Liszt was enthralled by the natural beauty of Switzerland when he stayed there in 1835-36. His experiences there inspired him to compose the 19 pieces in Album d'un voyageur. The series was published in 1842, but Liszt reworked it between 1848 and 1854, and in 1855 he published Années de pelerinage, Premiere année, Suisse, a new series of nine works (of which seven come from the Album d'un voyageur), and he withdrew the earlier collection. The pieces conjure up the atmosphere of Swiss experiences and the Alpine landscape of Switzerland, with one exception: the title Vallée d'Obermann refers not to a Swiss valley, but to a novel by Sénancour (1770-1846), although the novel is indeed set in Switzerland. The appendix to the volume includes the pieces from Album d'un voyageur that were not used, and the early version of three of the works, where there are significant differences.

As customary, there are two versions of the publication: a blue clothbound edition and a grey softcover edition. The preface, which gives the most important information on the contents and technical details, is identical in both versions, but only the former includes an English description of the sources and a critical commentary. Both versions include facsimiles of pages from Liszt's original autograph manuscript.