The Valais canton is a wide valley floor is guarded by forty five peaks that soar over four thousand meters. In a land of extremes where the sun shines on the vineyards while the glaciers remain frozen above. The landscape is dominated by the iconic shape of the Matterhorn and the Aletsch glacier, the longest ice flow in the Alps.
Roads climb the steep valley walls to reach remote villages where the wooden houses are built on stone stilts. You find yourself in a region of Suonen, ancient high altitude irrigation channels that have carried water to the dry fields for centuries. The history of mountain guides is found in the old hotels of Zermatt and Saas Fee.
This is a province of vertical life. People will be paragliding over the valley and hikers explore the high alpine trails. The vibe is one of adventure and raw natural beauty. Valais is an empire of ice and wine that offers a spectacular journey through the highest terrain in the country.
Valais (canton) highlights
- Aletsch Glacier Viewpoints Take a cable car to see the longest river of ice in the Alps stretching for 23 kilometers. The scale of the frozen waves and deep crevasses is truly massive.
- Zermatt Matterhorn Views Leave your car in Tasch and take the train to see the most famous peak on earth. The surrounding valley offers dozens of trails with constant views of the mountain.
- Great St. Bernard Pass Drive to the high border with Italy to visit the historic hospice and see the famous rescue dogs. The pass has been used by travelers since Roman times.
- Saas Fee Glaciers Visit the village of the giants where thirteen peaks over 4000 meters surround the valley. You can walk right up to the edge of the blue glacier ice.
- St-Léonard Underground Lake Navigate a boat through the largest natural underground lake in Europe. The water is crystal clear and the cave walls are filled with unique minerals.
- Derborence Rockfall Site Discover a wild valley formed by two massive mountain collapses in the 1700s. The resulting lake and forest are now a protected nature reserve.
- Simplon Pass Stone Eagle Drive the wide mountain road to see the massive granite eagle monument overlooking the peaks. The pass offers a smooth transit between the north and south.
- Val d'Hérens Traditional Villages Explore villages like Evolène where people still speak an ancient dialect and wear traditional dress. The black Herens cows are famous for their mountain fights.
- Bisse Irrigation Channels Hike along the ancient wooden water pipes that cling to the side of the cliffs. These historic channels still carry water to the sun baked vineyards below.
- Grande Dixence Dam Stand at the top of the highest gravity dam in the world at the end of a long valley. The massive wall of concrete holds back a giant turquoise lake.
The local Four
History of Valais (canton)
Valais is a canton of vertical extremes where the history was shaped by the struggle for water. For over 1,000 years the people of this sunny valley built the Bisses which are miraculous irrigation channels that cling to the faces of sheer cliffs to bring glacial meltwater to the dry vineyards below. These channels are a testament to the sheer will of the local people to survive in a landscape of rock and ice. This created a culture of isolated village republics.
The higher reaches of the canton were the final frontier of the Alps. In the Middle Ages the Walser people migrated across the high glaciers to settle in the most remote valleys building their iconic houses on stone stilts to protect their grain. For centuries the history of places like Zermatt was one of total isolation until the 19th century when the Golden Age of Alpinism brought British explorers to conquer the Matterhorn. This changed the region into a famous mountain destination.
The modern history of the region is defined by its mastery of the power of the giants. The construction of the Grande Dixence which is the highest gravity dam in the world showed that the people of the valley could harness the massive power of the glaciers to light up the country. The history of the canton is a story of the vine and the glacier where people managed to grow some of the world finest wines in the shadow of mountain peaks.