementary school， and once adored Lonely Planet。 I spent a few months living in Zurich， and then a year living in a small ski resort in the Suisse Romande called Villars-sur-Ollon。 This text was my guide for my time in Zurich， and I found it to be terrible。 Lonely Planet focuses too much on the cities now， and provides little context aside from an oddly chosen and dry assortment of history/culture narrative at the end of the book。 For Switzerland， the authors chose to do this "anti-Switzerland" approach， eschewing the outdoor activities， small villages， etc。， for oddly curated "non-traditional" sights and such。 I would be all for this if it was done well; however， it is not。 It's love for Lausanne's cultural sights is curious， as is the fact that it largely ignores areas like Ticino and Basel， and almost excludes the less popular areas around Neuchâtel。 This guide does not paint a portrait of Switzerland， but rather presents a disjointed， misguided image of a country that is all but perfect。 The beauty of Switzerland is the ability to get anywhere with public transport， and thus， the small villages are readily accessible and should be paid more attention to。 Some people do in fact come to Switzerland to do outdoor activities， also， and I bet those thousands of individuals would have liked a tiny bit of information regarding those endeavors as opposed to excessive gushing about the （albeit very awesome） Geiger Bar in Gruyères。 I was so disappointed with this book during my time as a Swiss resident that I switched my allegiance once and for all to the more thoughtful， readable companions that are the Rough Guide。 Don't even get me started on the Lonely Planet for Ireland。 。。。more