Valais / Neuchàtel, Switzerland

In September 2022 we had an unforgettable hike across central Switzerland’s Jungfrau region, so on this trip we made sure to visit Switzerland again. This time we focused more on the southern Swiss Alps in the Canton of Valais. For most of our visit, we slept in a wooden box in a campground in the town of Visp and day hiked around.

Our first day we took the lift up to Bettmeralp and hiked over the ridge to see the Aletsch glacier. We ventured down to get a good look at the glacier and then hiked up to the Bettmerhorn view point.

On our second day we took the train to Zermatt. Zermatt is a beautiful car-less village at the base of the iconic Matterhorn making it a popular tourist destination. Molly found a more remote hike on the northwest side of the Matter valley. Once we made the 4000′ climb we were rewarded with a great view of the Matterhorn while we hiked the ridge. We timed our hike perfectly in the morning because in the afternoon clouds rolled in as we walked back.

After two hard hiking days, we needed an easier day to recover so we took the train to Sion to check out the castle ruins of Château de Tourbillon and the Basilique de Valère. Both castles are located on hills that look over the village. We walked through the Valais history museum located within the Basilique de Valère. The museum covers human history in the Valais valley all the way back to prehistoric times.

Day four, we trained to the village of Randa to hike a portion of Europaweg, a long trail along the east side of the Matter valley. On this section of the trail is the Charles Kuonen Suspension Bridge, the world’s longest pedestrian suspension bridge. The rest of the trail got pretty interesting with tunnels and lots of cliff exposure. Our plan was to hike to the town of Täsch but unfortunately a section of the trail was closed due to a tunnel collapse and rock slide from a storm earlier this year.

One of the coolest parts about Switzerland is the ability to do point to point thru hikes due to their great public transportation. In 2022 we hiked from Meiringen to Kandersteg on the Via Alpina trail. We decided to hike another section of the Via Alpina trail starting in Adelboden over Bunderchrinde Pass and finishing in Kandersteg. We started hiking early through small farms and when we got to the top of the pass we were rewarded with a jaw dropping view of the Jungfrau range. On our way down to Kandersteg we added a walk over a very narrow ridge that overlooked the valley. It was fun to see the mountain peaks and lakes that we walked by in 2022 from a different angle.

For the last few of days we stayed with Molly’s cousin Heddi and family (Nate, Augustus, and Hendrik) in Neuchàtel. Hedi is an author of traditional Swiss cookbooks so, like our last visit in 2022, we were spoiled with amazing food and hospitality.

Heddi just released her third cook book “Swiss Suppers” it is available in the US February 25th. Molly has made several desserts from her second book “Sweet Swiss” and they were a hit at the holidays. Her Instagram is also amazing (@cuisinehelvetica). It was great to spend time with them again, we definitely left Switzerland on a high note and can’t wait to go back again!