2 Best Sights in Valais, Switzerland

The Fondation Pierre Gianadda rises in bold geometric shapes around the Roman ruins on which it is built. Recent retrospectives have spotlighted works by Renoir and Monet. The Musée Gallo-Romain displays Celtic and Gallo-Roman relics excavated from a 1st-century temple—striking bronzes, statuary, pottery, and coins unearthed from a time when Celtic tribes ruled Switzerland. Descriptions are only in French and German. A marked path leads through the antique village, baths, drainage systems, and foundations to the fully restored 5,000-seat amphitheater, which dates from the 2nd century. In the gracefully landscaped garden surrounding the foundation, a wonderful Parc de Sculpture displays works by Rodin, Brancusi, Miró, Arman, Moore, Dubuffet, and Max Ernst. There's also a sizable Musée de l'Automobile, which contains some 50 antique cars, all in working order. They include an 1897 Benz, the Delaunay-Belleville of Czar Nicholas II of Russia, and a handful of Swiss-made models. You may also spot posters for concerts by international classical stars such as Cecilia Bartoli or Itzhak Perlman—the space doubles as a concert hall.

Storyboards and films at the Fondation Barry du Grand-St-Bernard praise the lifesaving work of a breed of dog that has come to symbolize the Alpine zone straddling Switzerland and Italy. Several St. Bernard dogs (and puppies) live year-round at the foundation, which is in a restored arsenal adjacent to Martigny's Roman amphitheater. Visitors may encounter the dogs at Barryland, a grassy outdoor enclosure. Cuddly toy St. Bernards and other dog-themed gifts are sold in the shop. The famous St. Bernard dogs helped the monks find travelers lost in the snow for centuries. They supposedly came to Switzerland with silk caravans from Central Asia and were used by Romans as war dogs; today they're kept more for sentimental than functional reasons. The foundation is named after the most famous St. Bernard of them all: Barry, who saved more than 40 people in the 19th century and today stands stuffed in Bern's Naturhistorisches Museum (Museum of Natural History). Souvenir stands sell plush versions of St. Bernards, and there are a handful of dining options on either side of the pass.