Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Trip Report A Swiss Alpine Autumn

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Yes, I missed the reference to potatoes on the sign above.

neckervd - we've looked in a few of those fridges this trip. We see honesty kiosks in New Zealand frequently too - fruit, honey, and occasionally bags of poo - (not refrigerated:) I'd love to buy my produce on a regular basis that way.

neckervd - Bill swears that Switzerland used to have a 5 franc banknote. We've been visiting since the 90's - good memory or bad?

Mel, what gorgeous photos (sigh.....)

It’s 2:30 am and am jet lagged at home, happy to have something to read :)

Glad you're back home safe and sound Adelaidean. Guess it's starting to warm up down there. I have some reading to do myself - have gotten behind on your trip report, but plan to read it in full when I get the chance.

The green 5 francs banknote was print for the first time in 1911 and and was withdrawn by the Swiss National Bank from 1980 until 2000 when it lost it's validity.
But the 5 francs coin exists since 1850, first in silver and since 1968 in cupronickel

So he didn't dream it! Thanks for that neckervd.

Mel, yes, I meant the "Bio Kartoffeln" on the board, as neckervd explained later. Good deal!

October 8 –

We caught a train from Grengiols to Betten Talstation (one stop, 2.20 CHF each, half fare) and purchased a two day Aletsch+ Hiking Pass (36 CHF each, half fare, plus 5 CHF card deposit), then got on a gondola to Bettmeralp (1,950 m). The pass is valid on travel to all three Aletsch Arena viewpoints (however, the highest, Fiescheralp-Eggishorn (2,869m) is currently closed).

https://www.aletscharena.ch/life/one...h-hiking-pass/

Once at Bettmeralp, we walked through the village (20 minutes) and then took the gondola to the Bettmerhorn (2,647 m).

It had snowed overnight – clouds hung overhead – views were a bit obscured. We visited the viewpoint, and tentatively started on the walk to Hohbalm-Fiescheralp, but changed our minds – it was rocky and icy - I wasn’t sure if my knee would cooperate.

We eventually took the gondola back down to Bettmeralp, and decided to have a beverage on the sun terrace at the nearby Q Stall. We cooled our heels and people watched, nearly blasted out of our seats by Europop.

The day got prettier and prettier, so on a whim, we decided to head back up to the Bettmerhorn (we weren’t sure if our pass would cover another trip up, but it did!)

Back at the top we walked to the viewpoint again and saw the glacier in all its sun-drenched glory. Naturally, I felt compelled take a gazillion more photos as the light was so much better than earlier in the day.

By now people had come out of the woodwork. We decided to stay on for lunch at the self-service Panorama Restaurant, where we shared a really good (and generous) plate of Aplermagronen (18 CHF) and soaked up those wonderful views. The cooks behind the counter were working their tails off on this busy Tuesday afternoon.

The difference between the two visits was nothing short of amazing – the day had turned absolutely beautiful.

We backtracked to Bettmeralp and decided to walk to Wurzenbord, where we took the chairlift up. From there we walked down to Battmer Hitta, an alpine hut on the Fiescheralp-Bettmeralp hiking trail. Here we shared a massive slice of Cremeschnitte, Bill declaring it “the size of a loaf of bread” (6.50 CHF).

From Battmer Hitta we followed the rocky, knee-crunching trail back down to Bettmeralp, walked back through town, and took the cable car down to Bettmeralp Dorf. Here we poked around for a bit, explored the church and then caught the gondola down to Betten Talstation, then took the train back to Grengiols.

A beautiful day all around.

Note: We totaled up the cost of all the gondolas, plus the one way train back to Grengiols to see if the pass was good value – it was excellent value – had we paid for each trip, the cost would have been 74 CHF each, at half fare! And this was only the first day of a two day pass.

To be continued...

I suppose you know that the trail from Baettmer Hitta (ex Furri Hitta, ex Hotel Baettmerhoru) to Fiescheralp (ex Chieboda) is much easier than that down to Bettmeralp.
May be you will do it tomorrow:
Fiescheralp - Baettmerhitta (means hut of Betten) - Moosfluh chairlift; all more or less at the same altitude, except the final 200 metres ascent to Moosfluh.
As an alternative you could go from Riederalp WEST to the Nature Reserve Center Villa Cassel at Riederfurka and then either through the Aletsch Forest or on the crest to Moosfluh.
https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-ch/...letsch-forest/

BTW: there is no village called "Bettmeralp Dorf". It's just Betten, a place much older than Bettmeralp (Alp of Betten) which originally consited only of a few stables and chalets where people from the Valley milked thier cows and made some cheese in summer time.
Same remark for the villages of Ried, Greich and Fiesch: their Alps got tourist places in the second half of the 20th Century only.
The promotor of all that was Art Furrer , who found his luck on skis at the end of the 1950s in America. He conquered the skiing world with wild jumps and lots of fun and became known as the "crazy Swiss", the father of ski acrobatics. He was a brand ambassador, was in movies and shows and was also ski teacher for American stars (among themLeonard Bernstein and of the Kennedy family).Despite his success, he never forgot his home in the Swiss mountains. Art Furrer began to buy land in Riederalp just above his hometown of Geich....
He built some hotels, many apartment houses with holiday flats poular with Swiss families and the highest golf course of the Alps.

