Expect Switzerland to be one of this year's premier destinations. And if savouring some of Europe's most spectacular scenery isn't enough to lure you there, also consider these bonus facts.

The Swiss franc is now around $1.10 to the US$, while a euro costs in the neighbourhood of $1.47 and a British pound is almost $2.

Soccer will be making headlines at the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2008, which is being co-hosted by Switzerland and Austria from June 7-29. Sixteen teams will participate.

Exceptional travel possibilities exist in all price ranges.

It's absolutely impossible for anyone to visit Switzerland, a beautiful country, and not come away spellbound. Dig out all the adjectives a Thesaurus has to offer and they seem inadequate.

This traveller's fascination with Switzerland began on a long-ago student trip to Lucerne as part of a Rome, Lucerne, Paris and London itinerary.

Admittedly an avid lifetime mountain enthusiast, this journalist grew up with a large picture of the Himalayas sharing space with one of Yosemite National Park under the glass top of her large study desk.

While other classmates were memorising words of current hit tunes and intrigued by celebrities recording them, this already travel-oriented student was concentrating on elevations of the world's highest mountains, reading about Mallory's mountain climbing adventures and daydreaming about visiting the most spectacular far-flung ones some day . . . which, happily, I've been able to do.

The average student tour is heavily concentrated on major cities, museums andhistoric sites. And, of course, that's a good place to start. But to be in Lucerne, seeing Switzerland for the first time and not actually getting out into those mountains was simply unacceptable.

Yes, we'd all gone up Mount Pilatus, around lovely Lake Lucerne, and enjoyed the old quarter. But with much of our last day there free before flying off to Paris that afternoon for Bastille Day, didn't anyone want to adventure out into the countryside?

Some wanted to sleep in, hang loose, then pack. Others planned to head back to Bucherer's Watch Shop to buy still more watches and roam the historic city. Most were nervous about missing the plane.

But the high peaks were too much of a lure to resist, so I bravely decided to take off for the mountains on my own. It would be tight scheduling, involving a change of trains, then after reaching Engelberg getting over to the funicular station.

After that ride there would be two more transfers via different cable cars to reach the summit of Mount Titlis.

English was not as widely spoken back then, so I had to be able to work this all out in German once en route. Fresh from a German language class, that worked out fine despite local dialects.

Although there had already been a multitude of adventurous off-trail trips with my parents embarking to little-known mountain areas, this was the first time I'd attempted one entirely alone, in another language, overseas.

Young women travelling alone were very much the exception. Those challenges would not exist today.

And as everyone has heard, Swiss trains, planes, funiculars and cable cars definitely do run on time with an efficiency unmatched anywhere. Not minutes early or late, but as experienced many times since, exactly on time. Miss that one segment and your tight schedule disintegrates.

It was one of those magic July days, vivid blue sky contrasting the heavy snowcap that still remained on these Alpine peaks. The last cable car stopped just below Titlis' summit of 10,623 feet (3,238 metres).

It was breathtakingly gorgeous, mesmerising . . . a dazzling, never-to-be-forgotten sight all those unadventurous students back in Lucerne had missed. And as an extra bonus, a massive avalanche dramatically swept down below the cable car as we descended from the summit.

Already awed by mountainous beauty of western US and Canada, drama of MountTitlis was even more of a high point than arriving in Paris, then London for first time just days later.

There have been so many encore trips since, I've lost count. But that first time out to Engelberg and MountTitlis so impressed this traveller that some of those subsequent visits have also included returns there.

If the unspoiled mountain vistas and charm of picturesque villages hold appeal for you, it will take years of vacations to discover all Switzerland has to offer. Swiss cities where Euro 2008 matches are scheduled ¿ Basle, Zurich, Berne and Geneva ¿ all have a wealth of attractions and are the gateway to countless scenic wonders.

It's impossible to zero in on any one destination totally head and shoulders above others. The list is too long to make that possible, but we will point out a few personal favourites in the next features.

With our fondness for high elevations, you already know they will include the most dramatic passes, tallest peaks and remote wonders. Car rentals have led us over high drama of passes such as Furka, Simplon, Susten, St. Gothard, and St. Bernard, where we stayed at the famed hospice.

There have been visits to headliner glamour resorts such as Davos, St. Moritz, Zurs, Montreaux and Gstaad.

A birthday was especially enjoyed savouring famous cheese fondue at a colourfully cosy restaurant south of Rhonda, where we rented a top-floor apartment outside Zermatt after visiting the Matterhorn.

And one does meet very interesting people everywhere they travel if friendly. At this restaurant it was a former World War Two Army Air Force pilot of a C-47 Dakota who flew full loads of five-gallon jerry cans of fuel from Italy over the Alps to fuel-short Allies advancing to Germany.

He had brought his wife over on an anniversary vacation to see what the area he so often flew over looked like from the ground.

"I was young and brave and never really thought about how I'd be incinerated if any ground fire hit the plane," he said.

He led the kind of life one sees in war movies.

Unfortunately, Switzerland has gained an underserved reputation for being expensive. In truth, one can find accommodations in all price ranges. B&Bs (bed and breakfasts, usually called Zimmer Frei, translating as "room free") are great, moderately priced, immaculately clean and attract surprising guests.

Who stays at them? Late one afternoon we pulled into one near Grimsel Pass and a clergyman answered the door. Wearing a Roman collar, I thought he was a priest. Turned out he was the Lutheran Bishop of Copenhagen, Denmark with some 7,000 parishioners in his flock.

Every summer he and his wife vacation for several weeks in Rome, staying at the same Franciscan nuns' convent. Then en route back to Denmark, they settle into this same Zimmer Frei. The owner was away so the Bishop had volunteered to act as host. Obviously an ecumenical Bishop.

Very personable and congenial, he and his wife sat up half the night talking with us. He was concerned because he felt Europe was no longer a Christian country, had lost its moral compass and would some day have to be re-evangelised by missionaries from Africa and India.

He wondered if the same was true in the US. That encounter was nearly 20 years ago . . . what would he think of today's world! A current conversation about world conditions would keep us up all night, not just half of it.

As we've so often said, half the pleasure of seeing the world is talking one's way around it to learn what other people think and feel. Switzerland is very remarkable in that regard. Its unique and diverse blend of German, French and Italian has worked so well, it's especially interesting to observe and admire its success.

And, yes, if you do want to stay in a glamorous headline property in a famed resort area, it will cost you, just as it will anywhere in the world.

On a revisit to Lugano's lakeside Splendide Hotel several years ago, the manager asked my brother Jim for suggestions on how to market his most elegant . . . and expensive . . . suites at $700 daily.

Jim kiddingly told him selling such a prestige setting as preventative medicine for stressed executives could be promoted as a bargain compared to the daily private room rate at our local hospital, which at the time was over $2,500 daily, with numerous extra charges. it's escalated considerably since.

Next week: Exploring Switzerland