Switzerland Walking. Designed by Marya Valli

Transcription

1 Switzerland Walking Duration: 6 Days / 5 Nights Start: Vevey Finish: Sion Price From: $7,995 pp (based on 4 people, double occupancy) Request your date for exact pricing. Designed by Marya Valli Veteran Trip Designer Marya Valli lived in France and Italy before choosing Corsica as her forever home. Beautiful scenery is a balm to her soul, fresh air and mountains make her cheeks glow with joy, and she thinks that tasting local dishes and drinks are one of the best ways to fall in love with a place. So Switzerland is a sweet, sweet spot in every way! This is one of our Private Ready-to-Book trips. Think of B&R s Ready-to-Book collection of carefully crafted itineraries as prêt-à-porter from your favourite designer. These trips showcase the essential highlights of each destination, and because they are set to go, booking your private trip couldn t be easier. Please note that your final itinerary may vary slightly from this one as we continuously research and develop each trip. Inclement weather though we d like to think there won t be any may also necessitate minor alterations. All pricing in U.S. dollars Butterfield & Robinson Inc

2 Your Journey From Lake Geneva to the high Alpine ridges: our journey takes you from the chic lakeside to its nearby terraced vineyards, then follows the Rhone River up to gorgeous flowering meadows, tasting the best of Swiss food and drink along the way. Day 1 Vevey, Lac Leman and Lavaux Welcome to Switzerland! This morning, meet your guide and check into your home for the next two nights on the shores of Lake Geneva (also known as Lac Leman in the French-speaking cantons of Switzerland!) After reviewing the adventures to come, you ll head out together for an afternoon of hiking above the lake. From neighbouring Montreux, the historic Rocher de Naye cog-wheel train will bring you up to an altitude of 2,042 meters (6,700 ft) above the cliffs and forests, offering a breathtaking view of the lake and the Alps. After a refreshing hike, you ve earned a drink on the onehour train ride down! Tonight, enjoy dinner at the Grand Hotel du Lac s La Véranda terrace restaurant, casual dining looking across the lake to the majestic Swiss and French Alps. Meals: Dinner Activity: Hike (as gentle and short or long & challenging as you wish, using trains and funiculars) Day 2 This morning, a short drive brings you to the dramatic Château de Chillon for a morning visit ahead of the crowds. Situated on a rocky islet on Lake Geneva, this strategic site has been occupied since the Bronze Age and the 13 th C castle was built by the Dukes of Savoy, the trans-alpine rulers who went on to be Italy s first kings to control the passage along Lake Geneva. The fortress has been used in turn as an arsenal, a prison, and a seasonal ducal residence. Another short drive brings you up to the tiny village of Epesses, perched above the lake, for lunch at a small traditional restaurant called the Auberge

3 du Vigneron. Their specialties include lake perch filet, local produce, and wine from the surrounding UNESCO-protected Lavaux vineyards. This afternoon, you ll hike among the Lavaux s famous terraced vineyards, nearly 1000 hectares of vines cascading down to Lac Leman in Switzerland s densest concentration of winemakers. The dry-stone walls are a testament to the centuries of work to create these sun-kissed gems at least since the 11 th C, when Benedictine and Cistercian monasteries controlled the area and laboured for the love of God to shape the earth. It is an outstanding example of a centuries-long interaction between people and their environment, making the best of their local resources. Nearly a thousand years on, these winemakers still produce a highly valued wine, very important to the local economy and so beloved by the Swiss that less than 2% of Swiss wine is exported! Where better to finish your hike than with a tasting at a local caveau? After a short lift back to Vevey, you can relax in the poolside garden overlooking the lake, perhaps treat yourself to a massage at the Bellefontaine Spa, or explore the winding streets of the village of Vevey. Tonight, have fun finding dinner on your own in the old town of Vevey your guide will happily recommend some favourites! Meals: Breakfast, Lunch Activity: A 9 km (5.6 mi.) hike with about 300 m (980 ft) elevation gain (which can easily be shortened or lengthened). HOTEL Grand Hôtel du Lac, Vevey Built in 1868, this lovely and intimate hotel is a stone s throw from Lake Leman on the edge of Vevey. Its classic, refined design and exquisite service make you feel at home, while the views across the lake to the Alps are spectacularly restful. Your accommodation: deluxe room with lake and Alps view. Haute Val de Bagnes Day 3 After a generous Swiss breakfast, you ll depart the palm tree-lined lakeshore for the Val de Bagnes. Our morning transfer follows ancient trading routes up the Swiss Rhône valley to Martigny, the intersection of routes joining Italy, France and Switzerland and once the strategic northern stronghold of the Roman Empire, Octodurus. Many exceptional Roman ruins remain, including an amphitheater only rediscovered in the 1980s. From Martigny the route rises through the Val d Entremont and to the Haute Val de Bagnes, one of Switzerland s largest nature reserves and almost unknown to the outside