If you walk through Riederalp and meet a friendly old man with a big cowboy hut, it's Art Furrer!

I suppose you know that the trail from Baettmer Hitta (ex Furri Hitta, ex Hotel Baettmerhoru) to Fiescheralp (ex Chieboda) is much easier than that down to Bettmeralp.

I do now! We always seem to find the steep ones.

All those Bettens have been making me crazy - I'm not surprised I got some of the details wrong.

May be you will do it tomorrow:

Fiescheralp - Baettmerhitta (means hut of Betten) - Moosfluh chairlift; all more or less at the same altitude, except the final 200 metres ascent to Moosfluh.
As an alternative you could go from Riederalp WEST to the Nature Reserve Center Villa Cassel at Riederfurka and then either through the Aletsch Forest or on the crest to Moosfluh.

You must be a mind reader - we did some of this today. I'm running a day behind in my report, will try to catch up.

You are a fountain of information neckervd! I hope you know how much your contributions here are appreciated.

October 9 –

We woke to gloom and rain. We checked the weather forecast - rain, rain and more rain, so we decided to ignore that promising sliver of blue above and wait until tomorrow to use our second day of the hiking pass.

Instead we bought a train ticket to Brig using the SBB app again (we’ve since found out that you can buy a ticket on the train with no penalty since there isn’t a ticket kiosk at the Grengiols station, but this whole app thing is growing on us (7.60 CHF each return, half fare).

A market was underway on the main road into the center of Brig – we never did find out if this was a weekly thing or a special event, but today it was a very wet – rain pouring from the canopies, vendors trying desperately to keep their goods dry, umbrella toting pedestrians everywhere.

We were surrounded by food – sausages, raclette, dried meat, cheese, olives, fresh pasta, candy, roasted chestnuts…there was a vendor selling wine, and many stalls selling toys and clothing. It felt like a Christmas market…sans the Christmas part.

I zeroed in on a stall selling Bunder Nusstorte, went over to investigate and struck up a conversation with one of the guys working there. I love Nusstorte, and this, I was told, was the real thing, made in Poschiavo. The guy kept handing us samples of dried meats (venison, pork, beef) and cheese, I told him we’d be back in a few hours to buy a Nusstorte (which we did, and it was excellent, especially heated up in the oven and served with a bit of fresh cream, 16 CHF).

We wandered, we found the Stockalper Palace (built in the 17th century) and walked through the gardens.

We then walked to Naters in search of the Ossuary and the Church of St Mauritius, both listed as Swiss Heritage sites of national significance. I’ve read that the Ossuary is over 500 years old and contains the skulls and bones of around 30,000 people. Yowsa.

We returned to Brig and had lunch at Artisti – shared pizza, local Pinot Noir, Tiramisu – 54 CHF and very good (and dry!).

On our way back to the Bahnhof we picked up some fresh pasta from one of the market stalls - lemon ricotta and orange ricotta - it made an excellent dinner, followed by that warm Nusstorte of course.

To be continued…

Oh, Mel, thank you. Awake at 3:30 am and hoping you’d posted something for me to read....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adelaidean (Post 16996466)

I hear you, Mel, love Switzerland too.

And the quiet villages where hikers go to bed at 9 pm :)
Love the tranquility. Haven’t had any inconsiderate hotel guests jabbering late at night or banging doors in Switzerland. They’re too tired, LOL.

Fourfortravel, might get you to create me an Austrian mountains/ lakes itinerary one day.

Better ask me soon before I forget everything I loved about living in Austria! :)

melnq8, still continuing to enjoy your report on our former neighbor. Though barely settled in our U.S. home we are already dreaming and scheming for our first getaway, to either the Emerald Isle (to visit DD) or to the lesser-traveled Arabian peninsula. Time and resources will be our guide.

Hi Mel. I think the weird fruit are quinces. Can be peeled and chopped and stewed - they change into a pink colour as they cook. Not everyone's favourite but they make excellent quince jelly. I make a batch every year for the family. Or you can turn them into quince paste to eat with cheese etc.

Love your stories and photos - so envious..

What a fantastic report and awesome photos. So grateful you're taking the time to share with us. Switzerland is so civilized. But then again, you probably know the quote from The Third Man, spoken by Harry Lime (Orson Wells).

Yes, quinces.

Beautiful pictures again. Glad you got your share of Nusstorte!! ;-)