Spin out in land of eternal snow

SUMMER snow is the go when it means tossing snowballs, building snowman and tobogganing in your shirt sleeves, writes Ellen Connolly of her Swiss adventure.

Summer in Switzerland ... toboganning in your shirt sleeves is possible

VICTOR Hugo described Switzerland as "a chaos of absurd exaggerations and frightening diminutions". As I hang 2000m above ground in a rotating glass bubble, I wholeheartedly agree with the famous writer. And that's putting it mildly.

I am aboard the world's first revolving cablecar, the Rotair, in central Switzerland.

Standing shoulder to shoulder with other visitors, including a Bollywood film crew, I suddenly decide – as my surrounds turn white – that I'm scared of heights.

The Rotair turns 360 degrees, spinning me in slow-motion, like a dancer in a jewellery box. But I'm not dizzy, just mesmerised by the ever changing landscape before me.

The dominating Mount Titlis is known as the land of eternal snow. It is my own Lion, Witch And Wardrobe adventure.

"You will experience four seasons in one day. It's super cool," our guide tells us as my eyes adjust to the glare.

Engelberg, our departure point with its rolling hills and lush blooms, has disappeared to make way for craggy cliffs, snowy mountains and deep glacier crevices. Then comes a white-out. On this August day, summer has vanished.

Below in the alpine pass we spot an ibex with its young.

It takes 45 minutes to reach this winter wonderland. Like children we rush out to stand at the highest lookout point in central Switzerland – 3000m up.

We throw snowballs, build a snowman and sledge through the snow on toboggans. There is a glacier cave to explore and snow tubing to be done.

Returning to blue skies and green hills, we take a short train ride to Flueli in preparation for our next form of transport: a mail bus.

Images of being crammed into a red minibus, parcels piled high, flash before me. Next morning my fears of a cramped roadtrip across the country are allayed.

Our mode of transport is not red, but canary yellow, and it is large, like a Greyhound coach.

The PostBus is an institution in Switzerland, delivering the post and also paying passengers to the country's remote villages for the past 100 years.

Operated by Swiss Post, it began as a horse and cart service in 1906 between Berne and Detligen. The first journey over the alps followed in 1919.

A network of routes covers 10,000km, the yellow coaches going to rural areas where public transport doesn't.

Our route will take us across the Bernese Oberland, home to the mountainous peaks of Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau.

From my bus window, typical Swiss scenes unfold before me. The rolling hills seem to be draped in technicolour green; stone huts dot the countryside; we hear the clonking of cowbells before we catch sight of a herd of brown cows grazing.

The single-lane road through the national park is nail biting in parts but I take solace in the fact we are big and yellow.

At hairpin turns it is other vehicles that have to back up to allow us to pass, and it seems that road users are familiar with the PostBus' legendary three-toned horn. The "Tu-ta-to" becomes music to our ears.

Behind Sorenberg the road narrows to the point where the crossing of two heavy vehicles becomes impossible. And so the panoramic route only operates one-way, changing direction every hour. Luckily, Swiss public transport runs like Swiss clockwork. And I mean to the second.

Our stop at Entlebuch is pretty magical. It is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, the only one in the country, where the emphasis is on conservation.

It's easy to while away an hour or so just daydreaming in the sun and scenery, which I do. Others go off hiking or on gentle walks before we meet for lunch and a long, lazy meal of organic, locally grown produce.

By journey's end we feel we've indeed experienced four seasons in a few days. Mountains have been conquered, alpine passes crossed and the local culinary delights devoured.

No blistered feet, aching muscles – just fairytale images of this brilliant, picture-perfect country.

The writer was a guest of Switzerland Tourism, Swiss International Air Lines and VirginAtlantic.

The Sunday Telegraph