4 world. The valley is dominated by giant snow-capped mountains and glaciers, and dotted with black Hérens cattle and tiny alpine villages. We ll stop for lunch at a traditional Swiss mountain refuge, the Cabane Brunet, then hike to the foot of the Corbassière Glacier at the foot of the imposing Grand Combin peak (4314 m/14,153 ft). As you hike, each step brings you into a new landscape, as the wildflowers and wild rhododendron near the refuge give way to the moonlike landscape of carved stone and sediment where once the glacier stood. The receding glacier has left an impassible gorge at its tongue, which we can now traverse on a modern suspension bridge. You can choose to hike straight back or to hike over the Col de Avouillons pass: all paths lead back to the Cabane Brunet, whence we ll transfer across the valley to Verbier. Tonight you will eat like the locals at Le Caveau, with melted cheese in many forms. After all, the Val de Bagnes is known as the Capital of Raclette! Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Activity: A 9 km (5.6 mi.) out & back hike with 750 m (2460 ft) of vertical gain or a 10 km (6.2 mi.) loop hike with 850 m (2790 ft) of elevation gain. Other panoramic hikes with less elevation gain are also possible, but they do not include the suspension bridge. HOTEL La Cordée des Alpes, Verbier A Small Luxury Hotel of the World, La Cordée des Alpes celebrates the Alps with its rustic-chic interiors and welcoming spa with a fireplace beside the Jacuzzi! Their 32 rooms and suites are a haven of comfort. Your accommodation: Superior double room, south-facing with balcony

5 The Pierre Avoi and the Val d Anniviers Day 4 After a short morning drive above Verbier, you ll set off for your hike to the iconic Pierre Avoi, a 2473 m/8113 ft-high pinnacle that looms above Verbier and the Rhône Valley. The hike begins along the Bisse de Levron, an ancient hand-dug waterway bringing water from the melting glaciers at the head of the valley to neighbouring farms. As your steps carry you above the tree line, the trail opens up into meadows of wildflowers, dotted with grazing cows and their harmonious bells. The final climb to the summit involves negotiating secure ladders and ropes, and from atop the Pierre Avoi the views are some of the region s very best: the Mont Blanc massif, the entire Rhône Valley and its vineyards far below, and the distant towering peaks of the OberWallis. After that achievement, you ll be sure to savour lunch at the Marlenaz mountain restaurant, one of the Alp s most beautiful terraces, serving refined mountain fare. Late this afternoon, you ll transfer to the authentic village of St. Luc with its well-preserved historic centre, its traditional blackened barns, and its Belle Époque Grand Dame the Hotel Bella Tola. After checking in and relaxing a bit, enjoy a dinner of local Valais specialties at Chez Ida. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Activity: An 8.5 km (5.3 mi) hike with 615 m (2018 ft) of elevation gain, which can be shortened using the Savoleyres cable car or lengthened by hiking from town. Day 5 This morning, you ll head to an alpine dairy for a cheese-making demonstration and tasting. During peak summer season, the cheese is produced high in the mountains, in copper cauldrons over a wood fire. Your panoramic trail then sets out towards the head of the valley, with a stop en route for lunch at the Hotel Weisshorn. This historic mountain hotel was built in 1882 to welcome the English mountaineers, its materials hauled from Vissoie on muleback. In proper English style, the hotel

