Following the Rhone and walking in the Alps

After spending a week by the side of the Rhone in Avignon we drove up beside it to Lyon where we dropped the car off and stayed for a night before catching a train to Geneva. There we changed to another train which went alongside lake Geneva (beautiful) to Visp at the bottom of the Alps and then caught a tiny cog driven train up up up to Zermatt. We spent the next two days walking amidst the stunning alpine meadows with their amazing wildflowers including one 8 hour walk up (for three hours!) to the holbalmen which is a high meadow opposite the Matterhorn with the most spectacular panoramic views of the Swiss alps. It just about finished us off but was well and truly worth it!


us and the matterhorn!

Next day we caught the Glacier Express across Switzerland to St Moritz. A great train trip which follows the Rhone until it disappears into the Rhone Glacier and then follows the Rhine from its beginnings. Down from 1600m Zermat to Brig (300m) and then up to the 2200m Oberalp Pass and down to Chur (200m) and then up again to St Moritz at 1700m. The last bit from Chur was the most amazing because it is done without rack and pinion just using these amazing spiral tunnels which go like a rollercoaster through the mountains and over gorges.

St Moritz has a beautiful lake which we walked around twice before catching the Yellow Post Bus up and then down down down the most spectacular hairpin road into Italy and down to Lake Como and hopped off at Menaggio.