Bettmeralp - the better Alp

September 21 - Yay, it's holiday time again! Before we extended (or rather welcomed) this year's summer for 10 days in Greece, we spent a few more days in the mountains, which took us to the Valais - specifically to the Bettmeralp, which is a favourite winter destination of my sister's for her skiing holidays. I've never been there myself - so I was all the more eager to find out what to expect.

I am the proud godmother of the black-nosed sheep Emma and wanted to combine our stay with a visit to my little sheep. But as the weather was still so good, Emma was still on the alp in the Leukerbad area, which didn't allow us to go. Nevertheless, I had the slight hope of meeting other black-nosed sheeps - I think they are so super cute and are definitely high up on my list of favourite animals.

We took the gondola up to the car-free village and after a short walk we checked into the Hotel La Cabane. The staff is very friendly, the room was huge, breakfast was also very rich and we were able to book a private spa for one hour free of charge in the evening to relax in the sauna after our excursion. Definitely a good hotel for a short stay like we had.

As the gondola rides were also included in the price, we took the opportunity to do the following easy walks:

Bettmerhorn - Moosfluh

Perfect, as we arrived in the afternoon and the walk is not too long. 

Grandiose panorama and best of all: we met black-nosed sheep! Yay!  My silent hope was already fulfilled on the first day. We took the gondola from Moosfluh down to Riederalp - and from there we walked back to Bettmeralp.

Bettmeralp - Eggishorn

From Bettmeralp we hiked over to Fiescheralp - Beat had spent many holiday days there as a child in Chüeboden and we made a detour to the holiday flat. Then we took the gondola up to the Eggishorn, which gave us a fantastic view of the Aletsch glacier. At that altitude, however, it quickly got a bit chilly and so we took the gondola down and walked back again. 

In the village, we also witnessed the alpine procession (Alpabzug) by coincidence - always an experience when the cows return to the village and a challenge for the farmers to make sure that the cows go through where they are supposed to :-)

We ate at the following places:

Walliserstube Good, traditional cooking - recommended

Restaurant Alpina Was also very tasty - known for hot stone dishes, we took something else but it was also very good.

Horli Hitta, Eggishorn At altitude we fortified ourselves with a fine goulash soup.

Bättmer-Hitta Very friendly staff (it's always a good sign when the chef sings with passion) and they probably have the biggest crème pie in the Valais :-)

Then it was time to move on.  As we said goodbye, the Matterhorn, which was otherwise hidden in the clouds, made an appearance. They were great days, you can switch off as soon as you arrive. I now know why the hashtag #bettmeralpthebetteralp is so popular :-).