SWITZERLAND
Wandering the Hinterdorf of Zermatt, it’s easy to become lost. Not geographically, this ancient slice of one of Europe’s most famous alpine towns (Hinterdorf meaning ‘rear village’) consists of around 30 buildings in a compact labyrinth, jostling for space like skiers waiting for the chairlift to open.
But bearing witness to the 500-year-old buildings, the resin-rich larch blackened with centuries of elements, and the heavy slabs of roof rock still intact will have you lost in thought and time. With the slightest stretch one can imagine hardy 16th-century mountain farmers propping the barns up on stilts
