How we did it

We stayed in the town of Unterbäch, which is a 2 hour 10 minute drive from Geneva airport. Alternatively you can get there via Switzerland’s comprehensive public transport network. The journey takes around 3 hours 20 minutes and involves taking the train from the airport to Raron, changing along the way at Visp then taking the gondola up to Unterbäch.

ACCOMMODATION Perched high up the banks of the Rhône in Unterbäch is the Sporthotel Walliserhof, a three-star hotel that is a homely mix of lodge and ski chalet. Walliserhof boasts a fully equipped secure bike garage with tools and spares, as well as a fleet of quality hire bikes. In the summer the hotel also offers guided rides and hikes into the surrounding mountains, and for post-activity recovery there’s a sauna on site for guests and a particularly wonderful kitchen cooking hearty, seasonal fare. See sporthotel-walliserhof.ch for more details.

DESTINATION The Rhône River begins at the Rhône Glacier in the Urner Alps, at the far eastern side of the canton of Valais, and flows via Lake Geneva into southeastern France. Its banks are scattered with attractions, but three of its most famous are found along this route. The Pyramides d’euseigne in the Val d’hérens valley are a collection of mighty stone towers topped with almost impossibly balanced rock boulders, which are rather wonderfully referred to by geologists as ‘hoodoos’.

Val d’hérens also boasts some of Switzerland’s oldest villages, clusters of chalets built in the typical style from sun-scorched vieux bois wood and raised on stilts to house livestock beneath (and ingeniously, warm the chalets in winter). It’s also home to the Grande Dixence Dam, the world’s tallest gravity dam whose zenith, and the lake it creates, the Lac des Dix, can be reached via cable car from below.

See visitvalais.ch/cycling for more information.