I am walking on a metallic tightrope, looking down in trepidation through a steel mesh floor at the rocks and snow below, as I focus on balancing! This is just one of the things the Swiss do for fun, though for me it is a high adventure. I am on the Birg Thrill Walk in Birg, Switzerland, near Mürren. The 200-metre-long walkway wraps around the craggy rock face and is accessed by a staircase that goes down the perpendicular walls of the imposing rock massif.

With a glass-bottom floor and challenges like a tightrope walk (with a safety net below) and an eight-metre crawl tunnel looking at the vertical abyss below, this is an experience sure to give an adrenaline rush, especially as it snows all around. Birg is the middle station of the aerial cableway between Mürren and Schilthorn, in the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland.

For those who don't ski but seek some adventure, the Thrill Walk at Birg ticks all the boxes

Switzerland in the winter is a skier’s paradise. I am in Switzerland in the peak winter festive season as a non-skier, yet I am surprised to find a gamut of activities that I can partake in. Earlier that day I took the scenic train to Lauterbrunnen, the valley of 72 waterfalls, that sits between jagged cliffs and then a bus to Stechelberg, from where the world’s steepest cable car whisked me up to Mürren.

The magic of Mürren

Views from the cable car ride up to Mürren

The trip up the steep cliffs of the Mürrenfluh, with a gradient of 159.4 per cent only took four minutes, as we whizzed through the monochrome landscape of snow, grey rock face and silvery trees. The traffic-free village of Mürren is like a postcard town — a picture of Swiss Alpine beauty with dark timber chalets and snow covered roofs, small restaurants and hotels, and views of the three towering mountains Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau. The local tales like that of Jungfrau actually being a young maiden being protected from a mean ogre (Eiger) by a monk (Mönch), just add to the charm.

The largest amateur ski race in the world also passes through the town every year. “Mürren is famous for being the birthplace of modern downhill skiing and every January hosts the Inferno Race. Around 1850 skiers race down to the valley in gruelling conditions,” says affable Alan Ramsay, the head of marketing at the Schiltorn ski resort who came here from Scotland, and was so smitten by its beauty that he decided to stay here forever.

The car-free village of Mürren looks right out of a postcard

As a non-skier, it was the chocolate box beauty of the town that appealed to me. Mürren has its own school and two churches, and a population of just 400 people. In the 1920s, it was the St Moritz of its day where royalty and celebrities holidayed. During the festive winter months, a night-time walk through town, with a stop for mulled wine, is a memorable one, where Christmas decorations and lights twinkle, and children on sledges and skis enjoy the snow.

The joy of Christmas markets

In Geneva, the Swiss capital of diplomacy and international organisations, we enjoy the festive cheer at the lively Noël au Quai Christmas market, where giant Christmas baubles and chandeliers hang from trees and the air is redolent with the fragrance of cinnamon, mulled wine, and grilled sausages. I enjoy a fondue meal inside the cosy, wooden Fondue Chalet, where I feast on velvety truffle cheese fondue, dipping chunks of bread, potatoes, and gherkins into the molten cheese, accompanied by some warm mulled wine. Old fashioned carousels and a lively band, makes this a superlative winter experience.

Feasting on fondue in the Fondue Chalet at Noël au Quai Christmas market

One of the sweetest experiences (pun intended) in Geneva, is activating my Choco Pass that entitles you to a tasting plate at the chocolate shops of your choice from the list provided. For a fee of 30 Swiss Francs (Rs 2,850 approx), you get a 24-hour pass which allows you to visit eight of the city’s leading chocolate shops, and get a packet of their creations as well as a glimpse into how these chocolatiers work. The list includes local and global favourites, from the family-owned Zeller chocolatier, famous for their Florentines, to Faverger founded in 1826, who are known for their signature Avelines with dark chocolate, praline and almonds.

A Geneva local in medieval costume celebrating the L’Escalade Festival, and (right) commemorative chocolate cauldrons made during the festival

If you are in Geneva in December, you will find the city celebrating the medieval festival of L’Escalade, which commemorates the defeat of the Catholic Duchy of Savoy, who attempted to conquer the Protestant city-state in 1602. The legend goes that a local lady poured hot soup on the soldiers and won the war. Even as preparations and celebrations for Christmas take over the city, locals dressed in medieval garb walk the streets, and children and parents make chocolate cauldrons called Marmite, filled with marzipan vegetables for L’Escalade. At the legendary chocolate shop Le Bonbonniere, we learn to craft our own chocolate cauldron filled with marzipan in a fun session.

At the ‘Top of Europe’

Jungfraujoch is the mountain saddle connecting the Jungfrau and Monch peaks in the Bernese Alps, and a must-visit spot — almost a rite of passage — on a Swiss holiday. Home to the highest railway in Europe, it is popularly called the ‘Top of Europe’. It all started when in 1893, Swiss industrialist Adolf Guyer-Zeller came up with the daring idea of a railway track through a tunnel connecting Kleine Scheidegg to the summit of Jungfrau. It took 16 years and today, the Jungfrau Railway is Europe's highest railway station, located at an altitude of 11,320 feet.

Jungfrau is the highest railway point in Europe

The Jungfrau region, as a whole, is known for its majestic snowy beauty and the Aletsch Glacier. I take a panoramic 15-minute ride aboard the Eiger Express that runs from Grindelwald to the Eiger Glacier station, trundling along at a speed of 8m/sec. The station is the point of access to the Sphinx Terrace and to views of the famed glacier. Covered in more layers than I can count, I crunch my way on the snow as the icy air turns my nose as red as a tomato, and take in the snowy panorama from the Sphinx Terrace. You can see as far as France, and the sight of the Aletsch Glacier, lined with snow-covered 4,000-metre-tall peaks is unmatched.

The adventure capital

Chocolate making class with the Funky Chocolate Club in Interlaken

In Interlaken, the adventure capital of Switzerland, where para gliders soar above our heads throughout the day, we sip hot chocolate at the local Christmas market and then sign up for our own slice of non-adrenaline-pumping adventure — a chocolate making class at the Funky Chocolate Club!

We don our aprons and red chef’s hats as a chocolatier duo explain the entire process from selecting and roasting cacao beans to making slabs of chocolate. They teach us how to temper chocolate to create chocolate that is glossy, has a good snap and smooth texture. Peppy music in the background gets us grooving to the rhythm of tempering. We then pour chocolate into cones and carefully fill our moulds before decorating them with nuts and other toppings to freeze it and make personalised Swiss chocolate bars to take home.

The most ethereal experience of the trip comes on the last night in Interlaken, when we drive to Bonigen on Lake Brienz for a night-time adventure. It’s dark and the lake is inky blue — almost black — and still, and a raft is set up with all the works, along with wine and cheese so we can savour the Swiss specialty — raclette.

Raclette rafting in Interlaken

As we glide on the inky river under a full moon surrounded by shadows of the mighty mountains above us, we load our raclette pans with cheese and sip on wine as we prep our plates with boiled potatoes and pickles. We cosy up in fleece blankets and chat, as the raclette cheese slowly melts and sizzles. We slide it onto our plates and soak in the endless beauty of the Swiss evening. It seems a most appropriate finale to our Swiss winter trip.