Valais

Geography

The canton of Valais is located in the south of Switzerland. To its south lies Italy, to the southwest France. To the north the canton is bounded by the Swiss cantons of Vaud and Bern; the cantons of Uri and Ticino lie to its east.

Related Topics:
Italy - France - Vaud - Bern - Uri - Ticino

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The wide, glacial Rhône valley dominates the area. There are many side valleys which branch off the main valley. These vary from narrow and remote to reasonably populous and popular. At the head of the Mattertal valley lies Zermatt, a pretty tourist village dominated by views of the Matterhorn (4,477 m). Fifty of the mountains exceed 4,000m and there are numerous glaciers.

Related Topics:
Rhône - Mattertal - Zermatt - Matterhorn

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Rhone drains the main valley from east to west up to Martigny, then in a right angle north to its mouth in the Lake Geneva. After the small town of Saint-Maurice, the northern banks of the river belong to the canton of Vaud. The main valley is bound by the Bernese Alps in the north and the Pennine Alps in the south. Only about half of the total area is considered productive.

Related Topics:
Martigny - Lake Geneva - Saint-Maurice - Vaud - Bernese Alps - Pennine Alps

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Valleys

• North of the Rhone River
• Fieschertal
• Lötschental
• Dalatal (Leukerbad)
• South of the Rhone River:
• Binntal
• Saastal
• Mattertal
• Val d'Anniviers
• Val d'Hérens
• Val de Nendaz
• Val de Bagnes
• Val d'Entremont
• Val d'Illiez