Getting Oriented

Valais is an L-shaped valley with Martigny at its angle. Its long (eastern) leg, a wide, fertile riverbed flanked by bluffs, is the most characteristic and imposing. It's fed from the north and south by remote, narrow valleys that snake into the mountains and peter out in Alpine wilderness or lead to the region's most famous landmarks—including that Swiss superstar, the Matterhorn. Not all of Valais covers Alpine terrain, however. The western stretch—between Martigny and Sierre—comprises one of the two chief sources of wine in Switzerland (the other is in Vaud, along Lac Léman). Valaisan wines come from vineyards that stripe the hillsides flanking the Rhône.