In the summer months it's refreshing to be in the great outdoors; but there is great outdoors, and there is extraordinary outdoors. Top of the list of extraordinary outdoor experiences is the Swiss national park (nationalpark.ch). It's the biggest conservation area in Switzerland and one of the best-protected natural environments in Europe. The Alpine landscape remains much the same as it was 5,000 years ago, thanks to the banning of hunting, tree felling, meadow mowing or any other human activity deemed to interfere with nature.