Armed with his 1913 railway guide, Michael Portillo embarks on a journey from the Swiss Alps to the shores of Lake Geneva. Along the way, he marvels at the Matterhorn and is rescued from an 'avalanche' by a St Bernard puppy. Following in the footsteps of Edwardian railway travellers, Michael discovers a nation already famous for its neutrality when the rest of the continent was on the brink of war. In Zermatt, Michael learns how intrepid early 20th century British mountaineers turned Alpinism into a fashionable sport for the rich and famous and how one group of British climbers came to grief on the Matterhorn. At Martigny, Michael puts his faith in St Bernard after he is buried in snow. Will four-year-old puppy Easy rise to the challenge? He discovers in Montreux how a ballet caused a riot and how a prisoner became immortalised in verse.