I am thinking about a trip to Switzerland in September and would ask members who have had recent experience to recommend GA friendly airfields in that country.
I have been to these this year:
Genchen – Good,– Hotel on site, visit Biele.
Birrfeld – Good – Visit Baden and Zurich.
Lorcarno – Good – Visit Ascona Town.
Sion – Good – Plus Towns.
Saanen – Good PPR.
Grenchin is a good place to start because its before the Alps, has customs, and is easy, I was there two weeks ago VFR. Birrfeld also very nice, but busy with special approach procedures and transport required although it has a good restaurant. Called in on the way back from Friedrichshaven and flew with an instructor to show me the ropes of mountain flying. You need to fill in customs form online on the airfields websites. I have always entered from a Schengen country never direct from UK, Troyes last time.
Glad to help, but there are locals who know more, just wanted to give a UK view.
I have heard:
Basle – Hassle
Bern – Hassle but bus into Bern
I’ll be doing a bit of touring there with a Swiss friend (in his airplane) next week, will report back after that.
Gruyères – very scenic, walk up to the castle and the Giger Museum (Alien & co). Genève – not as unfriendly as it appears at first sight.
I prefer Lugano to Locarno.
I visited Bad Ragaz LSZE a few months ago – it looks like a typical local gliders field. Runway a bit daunting, right at the foot of a staunch hillside, but parallel to it. It’s a stiff walk to the village, which has several good hotels and restaurants.
http://ourairports.com/airports/LSZE/#lat=47.01160512447252,lon=9.482626914978018,zoom=14,type=Satellite,airport=LSZE
PS the Grenchen airfield is cleverly disguised in an earlier reply…
I’ve been to Bad Ragaz – electricity lines one end and a hill/castle the other, along with what I consider quite a short runway and sometimes scorching summer temps: not for the faint hearted. Unless you’re flying something with very low momentum, I would strongly recommend borrowing a local instructor the first time, or just going elsewhere…
I can however recommend Samedan! It is truly spectacular, especially approaching from the west via the Julierpass.
I can recommend Lausanne. Very nice airfield and a tram to downtown.
Using this opportunity to ask a possibly silly question… Are any of the Swiss ‘cavern airports’ or other outlying (ex)military airports ever available for GA or microlight use? One that I’ve noticed is Ulrichen (LSMC) at the north end of Nufenen Pass. See videos at this link: Ulrichen LSMC Noise doesn’t seem to be a problem if you have the right connections 
Possibly silly but interesting to me. Thanks.
Saanen is ex-military and open. The (VFR) final approach on 26 is very cool as you don’t really see the runway until quite late.
http://www.air-sarina.ch/ng/Airport/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=56&Itemid=207&lang=fr
