The best countries in the world: 2023 Readers’ Choice Awards

With its lush green valleys dotted with cows, snow-capped peaks and glitzy ski resorts, Switzerland is the kind of place most people love. think they know. But this country in the heart of Europe deserves another look. Take, for example, its largest and notoriously expensive city, Zurichwho never seems to get enough credit for his progressive perspectivean art often neglected and music scenes, and a skyline shaped by incredibly diverse architectural voices, including Le Corbusier, Santiago Calatrava and Shigeru Ban. Its alpine ski towns, with big names like Verbier, Davos and Zermatt, are expanding their offering beyond the snow season: Engadin Valley, home to St. Moritz, has become a warm-weather hotspot, with hundreds of miles of hiking trails, electric mountain bikes to rent, and all kinds of adventure sports, including paragliding, kitesurfing, and even rapids class 4 whitewater rafting in the Giarsun gorges. But of course, the classics always sing. After braving the country’s rugged terrain, you’ve earned a stay in the new Mandarin Oriental Palace, Lucernean incredibly renovated Belle Epoque grand dame hotel, opened in 1906.