6 Best Sights in Valais, Switzerland

In summer, you can drive down a narrow forest road to Grimentz. With a population of 490, this ancient 13th-century village has preserved its weathered-wood houses and mazots in its tiny center. It is particularly known for its vin du glacier, or glacier wine, which is traditionally drunk directly from the barrel rather than bottled.

High up in the bluffs and valleys to the south of Sion are scores of isolated eagle's-nest towns, including Isérables. Set on a precarious slope that drops 3,280 feet into the lowlands, the town has narrow streets that weave between crooked old stone-shingle mazots. Since the arrival of the cable car, Isérables has prospered and modernized itself. Yet the inhabitants of this village still carry the curious nickname Bedjuis. Some say it's derived from "Bedouins" and that the people are descended from the Saracen hordes who, after the battle of Poitiers in 732 AD, overran some of the high Alpine valleys. Excursions to the sights and villages of this haute vallée (high valley) can be accomplished in a day, with a little time to hike and explore before returning to Sion.

Up Rue de Lausanne, the Old Town is a blend of attractive 16th-century houses, modern shops, and a host of sights worth seeing.

Head up a switchback road to the tiny village of St-Luc for a taste of rural life and celestial viewing at the observatory, an easy funicular ride up the mountain.

Known for its 11th-century church, this village is also known as the only "book town" in Switzerland. Secondhand-book-dealers' shops are clustered around the Place and Rue de l'Eglise, and some of them, like Nico's Books, also sell titles in English. A main attraction is one of Switzerland's quirkiest mom-and-pop stores, La Potagère (3 rue de l'Eglise,  027/3064344), crammed to (and including) the rafters with local oils, vinegars, organic teas, syrups, dried fruit, and delicious jams made in-house.

Zinal, farther into the valley away from Sierre, is an isolated mountaineering center with well-preserved wood houses and mazots.