The Alps
29 mountain regions across four countries: what the walking is like, when the season runs, and which valley to start from. France also has five bases to stay in under Mont Blanc.
Switzerland
Dufourspitze, 4634 m
Forty-eight of the Alps' 82 peaks above 4,000 metres, and mountain railways to the Jungfraujoch, Pilatus and Rigi.
Bern
The federal city's hill country, well short of the high Alps.
Bernese Oberland
Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau, above Interlaken and its two lakes.
Eastern Switzerland
Appenzell's Alpstein and the Glarus Alps, east of Zürich.
Graubünden (Grisons)
Switzerland's largest canton, and its only trilingual one.
Jura and the Three Lakes
Watchmaking towns, three lakes, and limestone hills, not glaciers.
Jura, Fribourg Prealps and Vaudois Alps
Three ranges in one corner: Jura, Fribourg Prealps, Vaudois Alps.
Lake Geneva
Switzerland's largest lake, vine-covered along its north shore.
Lake Lucerne
Pilatus and Rigi above the water, reached by two historic railways.
Ticino
South of the Gotthard, Italian-speaking, and mild year-round.
Valais
The Rhône valley, the Matterhorn, and Switzerland's highest ground.
Zurich
Lake-bound, not alpine, but the Uetliberg is reached by train.
Austria
Grossglockner, 3798 m
The largest share of the Alps of any country, and the hut network to walk across them.
Carinthia
Warm lakes in the valleys, three mountain ranges around them.
Salzburg & Salzburgerland
Salt, Mozart, and the northern side of the Hohe Tauern.
Salzkammergut
Lakes and salt-mining history, shared by three Austrian states.
Styria
Alpine gorges in the north, vineyard hills in the south.
Tyrol
Austria's Alpine core, from Innsbruck to the Ötztal glaciers.
Upper Austria
Limestone peaks in the south, granite hills north of the Danube.
Vorarlberg
Austria's western edge, between Lake Constance and the Silvretta.
Wachau Valley
A Danube wine valley, honestly not a mountain one.
Germany
Zugspitze, 2962 m
A thin strip of Alps along the Austrian border, plus the low ranges to the north.
Bavarian Alps
Germany's highest peaks, from the Zugspitze to the Watzmann.
Bavarian Forest
Germany's first national park, in one of Central Europe's largest forests.
Black Forest
Gentle wooded hills in the north, higher ground in the south.
Rhine Valley & Mosel Valley
Wine valleys, not mountains, with two long-distance trails.
Saxon Switzerland
Sandstone towers and gorges, and a climbing ethic all its own.
The Allgäu Alps
Lower than the high Alps, and known for its steep grass peaks.
Liechtenstein
Grauspitz, 2599 m
Twenty-five kilometres long, mountainous in its eastern half, and crossed from Malbun to Ruggell on one waymarked trail.
France
Mont Blanc, 4807 m
Mont Blanc and the valleys under it, from Argentière down the Arve to Saint-Gervais and over to Megève.
Argentière
The head of the valley, with the Swiss border walkable from Le Tour.
Chamonix
Three ways up to high ground without moving the car.
Les Houches
Where the Tour du Mont Blanc begins, with two lifts from the village.
Megève
Mont Blanc across the valley, and Mont Joly from the town.
Saint-Gervais-les-Bains
The spa town on the rack railway to the Nid d'Aigle.