FROM ON HIGH
Cut-glass peaks and fresh mountain air in the Swiss and French Alps
Stretching across roughly 1,207 km, Europe’s highest mountain range, the Alps, arcs across eight countries.
France may be home to the tallest peak (Mont Blanc), but it’s Switzerland’s Alps that are the high point for most travellers. With majestic snow-capped summits, waterfall-laced cliffs and picturesque lakes, they have hiker-friendly amenities — well-marked trails, mountain huts, and a system of lifts and trains that let you effortlessly ascend to dramatic mountaintops.
My favourite region in the Swiss Alps is the Berner Oberland, crowned by a trio of formidable peaks: the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau. A good, easy hike is along the ridge between Männlichen and Kleine Scheidegg, which separates the Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen valleys. I recommend taking the narrow-gauge train from the valley base of Lauterbrunnen up to the town of Wengen, then a gondola to Männlichen. From there, the trail winds gently downhill past staggering mountain views, contented cows, picnic spot and restaurant.
You’ll get a loftier view of those same mountains from the 3,000-metre Schilthorn summit, across the valley from Wengen. The Schilthornbahn cable car takes riders up effortlessly in four stages. At about C$136 round-trip, it’s a pricey trip, but when you’re surrounded by cut-glass peaks in fresh mountain air, it’s one of Europe’s great deals.
The Swiss love to cap their peaks with restaurants, and one of the most popular is the Schilthorn’s revolving Piz Gloria, the setting of key scenes in the James Bond movie, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Today, there’s a fun 007 exhibit … and even Bond-themed toilets.
While gravelly trails lead down from the Schilthorn, casual hikers prefer taking the cable car down to Birg station. The station is also entertaining, offering the Skyline Walk, a viewing platform with a transparent floor that juts out over the cliff edge, and the Thrill Walk, a fun, 183-metre course with a steel-and-glass-bottom floor, rope bridge, and tunnel. From Birg, you can walk down to the rustic hamlet of Gimmelwald (a great place to enjoy a post-hike beer — or better, spend the night).
The French Alps are no less dramatic than Switzerland’s — and come at less of a premium to travellers (as Switzerland is Europe’s most expensive country). My pick of the region is the range that hovers just above the resort town of Chamonix — near the junction of France, Switzerland, and Italy.
In Chamonix, if the weather’s right, there’s nothing better than riding the cable car to the Aiguille du Midi, the 3,840-metre rock “needle of midday” high above town and across from Mont Blanc. Up here, the air is thin, visitors are giddy, and even when the sun’s out, it’s still bitterly cold in July.
From here, a cute red gondola — Europe’s highest lift — glides slowly along a 4.8-kilometre cable, dangling silently over the Mer de Glace (Sea of Ice) to Helbronner Point, at the border of Italy.
Above Chamonix Valley, the Grand Balcon Sud hike is lovely. This three-hour walk comes with unforgettable views of Mont Blanc, glaciers — and a fraction of the Aiguille du Midi crowds.