Grimentz, Val d'Anniviers and Outdoor Activities
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Grimentz is in the French-speaking Val d'Anniviers in the Swiss Canton of Valais and has been described as one of Europe's undiscovered gems. The small traditional village is centred around the lovingly maintained 15th century dark timbered buildings. As well as excellent food and sports equipment shops, the village offers a range of restaurants and cafes providing warm hospitality and regional dishes.
Grimentz is surrounded by some of the highest mountains in Europe. Snow-covered in winter and bedecked in alpine flora in spring, summer and autumn, these provide stunning and ever changing views from the apartment, and the valley and mountain paths.
Summer - In the summer, the ancient village is transformed with red geraniums cascading from window boxes and wild flowers colouring the meadow grass. There is a weekly programme of events for visitors to Grimentz and a series of weekend festivals. The network of walking and cycling routes from the village are well marked and locally available maps and guides complement these. Tennis courts and crazy golf are within 300m of the apartment and there are swimming pools in Zinal and Vissoie. The main cable cars in the Val d'Anniviers villages operate all summer. These provide easy access to the alpine meadows, peaks and paths. For the more adventurous, Val d'Anniviers offers high level ice field and glacier mountaineering, rock climbing, a Via Ferrata, paragliding and a 190m bungee jump! The local buses and many other facilities are free to summer visitors, and cable cars are half price, via a Liberte pass ( subject to Tourist Office provision, 3 passes will be available for this apartment). Click here The easily accessible Regional centres of Sierre and Sion offer great diversity with exhibitions, historic buildings, concerts, Michelin starred restaurants and vineyard walks. Winter - The Grimentz ski area is at an altitude of 1600m to 2900m, with the majority of the pistes being above 2100m. With two ski/snowboarding schools, it provides an ideal base for learning to ski or snowboard as well as offering challenging on and off-piste areas for intermediate and advanced enthusiasts. As well as the gondola lift to the Grimentz ski area, there is the Grimentz - Zinal cable car, which opened in 2014, that provides direct access to the Zinal ski area Ski-in, ski-out!, both of these the cable car base stations and the piste are just opposite our apartment. Also, the new Zinal - Sorebois gondola provides direct links for skiers and non-skiers between Grimentz and Zinal. 'Where to Ski and SnowBoard' ranks Grimentz in the 'Top 15 for Powder - Worldwide' and piste lovers can enjoy the lack of lift queues and uncrowded well maintained pistes. Ski passes are good value: a 6 day adult pass is CHF 299 (2022/23 price) and there are numerous discounts for low season, on line booking, families etc. Grimentz-Zinal is a Magic Pass Resort An excellent snow record supplemented by snow making facilities ensures great snow conditions en-piste throughout the long season and Grimentz's reputation for off-piste skiing makes it a Ski Club Great Britain Off-Piste destination. Your lift pass gives access to the 220km of Val d'Anniviers ski area pistes at Grimentz, Zinal, St Luc and Chandolin all of which are linked by the free shuttle buses plus free use of the nearby Vercorin ski area. Other winter activities include skating and swimming plus toboggan runs into the village and extensive snow walking trails around Grimentz. Heli-skiing and paragliding can be arranged locally and there are cross country ski tracks in both Grimentz and Zinal ,. For a more leisurely time, non-skiers can enjoy coffee and the view from the restaurants and cafes at the top of the main lifts of Val d'Anniviers. |