|
Home >European
Touring > Europe 2009 > Around the Alps
- Valais
|
|
Around the Alps - Valais
|
After a good run on the empty motorway to
Martigny then east up the large valley to Sion we turned off for a long
climb on good roads to the Val d'Herens, stopping to look at the Pyramides
at Euseigne, several hard rocks perched on softer rock columns similar to
the Demoiselles Coiffée in the Queyras region of the French Alps. From
there the road continued through the small town of Evolène to Camping
Molignon at les Haudères, a village of mostly old chalets set in a
valley with mountains and woods all around. This was a peaceful place with
waymarked walks through woodlands and alongside the river to the centre of
Evolène where there were a few shops and hotels and we saw no-one in traditional
dress as the guidebooks always mention. On the campsite we managed to set up the
satellite dish to listen to Radio 4 and catch up on the news at
home.
|
|
Pyramides at Euseigne
view from Euseigne, Val d'Herens
|
The next day we drove back down the mountain
road with excellent views across to the Bernese Oberland, and stopped for
some shopping at a large Migros supermarket just outside Sion. From there
we continued east along the main road turning off at Sierre
to head for a listed aire at Grimentz at the end of the Val d'Anniviers.
The road climbed steeply and was very winding and narrow in places and as
the steady drizzle had become a torrential rainstorm we decided to abandon
that destination so managed to turn around and return to the main road
where we pulled in to a small
mainly statics campsite at Raron for the night. The rain had
stopped by the next morning so we continued to Visp where we found an ATM
and looked in a bookshop where just paper maps were 16 to 22 CHF (£10
-£15). We decided to rely on the Michelin atlas. Once through the tunnel
signposted to Zermatt another long climb took us to Stalden where the
roads forked and we took the right hand road to Randa-Täsch where the
public road stops and you have to take the shuttle train to Zermatt and
the Matterhorn. We called in to the pleasant Camping Attermenzen, an open
grassy site only for tourers and tents, and booked in for a couple of days
(at a reasonable €11 a night with the ACSI campingcard discount).
Plenty of walks from Evolène!
|
Evolène - alpine meadows
Camping at Les Haudères
River near Evolène
|
|
Zermatt shuttle at Täsch
|
Zermatt - silent electric trolleys
|
We spent a day in Zermatt in glorious sunshine having walked a level 2km
to the modern shuttle train terminus and carparks in Täsch (the fare was
7.60CHF each single). The centre of Zermatt was mostly gift and
outdoor/skiwear shops and hotels and you had to be careful of the silent
electric floats zooming everywhere. It was a short walk to the edge of the old
town passing the headquarters of the Zermatt Yacht Club!? with terrific
views of the Matterhorn. Being late May and between seasons most of the
mountain railways and cable cars were closed except at weekends. A trip up the Gornergrat
rack railway would have cost 76CHF (£50) each so we walked up to the
entrance of the Gornerschlutt gorge but that was also closed. After lunch
we strolled around the town looking at the churchyard with several graves
and memorials for climbers from many countries killed on the Matterhorn
since the peak was first reached by a party led by the Englishman Edward Whymper
together with his Swiss guides in 1865, although four of the climbers
fell to their deaths on the descent. We decided to get the shuttle back to
Täsch and walked back to the campsite along the riverside, passing a
pleasant green swimming and fishing lake with good views of the mountains
and glaciers high above. In the evening we walked through the woods and past
many old wooden chalets to Randa where there had been a massive landslip a few years ago, and back along the river.
Randa - old chalets and
landslip
|
Zermatt Yacht Club headquarters!
The Matterhorn from Zermatt
Lake between Randa and Täsch
|
The next morning it was still sunny as we
returned on the main road to Stalden and took the fork up the next valley
up to Saas-Grund where we found the Kappellenweg campsite again uncrowded
set in meadows in the valley. From there we walked up the steep Kappellenweg
to Saas-Fee passing the many shrines and chapels. Saas-Fee was virtually
deserted with most shops and facilities closed so after admiring the
wonderful views across to the mountains and glaciers we walked back down the
old mule path to Saas-Grund and the campsite where once the sun set at
quarter past five the temperature dropped rapidly to 5C overnight.
|
|
Saas-Fee glaciers
|
Saas-Grund chapel on the Kapellenweg
|
We decided to head to the Italian lakes the
next day as it was dull overcast so drove back down to Visp and along to Brig
where we could see the road up to the Simplon Pass stretching up the
hillside to the south with lorries crawling up the long incline. It was a
good road with several laybys and terrific views as it climbed to 2008 metres where we pulled in by the high snow banks to let
the engine cool off. At the summit there was a gift shop playing jolly
music, a restaurant and a large hospice
where several motorhomes had parked overnight. The drive down to the
border was easy although the quality of the road deteriorated once in
Italy. We joined the dual carriageway at Domodossola then headed for
Verbania on Lake Maggiore where we met crowds and traffic queues, such a
contrast after the quiet roads in Switzerland. The listed motorhome
parking places were crammed full so after a short stop to check out the
campsite options we drove along the lakeside to Camping La Sierra another
ACSI discount site just past Ghiffa.
Parked at the
Simplon Pass
|
Saas-Grund from Saas-Fee
Simplon Pass - hospice and motorhomes
|
|
<< Swiss
Lakes Neuchatel to Geneva
|
Some
of the Italian Lakes >>
|