6 included a formal smoking room and a grand piano! After lunch, as you make your way south, more and more sheer ridgelines and hanging glaciers of 4,000-m peaks come into view: the Dent Blanche (4357m/14,295 ft), the Obergabelhord (4063m/13330 ft), and the Zinalrothorn (4221m/13,843 ft) to name a few. The final leg of your hike descends towards Zinal, where travellers have been coming to view the Alps and their glaciers for more than 150 years no less impressive today! Returning to St. Luc, you might opt to relax in the Bella Tola s pool and wellness area before dinner on the terrace as the late summer sun sets over Vercorin. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Activity: 15 km (9.3 mi.) hike with 515 m (1690 ft) of elevation gain and 915 m (3002 ft) of descent. Shorter, still-scenic routes are possible, with lunch at the Hotel Weisshorn and if necessary the hotel shuttle can be booked for hikers not wishing to descend the 700 m (2300 ft) back to St. Luc HOTEL Hotel Bella Tola, St. Luc This historic Swiss property is utterly charming, carrying you back to the dawn of Alpine tourism, when wellheeled British adventurers first ventured to these peaks. Beautiful original details blend with contemporary comforts, including a beautiful spa. Your accommodation: A superior south-facing room Day 6 Medieval Sion and au revoir! This morning, you re in for a treat a visit to the Valais capital city of Sion. If you can time this for a Friday, the regional market will be in full swing, packed with vendors selling local produce, cheeses, wine and crafts. Everyone from Sion comes together to enjoy an early apéro a snack and a glass of white wine to kick off the weekend. Market or no, you re off for a great exploration of the medieval city, fortified castle and 12 th C church on a guided walking tour. Then it s time to say au revoir! Your guide will gladly help you with your onward itinerary, experiences and accommodations for elsewhere in Switzerland, or organize a transfer to your departure airport. The Sion train station offers good connections to Geneva and Zurich airports as well. Bon voyage! Meals: Breakfast Activity: A two-hour village walk (2 to 3 km, less than 2 mi), with 150 m/492 ft of climbing to the Tourbillon.

7 The Details Pricing From: 2 travellers - US$10,495 per person (based on double occupancy) 4 travellers - US$7,995 per person (based on double occupancy) 6 travellers - US$7,495 per person (based on double occupancy) 8 travellers - US$7,095 per person (based on double occupancy) Start: Vevey, train station or Grand Hôtel du Lac Finish: Sion, train station Best time to visit: June to September LEVEL OF ACTIVITY Enthusiast Daily hiking distances vary from 7 to 15 km (4.3 to 9.3 miles), with significant elevation gains on some days and excellent trail footing. Shorter options are always possible. WHAT S INCLUDED * All hotel accommodation with breakfast * 4 lunches and 3 dinners with local wines * Services of local hiking guide * Detailed maps, water bottle and waist pack * Use of two lightweight, telescoping walking sticks * All special events and private tours * All transportation from rendezvous to drop-off * All baggage transportation * 24/7 local concierge services for restaurant reservations, spa bookings, etc. * Air Glaciers emergency helicopter rescue insurance for transfer to Swiss hospitals WHAT S NOT INCLUDED * International trans-pacific flights * Cancellation insurance * Items of a personal nature * 2 lunches (arrival and departure days) * 2 dinners * Gratuities for baggage, porters, hotel service * Gratuity for local guide(s) Please note that your final itinerary may vary slightly from this one as we continuously research and develop each trip. Inclement weather though we d like to think there won t be any may also necessitate minor alterations. All pricing in U.S. dollars Butterfield & Robinson Inc.

8 About our Private Trip Collection The ready-to-book trips in our Private Trip Collection offer all the hallmarks B&R s known for great hotels, unparalleled immersion and unforgettable experiences with the flexibility of going on your own schedule and with your own travel companions. Think of these trips as prêt-à-porter from your favourite designer: simply pick your dates, back your bags, and go. How it Works 1. Get Inspired. Go to to browse our Private Trip Collection and find a flavour of adventure that suits your palate. 2. Get in Touch. Found a trip that s caught your eye? Call our Private Travel Advisors at Just give them a few details about your group and your preferred dates, and they ll spring into action. 3. Have it Tailored. Our ready-to-book Private Trips are designed to be enjoyed off-the-rack, but there is room for minor adjustments to fit the trip to your needs. Looking for something totally customized? One of our expert Private Trip Designers will take on your request and tailormake a Bespoke trip for you from scratch. 4. Pack your Prada. Once the date and the price is finalized, we ll take care of the rest, confirming hotels, finalizing events and mobilizing our expertly trained local partners. All you have to do is prepare to be transported 5. Bon Voyage! Next Steps READY TO BOOK? Contact us at or bespoke@butterfield.com with any remaining questions, or consult your travel professional. Note that a $500 deposit is required in order to reserve dates. After you ve booked, you will receive a confirmation package containing detailed information to help you prepare for your trip.