Heidi may be fictional but her alpine lifestyle is bang on trend.

Up on the high pastures, summer is on its way and time-honoured traditions are as alive as ever. Whether you want to hike alongside Eiger to the backbeat of cowbells, watch Schwinger wrestle each other to the ground in Emmental, or learn to flag-throw like a pro on Lake Lucerne - now is the time to start planning your authentically Swiss holiday. Summer 2013 is packed with outdoor adventures and living traditions to send your spirits soaring as high as a Swiss flag. Excited? We are.

An eye for detail

Did you know that there are 99 different moves involved in Swiss flag-throwing? That the melancholic tones of the alphorn can soothe cattle? Or that Swiss wrestling shorts have three sets of stitching for better grip? No? Well, it's this passion for life's fine-print that makes Switzerland a Sonderfall, or a bit different, and we're proud of it.

Get the inside scoop on our 2013 living traditions theme in the new Summer magazine, packed with interviews, ideas, recipes and tips for putting yourself in the picture. From making hay and cheese the traditional way in the Bernese Oberland to taking a St Bernard puppy for a walk at a remote mountain pass, let us take you closer to the source of what it means to be Swiss.

Summer festivals go back to pastoral roots. Why not time your visit to watch Herens cattle do battle in Valais, or flower-wreathed cows parading down from summer pastures in Fribourg? Across the Alps you'll find villages and hamlets celebrating summer in all its flag-throwing, alphorn-blowing glory.

Living traditions

We've travelled up and down the country to bring you the best 100 living traditions - see www.MySwitzerland.com for the low-down. Browse this inspiring brochure to find out where you can walk in the footsteps of apple-shooting freedom fighter William Tell, create your own Victorinox Swiss army knife, or hook onto a chocolate-making workshop. Give this summer a bit of Swiss soul by learning how to yodel, cast a cowbell or master the art of alphorn playing - it is harder than it looks, we swear!

Throwing the flag

OK, so you might not have mastered the 99 flag-throwing moves we told you about just yet, but practice makes perfect! The mountain skies are a blaze of red-and-white flags on the www.MySwitzerland.com homepage this summer, as we launch our flag-throwing competition. Get twirling and swirling to win a week's holiday to Switzerland with a traditional twist. There's a flag with your name on it...

Outdoor adventures

Summer is all about getting into the outdoors and tailoring your own adventure has never been easier. Almost every inch of this 41,285 sq km country has been mapped and way-marked, with stereotypical efficiency, and there are 60,000km of footpaths and 5,000km of cycle routes to explore. High-altitude hikes with four-thousander views, gentle bike rides through the UNESCO World Heritage vineyards of Lavaux, stork-spotting on canoe trips along the Aare River - whether you're seeking exhilaration or relaxation, www.MySwitzerland.com has it covered.

For hiking, cycling, mountain biking, inline-skating and canoeing in a nutshell, visit Switzerland Mobility and Swiss Trails, where you can download free apps and topographic maps, and search for a route to suit you.

This summer we're celebrating the 150th anniversary of Switzerland's Grand Tour. Modern tourism was born when the first group tours flocked to Switzerland in 1863. You can get a taste of that early adventure by hiking the craggy Gemmi Pass in the Bernese Alps.

Swiss sleeping beauties

Little personal touches that make all the difference and that's precisely what you can expect from the hand-picked selection of 200 Typically Swiss Hotels that feature in our new brochure. Each hotel has its own identity and story to tell - from the romance of a lakeside Renaissance palace to the pin-drop silence of a former monastery. Or how about a stay in a farmhouse in the heart of dairy country, where the dawn chorus of cowbells is your alarm call?

Check out our Top 50 Offers for discounts of at least 20 per cent on www.MySwitzerland.com/top50. Fancy spying Matterhorn or Eiger from your bunk at 2500m?

The Swiss Alpine Club has 152 huts dotted cross Switzerland's heights and is celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2013. So grab your hiking boots because, as the Swiss say, der Berg ruft, or the mountains are calling.

Free apps for your iPad

You can get a head start on Swiss holiday planning by downloading our free iPad apps at www.MySwitzerland.com/ipad. The e-brochures cover everything from city breaks to family trips, mountains and lakes to the top 150 water experiences.

The Aussies arrive

Farmers Sebi and Paul are back and this time they're showing their Australian friends Switzerland's living traditions. Go to www.youtube.com/myswitzerland to watch their latest adventures.

Summer media trips

Want to experience Switzerland for yourself? Visit www.MySwitzerland.com/mediauk for the summer line-up of media trips - alphorn festivals, wrestling tournaments, Alpine hikes, Swiss cheese-making and yodelling are all in the mix for this summer of living traditions.

FURTHER MEDIA INFORMATION
Please contact Julie Melet, Switzerland Tourism, 30 Bedford Street, London WC2E 9ED
Phone +44 (0) 20 7845 7689
E-mail media.uk@switzerland.com
www.MySwitzerland.com