Nonconformist

I was wondering whether those of you who've visited both would like to give your opinions as to which has the more beautiful scenery, etc. Would someone who's been to one be disappointed in the other?

LLindaC

Love mountains. Switzerland with all the villages, flowers, history. Plus the transportation is so great. I loved the Canadian Rockies and do want to return, but Switzerland wins hands down.

Dukey

I suppose in some ways the scenery in countrie such as Switzerland is more picturesque and don't forget, as a mountain range, the highest peaks in the Alps, such as Mont Blanc, the Dufourspitz, the Matterhorn, etc., are higher than anything in the Rockies if that makes a difference.

I like both areas you mention and have been to both several times. For overall sheer beauty I would have to go with Switzerland.

enzian

Both are stunningly beautiful---I have photos of each up on my office wall. I can't imagine using the word "disappointed" for either one. But they are very different, as you can see from looking at photos f the two---lush green Switzerland with dazzling white peaks and glaciers; the Rockies with broad sweeping vistas of massive, dark mountains with horizontal bands.

Switzerland is more user-friendly (hotels, restaurants, lifts everywhere) but it is not wilderness. However, as a pretty serious hiker I would have to say I prefer hiking with cows to hiking with bears.

Nonconformist

Thank you all. I'm planning a trip to Switzerland with my parents, who've been to the Rockies, and I didn't want them to feel disappointed.

LLindaC

Hey nonconformist....when you need trip planning we'll be glad to help! I'm with Enzian....give me cows over bears any time! Even those Valaisian ones with the big horns, lol.

Nonconformist

We've actually pretty much settled on basing ourselves near Interlaken. We prefer not too much moving around. I might ask opinions on specific places I have in mind to visit, later on, but not immediately. Thanks anyway.

Sue4

I like the Canadian Rockies alot. But Switzerland is too gorgeous for words!

SallyCanuck

I've only seen the Canadian and US Rockies so can't comment on that but the highest peak in the Rockies is Denali/McKinley in Alaska at 20,320 feet. The highest in the Alps is 15,771.

Here's a list: http://www.scaruffi.com/travel/tallest.html

kleeblatt

I was in a lush valley two weeks ago, difficult to get to but absolutely drop-dead gorgeous. They could have filmed Brokeback mountain there. It's called Val Mora, located in Val Mustair. Instead of sheep, you heard cow bells and saw horses racing around the alps.

The Rockies are quieter and lonelier with fewer towns in between. The mountains might be similar, but the cows, alphuts, quaint villages and noises make it very different from one another.

enroute

I can't imagine anyone being disappointed with the Swiss Alps, no matter what they have seen before.

Dukey

OK, Sally..we KNOW you've got the highest mountain in the "Rockies"...sorry, I should have said "in the Lower (and perhaps closer) 48 and Canada.

I'll attempt to be MUCH more prec ise next time LOL.

PJK

We're headed for Bavaria in October, and after this summer's trip into the Canadian Rockies with lots of hiking with bears, I am pleased that bears will evidently not be an issue when we hike in Germany. Can't say I have ever been disappointed with any mountain range I have ever seen in the Alps, in the Canadian Rockies, nor in the Colorado Rockies. Love them all. PJK

ShelliDawn

I had an argument with my cousin-in-law once about who had the higher mountains in the Rockies, Canada or Colorado (he's in Colorado, I'm in Alberta). He kept saying the tallest mountains in the Rockies were in Colorado. Balderdash! I cried.

I was wrong, they're higher in the US. The Colorado Rockies have 46 peaks over 4000m, the Canadian Rockies have none. Mt. Robson, the highest Canadian peak in the Rockies, is only 3959m.

However, he admitted that the Canadian Rockies were more impressive/beautiful.

Turns out Canada's highest peaks aren't in the Rockies at all, they're in the Saint Elias Mountains (including Mt. Logan). Mt. McKinley (US tallest mountain) is in the Alaskan Range.

I didn't know we had so many different mountain ranges in Canada/USA.

Jean

The food is better in Switzerland!

smueller

I live in Colorado. Most of our mountains rise from a base that is approximately 6,000 ft above sea level. This means that a "fourteener" is really only about 8,000 ft high from base to top.

I can't compare the Canadian Rockies with the Swiss Alps, but I can compare the Colorado Rockies with the Austrian and Italian Alps. One thing you won't find in the mountains of Colorado (or Canada) are 600 year-old villages that make picture-perfect foregrounds for mountain photos.

altamiro

>give me cows over bears any time!

Even if it is an Eringer cow with a "get out of my way" attitude on a narrow path? )

LLindaC

Well, I've never seen a cow climb a tree!

altamiro

>Well, I've never seen a cow climb a tree!

No use if you are avove the treeline! ;-)

kleeblatt

And I've never stepped in a cowpie during my hikes in the Rockies (unlike Switzerland, where I even got chased by a goat once.)