Walking to the Matterhorn, Switzerland

Walk self-guided through unspoiled scenery, along the best routes at your own pace, with your luggage transported ahead. The little-discovered Val d'Anniviers, a high valley with a strong individuality in the French-speaking Valais in the south, is one of Switzerland's loveliest corners, its picture-book villages immersed in awe-inspiring high-mountain scenery.

Walking here is tremendous and thoroughly rewarding. As you wind your way along the mountain paths, on a clear day you will glimpse the mighty Matterhorn beyond the head of the valley. Enjoy high standards of hospitality, too, with delicious cuisine (featuring lake and river fish, game in season, and mountain cheeses) and tasty wines from the Rhône Valley below. The Val d'Anniviers enjoys one of the sunniest climates in Switzerland, with wonderful summer flowers and many fine days in September. The itinerary is completely flexible for those who want to take things a little easier.

Accommodation 

Romantik Hotel Bella Tola (4*), St-Luc This favourite hotel offers spacious bedrooms, inspiring views of the mountains, excellent cuisine and plenty of space in which to relax, including a superb spa and a panoramic indoor splash pool. Claude and Anne-Françoise Buchs are charming and attentive hosts who have worked hard to maintain and enhance the romantic, fin-de-siècle feel of the hotel.

Hotel Europe (3*), Zinal Located in the centre of the village, this chalet-style hotel offers bright, sunny bedrooms, many of which enjoy mountain views. There are several terraces, as well as a jacuzzi and sauna, where you can relax after your walk.

Hotel Cristal (3*), Grimentz Grimentz is a delightful village of dark wooden houses adorned with colourful windowboxes. This chalet-style hotel is located a five-minute walk from the centre and offers a small sauna and fitness room. There is plenty of pinewood throughout, and all bedrooms have a small balcony.

Hotel Victoria (3*), Vercorin A friendly, chalet-style hotel with just 15 rooms set in large landscaped gardens. Owner Frank Wagemaker's cuisine has justly earned an excellent reputation locally.

Traveller Reviews of This Trip

Highly recommended!  Amazing weather, just too hot some days to walk above the tree line where there was no shade, but plenty of cooler options lower down, still with spectacular views and mountain streams.
Hotel Bella Tola was an especially good start - we could see the Matterhorn from our balcony. The walks were well-planned and Swiss signage is excellent. We particularly enjoyed the walks up to the Moiry Glacier and the delightful peace of Le Louche Lac. Rosalind Taylor, Ashbourne, 28/07/2010   

One of the very best of the six or so Inntravel holidays we've done. A wonderful, less-well-known and less commercialised valley than the Swiss "big names", but with fantastic scenery in which the Matterhorn hardly figures, and doesn't need to. Gorgeous old villages, especially Grimentz with its old wooden houses. We added days in St Luc and Grimentz, and that worked beautifully - Chandolin, Illgraben, and the Moiry Glacier were all worth walking to. For us the highlights were the high contour walks from St Luc to Zinal and from Grimentz to Vercorin. (Sorebois was in fog for Zinal to Grimentz.) Lots of options to cater for differing ability and weather. Being in Switzerland, the supplied map and waymarking are superb. Hotels Bella Tola and Alpina were excellent, but we especially enjoyed the Victoria at the end for its superb cuisine and hospitality. Eric Eisenhandler, Blewbury, Oxon, 28/12/2009  

We spent ten wonderful days in September on this holiday with the Zermatt add-on at the Hotel La Ginabelle. I cannot recommend it enough. The walks were thrilling and the hotels absolutely great. The food, and the service, at the Hotel La Ginabelle was exquisite. My favourite bits were the Moiry Glacier and dam; the peace and quiet in Vercorin, the walk to La Lé, and the beautiful valley walk to Zinal. Can't wait to go back to Switzerland! Marilyn, Cheltenham, 24/11/2009  

For more reviews of this trip, see: Reviews of Walking to the Matterhorn