On A Grand Tour

The theme of our winter so far has been the pursuit of Alpine wonderfulness. And in the Alps, there is no shortage of wonderfulness to be found. In fact, we can sometimes be so spoiled for choice in Switzerland, with its 48 peaks over 4,000 meters and unlimited opportunities for outdoor fun, that deciding where to go and what to do can be overwhelming (not a bad problem to have, I can assure you!). Over the last few weeks, though, we have explored and frolicked in some of the Alps’ most iconic views and are so excited to share!

Our first stop actually took us to France to finally get up-close views of the mountain that is such an integral part of the backdrop of life in Geneva. We have spent so many hours admiring Mont Blanc from the shores of Lake Geneva, it’s hard to believe that we haven’t made it up to Chamonix yet to enjoy the tallest peak in the Alps. Once again, too spoiled for choice!

After a great breakfast in the town of Chamonix, we headed out for some hiking. With the startling lack of snow in Europe this winter that I’m sure you’ve read about in the news, it felt more like an early-spring hike than a dead-of-winter hike.

The jagged (so jagged!) peaks surrounding the Chamonix valley played peek-a-boo from behind the clouds but made for some epic and mysterious mountain photo opportunities.

The top of our hike up one side of the valley made a great spot for lunch picnicking and mountain admiring.

The only thing that could tear us away from our beautiful spot was the promise of a glass of vin chaud and the après-ski scene, the time-honored tradition of enjoying drinks in bars and on terraces after a day of winter sporting, in the Belle Epoque grandeur of the town of Chamonix.

Our second stop took us on a trip up the Rhone river valley that traverses Switzerland. We stayed in the town of Brig so that we could have easy access to multiple Alpine valleys. The Rhone valley has been an important trading route since its time as part of the Roman Empire, and the valley is dotted with Roman ruins. The town of Brig sits at the foot of the Simplon Pass connecting Switzerland and Italy, and the very first road over the pass was built by Napoleon to move his armies. It still gives me goosebumps to think about the eons of history that have occurred in every single place we visit. So incredible! We had the most amazing experience staying in the guesthouse of a monastery built in the 1700s with front-row views of Brig’s Stockalper Palace and breakfasts each morning consisting of food grown in the monastery gardens. Such a unique and cool experience!

Our first venture was to Saas-Fee, a beautiful village located on a plateau that is surrounded by thirteen 4,000-meter peaks. Unfortunately, given the lack of snow this winter, our snowshoes were not necessary for our planned snowshoe hike. So, after strapping our snowshoes to our backpacks, we headed up the mountain regardless. Despite the relentless uphill terrain, we marveled at the gorgeousness of the surrounding mountains. The intermittent clouds just made the snowy peaks a little extra epic.

One of the best parts of Alpine hiking is the strategic locations of mountain stations and huts offering a food and beverage break. We stopped at the mountain station at the top of our hike to reward ourselves for our almost 3,000 feet of elevation gain. Though a ceiling of clouds had settled over the valley in the afternoon, we enjoyed our descent through forested sections of the mountainside. As you might be able to guess, we ended our day with a little après-ski time in town, which turned out to be my favorite of the Alpine towns we’ve visited.

Thinking that we were smart given the low snow conditions in Saas-Fee, we took off for Zermatt the next morning sans snowshoes. Home to perhaps Switzerland’s most famous peak, thanks to Disneyland and Toblerone, we were lucky to have the perfect weather conditions for Matterhorn viewing. And considering our ascent-heavy hike from the previous day, we were happy to do a more descent-focused hike. We first took a cog railway up to the Gornergrat, a 3,000-meter peak that offers stunning 360-degree views of the area. While the Matterhorn is admittedly pretty impressive in how it rises above the smaller adjacent peaks, you can’t discount the other twenty-eight 4,000-meter peaks that are visible from the Gornergrat, including Switzerland’s highest peak, the Monte Rosa massif. All of that, combined with glaciers in all directions—like the Gorner Glacier, the second-largest glacier in the Alps—and the perfect blue skies, made for an incredible day in the mountains. After extracting ourselves from the crowds of skiers and tourists taking pictures in front of the Matterhorn holding Toblerone chocolate (there were hundreds of them!), we were ready to hit the trail.

It was difficult to even begin hiking because we couldn’t stop exclaiming over the views in all directions. We were happy that our trail was above the tree line and thus exposed, affording us uninterrupted views over the terrain. Our “smart” thinking of leaving our snowshoes behind, however, turned out to be not so smart, as we were soon sinking thigh-deep into the snow. As you can tell by our faces, this was cause for giggles and not discomfort; it’s in moments like this that I am reminded of how thankful I am to have a travel partner who makes any situation fun, regardless of what might be considered uncomfortable or inconvenient. Bad weather? Cold temperatures? Deep snow? No problem. It happens to be one of the things I love most about us.

We were joined halfway through our trek by a herd of chamois hanging out on a plateau below us. We stopped and admired them as they pranced through the deep snow much more gracefully than we were.

We arrived back in Zermatt just in time for sunset, which warranted a search for higher ground to enjoy the views. After an exhausting and wonderful day, there was nothing left to do but enjoy some après-ski in town.

Sigh. After living here for two-and-a-half years, I still can’t get over the beauty of the Alps, and we were so happy to check a couple of our country’s most iconic locations off our list.