In 60 seconds
Curving through a monumental granite trough in the Upper Valais, the Great Aletsch Glacier is the largest ice stream in the Alps: twenty kilometres long and containing twenty-seven billion tonnes of ice. High above the glacier tongue on a sun-drenched south-facing shelf lie the car-free wooden villages of Bettmeralp and Riederalp, where hiking paths wind through ancient stone pine forests overlooking the ice.
Best for
Known for
Skip if
You require road vehicle access to your hotel door; the entire high plateau is strictly car-free and reached exclusively by passenger cable car from the valley floor.
Your match
Choose a few travel interests and we will show how well Aletsch Arena & Upper Valais fits them. Choose interests
See
The things that would make the trip incomplete without them.
UNESCO-protected longest glacier in the Alps · 20km long & 800m thick
Take the cable car up Bettmerhorn to gaze along the immense sweeping highway of striped moraines and ancient blue ice.
2,869m viewpoint with direct views to Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau
The only vantage point where you can see the entire twenty-kilometre length of the glacier from Konkordiaplatz to its melting snout.
Sun-drenched alpine plateau village at 1,950m with historic chapel
Stroll between sun-darkened timber chalets to the whitewashed Maria zum Schnee chapel framed by distant Valais peaks.
Eat
A short list, kept short on purpose. Each entry answers one question: when is this the right choice?
No booking, no ceremony, reliably good.
Traditional alpine hut restaurant between Bettmeralp and Fiescheralp
Feast on piping hot pans of Valais Cholera vegetable and cheese pie, and crispy rösti topped with melted raclette on the outdoor terrace.
Summit restaurant with terrace directly facing the glacier curve
Enjoy hearty mountain soups and air-dried Valais beef while taking in uninterrupted views across twenty billion tonnes of ice.
Too few picks yet for their own heading, so they share this list.
Cozy wood-panelled village dining room in central Bettmeralp
Authentic Gommer cheese fondue and wheel-scraped raclette paired with crisp Petite Arvine white wine from the Rhône valley vineyards.
Village bakery famed for traditional Valais dark sourdough rye bread
Pick up freshly baked Walliser Roggenbrot (AOP rye bread) and homemade apricot tarts to fuel a morning hike.
Beyond the obvious
Less obvious, rarely queued for, and usually the part people remember.
Protected ancient forest of 900-year-old Swiss stone pines
Hike silent pine needle trails among twisted, fragrant Arve pines growing right up against the sheer lateral moraine of the glacier.
Victorian summer palace built on the high ridge in 1902
Visit the extraordinary English-style timber residence where British financier Sir Ernest Cassel hosted Winston Churchill.
124-metre pedestrian footbridge suspended 80m above the Massa Gorge
Cross swaying timber slats spanning a deep granite chasm carved by roaring glacial meltwater directly below the glacier snout.
After dark
Lively wooden après-hike and après-ski bar in Bettmeralp
A rustic timber barn where hikers gather around open fires to drink Swiss cider, craft beer and hot spiced alpine wine.
Orientation
How the city is actually divided, and what each part is for.
Car-free sunny high plateau villages perched at 2,000 metres
Clean alpine air, silent electric luggage buggies, and timber balconies overflowing with red geraniums.
Valley transport hub and gateway to the Furka and Grimsel passes
The Rhône valley floor with traditional sun-blackened timber villages and connections to the Glacier Express railway.
Stay
Areas rather than hotels — pick the right one and the rest follows.
Stay high in the mountains with immediate trail and ski access
Wake up to mountain silence and watch pink morning light hit the Matterhorn and Dom across the Rhône valley.
Pastoral calm right beside the ancient Aletsch Forest trails
Surrounded by high golf greens in summer and ski pistes in winter, perfect for quiet nature retreats.
Practical
Plan this trip — useful links
Context
Enough to make what you are looking at legible.
The Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch region is inscribed as the first UNESCO World Natural Heritage site in the Alps.
Sir Ernest Cassel finishes Villa Cassel on Riederfurka as his summer residence, now preserved as an environmental education centre.
Further out
Worth a day if you have one to spare.
Monumental 17th-century baroque merchant palace with three onion domes
Tour the palatial estate and arcaded stone courtyards built by Kaspar Stockalper, the wealthy 'King of the Simplon'.
Pristine side valley renowned for rare minerals, stone bridges and wild flora
Hike through untouched larch forests where crystal prospectors have unearthed unique mineral crystals for centuries.
