Tour itinerary

 The question isn't where should we visit, but what have we got to leave out to make it a viable trip in terms of time and budget! Switzerland has so much to offer with endless natural, historical and gastronomic delights - but it isn't a cheap place to visit.

In typically Anglican fashion, this suggested itinerary is a compromise. Switzerland is quite a compact country with excellent communications, so moving around is relatively easy - until you encounter the Alps. Our tour will take in the main sites where reformation thinkers developed the ideas that shaped the evolving church. We shall also visit places that were built to counter the reformation and some which survived intact altogether.

• Day 1 – Fly Bristol to Basel-Mullhouse, then on to Strasbourg – Bucer and Calvin. Explore the picturesque 16th and 17th century alleyways of “La petite France” and the Bible museum. The Church of St. Thomas, Strasbourg’s main Protestant church is worth a visit. Explore the contribution of women to the theological debate of the Reformation – Katharina Zell, Katharina Luther, Anna Bullinger and Katharina von Zimmern. Overnight Strasbourg.
  
  
• Day 2 – Strasbourg and Basel. Erasmus and Christian Humanism, The Town Hall, Guilds, St Martins Church and Oecolampadius. Overnight Basel.
   
• Day 3 on to Geneva – Calvin, Cathedral of St Pierre, Reformation Museum, introduction to TULIP and the distinctives of Reformed theology, city, lake. Overnight Geneva.
   
• Day 4 Geneva - Overnight Geneva.
   
• Day 5 on to Bern - Heiliggeistkirche (Church of the Holy Ghost), Bern Minster, city, organ recital. Overnight Bern.
   
• Day 6 on to Luzern. Exploring the Mussegg and the Jesuit Church – the Catholic counter-Reformation, city, lake. Overnight Luzern.
   
• Day 7 morning in Luzern and then on the Benedictine monastery and church at Einsiedeln ending our day in Zürich. Overnight Zürich.
   
• Day 8 Zürich – Zwingli, Bullinger, Grossmünster, Fraumünster, city, lake. Overnight Zürich.
  
  
• Day 9 on to St Gallen for a visit to the Abbey Library and church and exploration of the Reformation legacy of Vadian and Kessler. Overnight St Gallen.
   
• Day 10 on to Konstanz on the Bodensee for lunch and a visit to the memorial of the martyrdom of Jan Huss, then the on to the Rhine fall at Schaffhausen before returning to Basel for the return flight and then on to Birmingham.

At a sprint, this tour could be done in 10 days, 14 would offer the chance for extra excursions, possibly into the Alps. There is so much to explore and each city is a wonder in its own right.