swandav2000

Oh yes, that's right.... I read neckervd's recommendation, then forgot about it. Or thought I had... it was in my brain, I guess, and I inadvertently echoed it. Neckervd is the real expert, having lived there a lifetime! Anyway, yes, I agree with neckervd that Brig is worth a consideration!

btw, I was only briefly in Montreux, less than a year, and I was in boarding school. We had no free time to explore. But it was enough to hook me totally.

For your day in Vevey or Lutry, I would do both, with a walk through the vineyards of the Lavaux (which should be luscious and gorgeous in August). You can start in Lutry, exploring its historical buildings (with signposted info) and its pretty harbor, then walk through the vineyards to Epesses, or Cully, or Rivaz... You can walk for 2h or 5h, as you wish, then stop in a town and take the next train to Vevey. Then spend the afternoon relaxing in Vevey with some local wine and pizza, then explore the town. Or if you think that may be too much, do Vevey and Lutry/vineyards on separate days -- Vevey is a real gem and deserves good time and good energy.

For your extra days, consider Solothurn, a town I just recently discovered. Gorgeous. Charming. And delightful. It will be at just 2h by train from Brig. Have you spent any time in Thun? Another town that I love. Explore Thun, Spiez, or Brienz, and take a lake ferry or two. I found the walk between Bettmeralp and Riederalp to be very nice and very, very scenic.

Btw, yes, the guidebooks overlook Brig, which argues in its favor. As they overlook Thun. That's ok... it keeps the tour busses largely away. Take a look at some photos from google search and see what you think.

Have fun!

s

indiancouple

Thanks Swandav for your prompt response. We did visit Thun in our last visit, and spent a day there.

Request swandav and neckervd and any others to please help with the following :
1. From my reading, at Zermatt the worthwhile activities are the Gornergrat, Klein Matterhorn, Sunnegga, and Matterhorn Paradise Lift. Is this correct - or would you suggest adding or subtracting anything ? In which case should we budget for two days at Zermatt (by doing daytrips from Brig ) ?
2. Could you suggest activities around the Aletsch Glacier ? Should we be taking the lift from Fiesch or Riederalp, or any other place ? What else is there to do in that area (easy hikes etc) ?

Please help, as you both seem experts in that region.

swandav2000

Hi again,

Sorry, I never really liked Zermatt except for the stellar hiking, as neckervd and Dukey1 mention above. I also tend to visit places for hiking or walking, not to ascend peaks. Just do some googling and read (even more) guidebooks, and see what grabs you.

I did mention an easy walk (Bettmeralp to Riederalp). I don't know any others, sorry.

Btw, this is the type of information you can get with a google search -- lots of hikes, with info on duration & difficulty:

https://www.brig-simplon.ch/places/s...​​

Well that link doesn't work. But I'll just say that I googled "Brig tourism," then scrolled to "Wonderful Nature," then saw lots of walks with duration & difficulty. Give it a try.

Also -- here is my photo album for the Bettmeralp-Riederalp walk I mentioned.

https://link.shutterfly.com/TAtRgPbEI3

Have fun!

s

neckervd

ZERMATT
Kleinmatterhorn and Matterhorn Paradise is the same: the highest gondola station of Europe (12750 ft), some 3 miles from Matterhorn and with panoramic views to Swiss and Italian peaks and glaciers.
The other viewpoints of easy reach by public transport are:
Lake Schwarzsee (hotel-restaurant)
Gornergrat (hotel-restaurant)
Unterrothorn (restaurant). Sunnegga is one of the 2 intermediate stops between Zermatt and Unterrothorn (the other one is Blauherd).

RIEDERALP ETC.
The mountain ridge between Rhone Valley and Aletsch glacier is 7500-9500 ft high (from West to East).
South of the ridge, at a altitude of some 6500 ft, is a large plateau with the settlements Riederalp, Greicheralp, Goppisbergeralp, Bettmeralpl, Laxeralp and Fiescheralp. The view from there over the whole alpine chain from the peaks of Canton Uri and Caton Ticino all along the italian border up to Mont Blanc is just stunning. This plateau is linked with the railway line Brig - Fiesch (trains every 30 minutes) by gondolas
Moerel railway station - Ried - Riederalp West
Moerel railway station - Greich - Riederalp Mitte (Greicheralp)
Betten railway station - Betten - Bettmeralp
Betten railway station - Bettmeralp (direct line)
Fiesch railway station - Fiescheralp
Other gondolas go from the Alp Plateau to the ridge above the Aletsch glacier:
Riederalp - Hohfluh
Riederalp - Moosfluh
Bettmeralp - Blausee (winter only)
Bettmeralp - Bettmerhorn
Fiescheralp - Eggishorn
Two other gondolas help to surmount the difference of altitude between Bettmeralp and Fiescheralp:
Bettmeralp - Schoenboden
Bettmeralp - Wurzenbord.
Tons of hiking trails link all these gondola stations among each other and with other places. That enables people to do all kinds of hikes, from the easy promenade walk around Lake Bettmersee up to long and strenuous hikes.

Day trips from Brig to Riederalp Plateau are perfectly possilbe, although it's nicer to sleep at a panoramic and car free place like Fiescheralp, Bettmeralp or Riederalp than in town.
Day trips from Brig to Zermatt are possible too, but time consuming (1 hr 20 min train ride up to Zermatt, plus train or Gondola ride to one of the aforementioned peaks).It would be much nicer to leave the luggage at Brig and to sleep one night in a mountain hotel like Schwarzsee, Riffelberg, Fluhalp, Zseewjinu.....

indiancouple

neckervd, you are an encyclopedia of information ! Thanks a ton for your detailed inputs.

