When Indians dream of dramatic mountain-and-lake scenery, two countries top the list: New Zealand and Switzerland, both impossibly beautiful, both the settings for countless films and honeymoon fantasies. The comparison is a classic, and a close one, because both deliver scenery of a calibre few places on earth can match. But they offer different kinds of beauty and different kinds of trip. Here is the honest comparison to help you choose your scenic dream.
The landscapes: wild grandeur versus picture-perfect order
New Zealand is wild, varied, and epic: fjords, glaciers, volcanoes, rainforests, vast empty beaches, and snow-capped mountains, an enormous range of dramatic, often untamed landscapes that feel grand and adventurous. It is the wilderness end of beautiful. Switzerland is picture-perfect and pristine: the immaculate Alps, the cowbell-and-chalet valleys, the crystalline lakes, a manicured, postcard-perfect, almost impossibly tidy beauty served by the world's best mountain infrastructure. New Zealand for wild, varied grandeur; Switzerland for pristine, ordered, postcard perfection. Both are stunning, in opposite registers.
Adventure versus ease
New Zealand is the world capital of adventure: bungee jumping, skydiving, hiking, kayaking, the adrenaline activities were practically invented there, and the ethos is wild, active, and outdoorsy. Switzerland is about scenic ease and refinement: spectacular mountain railways and cable cars that whisk you effortlessly to breathtaking viewpoints, charming towns, and a polished, comfortable, do-it-in-style experience. If you want to throw yourself into adventure and wild nature, New Zealand; if you want to glide in comfort through perfect alpine scenery, Switzerland.
New Zealand hands you the mountains and dares you to jump off one. Switzerland hands you the mountains and a perfect train to the top. Choose your kind of awe.
On the two dreams
Cost and the distance factor
Switzerland is one of the most expensive countries in the world, eye-wateringly so, though it is closer to India and easier to reach for a shorter trip. New Zealand is also costly but generally less extreme than Switzerland, with the major catch being the distance, it is a very long way from India, requiring a longer, pricier journey and more time. So Switzerland is closer but pricier on the ground; New Zealand is further but offers more varied adventure for the effort. Both are splurges and both require a visa for Indians.
Choose New Zealand if, choose Switzerland if
- Choose New Zealand if you want wild, varied, epic landscapes and the world's best adventure activities, and you have the time for a long-haul trip.
- Choose Switzerland if you want pristine, postcard-perfect Alps, effortless scenic railways, and a polished, comfortable trip closer to home.
- Choose New Zealand for adventure, wilderness, and dramatic variety.
- Choose Switzerland for refined ease, perfect alpine scenery, and a shorter journey.
- New Zealand's summer (the Indian winter) and Switzerland's summer are the prime seasons for each.
The verdict
If you want wild, varied, epic scenery and the world's greatest adventure playground, and you can make the long journey, book New Zealand, it is the more adventurous, more varied trip. If you want pristine, effortless, postcard-perfect alpine beauty, closer to home and gloriously comfortable, book Switzerland. New Zealand is the wild dream for the adventurous; Switzerland is the perfect, polished dream for the scenery-lover. Both are among the most beautiful places on earth, and neither will ever disappoint.
Switzerland is the most beautiful place you can reach easily. New Zealand is the most beautiful place worth flying to the end of the earth for. Both are dreams worth having.
On the OJ New Zealand trip we go for the wild, varied, adventurous end of scenic beauty, the fjords, the glaciers, the empty roads, the adrenaline, the sense of a grand untamed land at the bottom of the world. Because while Switzerland's perfect Alps are closer and easier, New Zealand offers the traveller who will go the distance a wilder, more varied, more adventurous beauty that, once seen, is impossible to forget.
Frequently asked
Is New Zealand or Switzerland more beautiful?
Both are among the most beautiful countries on earth, in different registers. New Zealand offers wild, varied, epic landscapes, fjords, glaciers, volcanoes, and beaches, with an adventurous feel. Switzerland offers pristine, picture-perfect Alps, crystalline lakes, and charming valleys served by the world's best mountain infrastructure. New Zealand is wild grandeur; Switzerland is postcard-perfect order.
Which is more expensive, New Zealand or Switzerland?
Switzerland is one of the most expensive countries in the world, even pricier on the ground than New Zealand, though it is closer to India and easier to reach. New Zealand is also costly, with the major catch being the long distance from India, requiring a longer, pricier journey and more time. Both are splurges and both require a visa for Indians.
Which is better for adventure, New Zealand or Switzerland?
New Zealand is the world capital of adventure, where activities like bungee jumping and skydiving were practically invented, with a wild, active, outdoorsy ethos. Switzerland is more about scenic ease and refinement, with spectacular mountain railways and cable cars whisking you to breathtaking viewpoints in comfort. For adrenaline and wilderness, choose New Zealand; for effortless alpine scenery, Switzerland.