Nendaz
Intro
Nendaz lies on a sunny terrace above the Rhone Valley near Sitten (Sion), the capital of the Valais. In winter it has everything a winter sports enthusiast could want, being at the heart of the ‘Four Valleys’ ski region with its 92 transport facilities. During the warmer seasons, it is a holiday resort popular with bikers and hikers.
Description
The terrace of Nendaz, stretching from 1300 m to 1400 m in altitude, commands a fantastic view of the Bernese, Valais and Vaud Alps. A modern holiday resort has grown up all around the centre of this delightful old Valais village with its traditional timber houses, barns and grain stores. Siviez, eight kilometres to the south in the Nendaz valley, also belongs to this community. It is sometimes also called ‘Super Nendaz’ and cableways run from here to Mont Fort, at 3330 m the highest peak of the ‘Les 4 Vallées’ (Four Valleys) ski resort.
Nendaz offers a richly varied children’s programme and has been awarded the ‘Families Welcome’ seal of quality. There are child-minding facilities for toddlers; toy hire; craft programmes; footpaths suitable for pushchairs; and playgrounds: absolutely everything for our smaller visitors.
Winter
Summer
Owing to the dry climate of the Valais, farmers built a system of irrigation channels across the region centuries ago. Nendaz has the biggest network of these ‘suonen’, some of which are still used, and 98 km of footpath now run along 8 of them. As one of the biggest raspberry and apricot growing areas in Switzerland, Nendaz has dedicated one of the local themed trails to fruit growing. There is also a hike to some of the biggest larch trees in Europe on the Balavaux Alp (Isérables) or, if you have a taste for the exotic, take a stroll through the Japanese Garden.