Roadtrip Switzerland
Lötschental valley
Published on: 28-12-2017 / Modified: 28-12-2017
Villages, torrent and glacier
The Lötschental valley starts at the foot of the Rhone and the Valais main road (Highway 9) and ends 25km further along the glacier. The valley is one of those detours that should not be missed. The road gently winds its way between the mountains, passing through picturesque villages and the scenery is superb all along the road. There are many beautiful things to see in Switzerland but this valley should be part of your itinerary.
Travel dates:
June 2016
Visit duration:
1 to 3 days
Access
To reach the Lötschental valley, you must first take route 9, which crosses the entire Valais. The access to the valley is somewhere halfway between Sierre and Visp, the road is correctly indicated but if you point Blatten, you should easily find your way. The road which crosses the valley is not very long, only 25km for 30 minutes driving. It's not very long, but there are many places where you can stop, so you can easily spend a full day or even several days if you stay in the area and want to go hiking.
It is possible to park in every village but as everywhere in Switzerland parking is quite expensive. In the off-season it is possible to find free car parks. If you have time or if you do not have a car, you can take the bus, line 591 crosses the valley from end to end. Buses are managed by Swiss Post.
Link
Villages
The road crosses some villages like Ferden, Kippel, Wiler or Blatten. Although none of these villages is a mandatory stopover, they all offer a different view of the valley. From each village, it is also possible to start a hike or in winter use a ski lift to go skiing. You will find access to the ski slopes in Wiler. In terms of heritage there is not much to see, just a few wooden chalets of the period. It was more than 30°C at the bottom of the valley when we arrived, so we went to look for a bit of freshness along the stream going down to the Rhone.
A small torrent runs through the valley and runs alongside each village. It is possible to descend to the level of the torrent to walk on stony paths. The scenery is magnificent, the crystal clear water flows quickly down the valley and hits the rocks as they pass. It is possible to reach the villages by following the path along the river. There are no special difficulties along the way and outside peak season, we did not come across any tourists. Apart from the passage of a few cars on the main road, you won't hear anything but the noise from the torrent or cow bells.
If you like to take pictures, you will have to be careful when you arrive. The valley is quite deep, some villages will soon find themselves in the shade of one or the other mountain. A priori, if you go at noon, you shouldn't have this problem. Several mountains exceed 3000m, so it is impossible to avoid large areas of shade.
Activités
If you decide to stay in the valley for more than a day, you can find something to do in summer or winter if you really like nature walks. This part of Switzerland is not very inhabited, so you won't find a lot of activities here apart from hiking and cycling.
Link
Glacier
The valley leads to a glacier (Langgletscher) accessible on foot. You can drive up to the car park in Fafleralp. You can't go wrong, the road doesn't go any further. Parking is of course subject to a charge, but it's the only way to drop off your car near the hiking trail that leads to the glacier. It takes about 30 minutes on foot to reach the foot of the glacier. The path is not difficult but sometimes the soil is very uneven (roots, rocks,...), so you will need good hiking boots. The melting of the snow makes a little water flow along the way, so sometimes it slips a little. The path to the glacier is superb, you will gradually move away from the small stream to the side of the mountains and finally join the small lake resulting from the melting of the glacier. This is a very nice place to take a little break and enjoy the fresh air, the calm and the view. The lake is surrounded by high peaks rising sometimes above 3000m, so you feel very small.
Once at the foot of the glacier, you can either turn back or continue to start other hikes. Hikes from the glacier are more difficult and longer. Three itineraries are proposed with walking times ranging from 3 hours to 2 days.
[Hotels loc="Lotschental" region="3877"]
LAURENT WILLENHead of myself on this blog
I share my passions on my blog in my free time since 2006, I prefer that to watching nonsense on TV or on social networks. I work alone, I am undoubtedly one of the last survivors of the world of blogs and personal sites.
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