Best Travel Books to plan trips in Switzerland

A lot depends on where you're going and what you're looking to do. I like the Rick Steves books but they are curated so there may be places you want to go to that aren't in his books.

I like the Rough Guides myself as I think they're very comprehensive and they will take you to places that are more off the beaten path. Lonely Planet is another one that I've used before and it has a lot of information in it. And one of my favorite guidebooks are the Bradt Guides published in the UK. They have a lot of books in their collection that you won't find anywhere else.

You really can't go wrong with any of those.

Beyond the RS travel books. I like Eyewitness travel and sometimes when I have gaps, I like Fodor's.

I strongly suggest this link and many others like it online for any destination. Guide books are fine, but online information is generally much more current. A simple Google search for "planning a trip to Switzerland" will produce a huge amount of information online.

https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us

MySwitzerland is an excellent website, but I find a good guidebook very useful during the early-planning phase because they usually provide information that helps the traveler figure out which destinations will actually be most interesting. Official websites often make every place sound very worthwhile, including tertiary destinations most would prefer to defer until they've seen primary and secondary spots--unless they're spending a great deal of time in the country in conjunction with a job assignment, semester abroad, home swap, etc.

When I was doing this for a living, back in the Cro-magnon times, I would buy as many books as I could find. Always ended up using Fodors and Frommers the most, and now of course RS. They all complement each other since Rick's books are not comprehensive (as he freely acknowledges) and if you don't fit into his travel style, his lodging and restaurant recommends don't always work. His sightseeing however is always top notch.

Before my trip to Switzerland, I checked out every variety of guidebook available from my local library system. Each brand has their own unique view and focus. By cross-checking I was pointed towards some museums, stores and restaurants that I wouldn’t have considered if I had only consulted one guidebook. See what’s available from your library. If there’s one you find especially helpful then consider purchasing it.

I used YouTube. It allowed to visually verify if the attraction fit my interests. YouTube suggested some additional videos that provided attractions that were not on my radar. The fear that seeing before visiting would discount the experience was never the case.

There are some YouTube contributors that offer trip planning services.

Well Youtube obviously, it's absolutely crawling with travel videos to every place in the world, at varying levels of professionalism and content.

I like the ones where someone straps a Gopro to their chest and ... just walks. During the pandemic I would watch those for hours.