I fancy a holiday with lovely views. Switzerland? Alps? Sweden?

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Two adults, one older teen. We love a nice stroll but we're not hikers or skiers. Cycling on the flat would be fine.

Typically our holidays involve looking at stuff like castles, going to restaurants, pottering round interesting towns, and relaxing in a villa. We've had a couple of holidays in the south of mainland Europe that have been blisteringly hot, so we're aiming a bit further north.

I'd love recommendations of places where we wouldn't need a car. I'm also up for a trip in two places, with an interesting train journey between the two.

Any ideas?

Switzerland. Look at Interlaken, Wilderswil, Kandersteg or Lauterbrunnen for cycling and easy walks along valleys and round lakes. Plenty of trips by mountain railway or cablecar too.

Slovenia? Very pretty towns, mountains and lakes. Good cycling.

Scandinavia isn’t alpine in the same way as you’re probably thinking of the European alps. The hills are more rolling.

Anywhere in the French, Austrian, Swiss or Italian alps will be scenic.

There is lots to do in the summer that’s not too energetic.

Switzerland is an amazing place to visit (though expensive), not least as it has a very reliable transport network that is all on one App (SBB). It is easy to navigate and travel thanks to trains, buses, boats, mountain railways/cable cars etc.

Interlaken is a great place to stay to access the Jungfrau region and also in travelling distance of Bern and Lucern (for day trips).

I recommend looking at one or two YouTube channels:
The Traveling Swiss, Aplins in the Alps, and Switzerland Insider to give you ideas.

Austria, Zell am Zee

Slovenia. Gorgeous mountain views but you can just hike or cycle on the flat around Lakes Bled and Bohinj. Climb up to the castle at Bled, boat trip to the island, visit Tito's Summer Palace, pretty painted churches. There are mountain hikes if you want them, wind . Great food, friendly people. Lovely markets in Ljubljana. Paragliding at Bohinj if you are adventurous.

Switzerland is eye-wateringly expensive. You could go to the German coast of Lake Constance, which is the same but much cheaper than the Swiss side.

Austria Saalbach-Hinterglemm
Sweden Gothenburg to Bårstad to Copenhagen

Thanks for all the ideas so far, I’ll look them up.

BTW, cycling isn’t a requirement, it was to give an idea of our maximum activity level.

I agree with everything Pandora said above. Definitely don’t need a car for Switzerland as the trains are fantastic.

I stayed in Grindelwald but if I went again I would stay in Interlaken. There are good activities in the mountains like mountain coasters, trottibikes, zip lines etc. You could combine it with a few days in Bern or Geneva.

Another option could be Lake Como, Italy, It’s picture postcard beautiful. And you can take the Bernina Express train from there to St Moritz if you wanted a trip in 2 places.

The Dolomites.

Ds just came home from a work trip there and it looked fabulous. No idea of costs unfortunately.

We just spent two nights in Lucerne, so one day sightseeing. Wine is £10 a glass. The boat trip on the lake (2 1/2 hour round trip) on public transport was over £60 per adult. It's is very, very expensive. 😭

The Scottish Highlands are really beautiful. I loved it up there.

Stockholm archipelago- city was clean, friendly with plenty of castlew/old town. Boat out to stay on one of the larger islands in a cabin- warm enough in midsummer to enjoy the water/watersports/boating and a leisurely cyle around the island.

Lake Annecy