Switzerland: How to travel from the deep south to far north via public transport

Europe’s perfect one-day journey? After travelling through one country and two degrees of latitude, I think I can name it.

The trip connects Switzerland’s southernmost and northernmost points – each a spectacular location in its own right – on public transport. You glide through generous Alpine scenery on the way. And, if you apply rather more planning than I did, you can cover the distance for a reasonable fare.

To find the deepest south point in Switzerland, begin in Italy: ideally, Como, the pretty city anchoring the most achingly beautiful Italian lake, and a wonderful place to wake up. One of the frequent trains will take you in just six minutes northwest to Chiasso in Switzerland.

As soon as you reach the new nation, leave it again. Pass the curious sculpture of two naked women peering towards the platform, and turn right out of the station along the old international highway. Now a quiet byway, it leads to and beyond the unused infrastructure of a pre-Schengen Area border post.

Briefly back in Italy, pause for a last reasonably priced coffee at the Caffè La Pesa on the corner, then continue for a couple of blocks in search of paradise.

A small sign on the right points you along an alley towards the foot of a heavenly stairway. The Scalinata del Paradiso comprises more than 900 stone-cut steps, lifting you from a humdrum street in northern Italy through forest so deep the sunlight struggles to break through. I spent 45 breathless minutes ascending to a plateau where the trees begin to thin.

Read more: The splendour along Lake Geneva as Montreux Jazz Festival plays

The fact you are on the border becomes clear when you start seeing stones announcing “S 1921”, with the inscription facing into Switzerland.

You will need either a high-order map plus an unerring sense of location, or (as in my case) a smartphone to identify exactly where you are and the wooded paths to your target: Punto extreme sud della Svizzera.

You can’t miss it: not because of the elegantly carved wooden sculpture of a woman with a Swiss shield and spear, defending the motherland – but a cartoon character of a woman wearing a big hat and a green top beside an orange banner. Fortunately a more inspiring sight awaits: highland Italy unfolding beneath…