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Though it will no doubt be the mountains, either individually or as a group, that are the main attraction, many of their valleys are no less appealing. The majority are entered from the Rhône through a gorge that opens to bands of forest and sloping pasture or hay meadow. Alp hamlets, with their ancient barns, chalets and granaries (mazots) with stone slab roofs and almost black timbers perched on staddle stones, stand among the meadows, advertising an architectural heritage unique to Canton Valais. Closely grouped villages huddle above a river or spread in a line facing the sun, with the ubiquitous white-painted chapel standing to one side. Then come the resorts; not only Zermatt, Saas Fee and Verbier with their international reputations to protect and promote, but others that are much smaller and less overtly commercial, such as Arolla, Les Haudères and Zinal, to take just three examples.

Access to virtually every valley is straightforward and reliable, and there’s plentiful accommodation of all standards in the resorts, while remote mountain inns and huts are numerous, making the Pennine Alps one of Switzerland’s busiest and most dramatically attractive regions.