Since I am not familiar with the geography of the region around Riederalp, and totally unfamiliar with the connections between the various places that you have mentioned, I have a simple question. If one is planning on doing a day-trip to this area, where should we board a train to (eg Fiesch, or Riederalp or ?), and what gondola/lift connections would you suggest ? We would also like to do the easy hike recommended by swandav from Riederalp to Bettmeralp (or reverse), and would like to see the best views possible of the Aletsch Glacier. You have mentioned a lot of possible connections, but please help a novice choose the right/convenient one.

neckervd

https://www.aletscharena.ch/panoramic-maps1/
https://www.aletscharena.ch/sports-s...41548,46.52146
The direct hike along the road from Riederalp to Bettmeralp (1 hr or so) is rather boring IMO
Best views over Aletsch Glacier: from Eggishorn (cableway from Fiesch via Fiescheralp)
Best short hike with Aletsch Glacier view: Hohfluh to Moosfluh (or vice versa). Both cableways start at Riedralp.

Melnq8

Could you suggest activities around the Aletsch Glacier ? Should we be taking the lift from Fiesch or Riederalp, or any other place ? What else is there to do in that area (easy hikes etc) ?

We spent five nights in this area in October. Here are a few things we did, keeping in mind that neckervd probably has a more efficient plan:

We purchased a two day Aletsch+ Hiking Pass 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 was closed at the time of our visit).

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).

We decided to stay on for lunch at the self-service Panorama Restaurant, and soaked up those wonderful views. There are walks that originate from up here too.

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.

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 (where we were staying).

Another day we did this -

We went to Fiesch - walked the 10 minutes up to the Fiesheralp gondola station (there's also a bus), took the connecting gondola to Fiescheralp…our visit Fiescheralp was rather anti-climactic. It was sleepy, cold and windy, the views weren’t quite what we’d hoped for and the station was a full on construction zone (the Eggishorn gondola was currently closed and my understanding is that it’s being replaced). There were a few hotels and restaurants, but not much of interest (to us anyway).

Back in Feisch we caught the rain to Mörel - once in Mörel, we took the gondola to Riederalp Mitte (there are two gondolas, the other goes to Riederalp West) and walked through very quiet Riederalp to the Moosfluh gondola station, and then went up to the top (2,333 m).

Moosfluh was cold and windy; the views were incredible. We’d hoped to have lunch up here, but there wasn’t a restaurant, just a snack shed…

NOTE: There is a restaurant between Riederalp and Moosfluh, but it didn’t look easy to reach.

We eventually returned to Riederalp for lunch.

After lunch we walked towards Riederalp West and climbed up to Riederfurka - a steep rocky walk – and then up to Villa Cassel, which is under renovation until 2020. There’s a one hour loop trail that we would have liked to walk, but ran out of time.

We returned to Riederalp via that steep rocky path and took the Riederalp West gondola (two stages, you can also get off at Ried-Mörel) but we stayed on it for the entire journey back to Mörel.

Lots of options.

Melnq8

And a photo:

indiancouple

I have finally got the hang of the topography and gondola connections in the Aletsch area, thanks to the great inputs from neckervd. Many thanks.

On more question : Would the gondola/chairlift from Riederalp to Hohfluh be operational in early September (I read that it operates only in summer) ? If so, we could take the gondola up to Moosfluh, walk to Hohfluh, and take the gondola down. Otherwise, we would have to walk back to Moosfluh to ride back to Riederalp.

neckervd

ALETSCH AREA - TIMETABLES SEPTEMBER 2020

Moerel railway station - Ried - Riederalp West: 7.03 until 21.39
Moerel railway station - Greich - Riederalp Mitte (Greicheralp): 5.55 until 23.05
Betten railway station - Betten - Bettmeralp: 5.50 until 23.15
Betten railway station - Bettmeralp (direct line): 5.50 until 17.50
Fiesch railway station - Fiescheralp: 7.15 until 18.30
Other gondolas go from the Alp Plateau to the ridge above the Aletsch glacier:
Riederalp - Hohfluh: until August 16th only
Riederalp - Moosfluh: 8.30 until 16.30
Bettmeralp - Blausee (winter only)
Bettmeralp - Bettmerhorn: 8.30 until 16.30
Fiescheralp - Eggishorn: 8.55 until 16.25
Two other gondolas help to surmount the difference of altitude between Bettmeralp and Fiescheralp:
Bettmeralp - Schoenboden: closed
Bettmeralp - Wurzenbord: 9.00 until 16.00.

Don't worry about Hohfluh: the hike from there to Hotel-Restaurant Riederfurka and Aletsch area visitor's center lasts less than 1/2 hr.
Riederfurka is less than 1 mile (small road) from Riederalp.


TO MELNQ 8:
https://www.aletscharena.ch/quicklin...ev-hub-fiesch/

Melnq8

neckervd - is it now open?

neckervd

Of course! since December 7th 2019

indiancouple

neckervd, I cannot thank you enough for the very informative responses that you have given.

Since we will be there in end-August, the Hohfluh-Riederalp gondola will no longer be operative. So if I have understood you correctly neckervd, you are saying that from Hohfluh to Riederalp is a short and easy hike ? That answers all my questions about the Aletsch area.