15 Best Sights in Valais, Switzerland

If the day is clear, grab the chance for a spectacular ride to the top of one of the lofty peaks that shadow the roadway by taking the Fiesch cable car up to Eggishorn (9,413 feet). The panoramic views of Alps and glaciers leave most breathless. As the cable car rotates 360 degrees, you can tick off famous Bernese and Valaisan peaks from your to-see list. The Jungfrau, Eiger, Matterhorn, and Dom are clearly visible, as are peaks that lie across the border in Italy and France.

The Fondation Pierre Gianadda rises in bold geometric shapes around the Roman ruins on which it is built. Recent retrospectives have spotlighted works by Turner and Jean Dubuffet. 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.

With its indoor and outdoor pools, this multilevel facility is more water park than thermal bath. It's usually packed with families, so don't come expecting peace and quiet. But the views of Leukerbad's mountains are terrific, though no better than at Alpentherme, which is better suited to those seeking tranquility. Leukerbad Therme has a sauna, solarium, and snack bar, as well as giant slides that corkscrew their way down into one of the thermal baths.

At 14,685 feet, the Matterhorn's elegant snaggletooth form rears up over the village of Zermatt, larger than life and genuinely awe-inspiring. As you weave through crowds along Bahnhofstrasse, the town's main street, you're bombarded on all sides by Matterhorn images—on postcards, sweatshirts, calendars, beer steins, and candy wrappers—while the original, slightly obscured by resort buildings, occasionally peers down at you. In town, it's better seen from side streets and the windows of hotel rooms. Break past the shops and hotels onto the main road into the hills, and you'll reach a slightly elevated spot where you'll probably stop dead in your tracks. There it is, a twist of snowy rock blinding in the sun. Catch it in the very early morning to witness its rare Alpenglühen, when the rising sun bathes it in fragile pink light. It was Edward Whymper's spectacular—and catastrophic—conquest of the Matterhorn, on July 14, 1865, that made Zermatt a household word. After reaching the mountain's summit, his climbing party began its descent, tying themselves together and moving one man at a time. One of the climbers slipped, dragging the others down with him. Though Whymper and one of his companions braced themselves to stop the fall, the rope between climbers snapped and four mountaineers fell nearly 4,000 feet to their deaths. One body was never recovered, but the others lie in modest graves behind the park near the village church, surrounded by scores of other failed mountaineers. In summer, the streets of Zermatt fill with sturdy, weathered climbers who continue to tackle the peaks, and climbers have mastered the Matterhorn thousands of times since Whymper's disastrous victory.

Sporting expansive Palladian windows set in marble, the Alpentherme looks like a temple perched on the hill. Annexes contain a beauty center, shopping arcade, and bistro. The unique spa treatments here are the Roman-Irish bath, a two-hour succession of hot and cold soaks, vapor treatments, and a soap-brush massage; and the Valaisan sauna village, a course of steam rooms and saunas. Massage, herbal wraps, scrubs, and medical consultations are also on the menu. Children under eight are welcome with an adult at the pools for free, but they are not permitted in the sauna village or Roman-Irish baths.

At the end of the 4th century, the first bishop of the Valais built a sanctuary over Maurice's tomb, and in 515 the Abbaye de Saint-Maurice was founded. Its treasury contains a stellar collection of religious offerings, with precious Romanesque and Gothic objects given in honor of the martyrs. Contemplate both sides of the stunning bronze doors with inscriptions honoring martyrs from around the world. Excavations near the baroque église abbatiale (abbey church) have revealed the foundations of the original building. Audio guides that take you through the history of the abbey are available in English and other languages.

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; an expanded Barryland Theme Park is scheduled to open in late 2024. Cuddly toy St. Bernards and other dog-themed gifts are sold in the shop. For centuries, the famous St. Bernard dogs helped the monks find travelers lost in the snow. 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. There are a handful of dining options on either side of the pass.

In summer, you can drive down a narrow forest road to Grimentz. With a population of fewer than 500 people, this ancient 13th-century village has preserved its weathered-wood houses and mazots in its tiny center. It is particularly known for its vin du glacier, or glacier wine, which is traditionally drunk directly from the barrel rather than bottled.

To get a sense of life in this high-altitude region and the risks involved in climbing, visit the Matterhorn Museum – Zermatlantis, a sunken village of chalets, mazots, and dwellings depicted as an archaeological site that visitors walk through, experiencing different periods of time along the way. The personal accounts of local docents liven up the displays of antiquated equipment, clothing, and historical documents about those who lived and climbed here. There is a farmer's cottage, hotel, and church interior, plus stuffed and mounted animals.

Up Rue de Lausanne, the Old Town is a blend of attractive 16th-century houses, modern shops, and a host of sights worth seeing.

Head up a switchback road to the tiny village of St-Luc for a taste of rural life and celestial viewing at the observatory, an easy funicular ride up the mountain.

This family-friendly thermal bath has a complex of pools, grottos, lazy rivers, and saunas set in a green meadow, with views of the Alps. It's an ideal spot for the après-ski set or for those who just need a day of wellness.

Zinal, farther into the valley away from Sierre, is an isolated mountaineering center with well-preserved wood houses and mazots.

Find out more about the Matterhorn, including plant and animal life, at this small but interesting multimedia exhibit in the former mountain railway station atop the Gornergrat summit. While 3D projections show the changing seasons on the mountain, the highlight is the paragliding simulator, which uses VR glasses to give you the experience of soaring high above the mountains.