Val d'Hérens

South of Sion lies the Val d'Hérens, a long valley famous for its very aggressive cows, its ‘demoiselles coiffées’ (‘coiffed damsels’), and its picturesque traditional villages.

Cows of the Hérens breed, often black as night, have a natural aggressiveness that drives them to fight each other, a characteristic that has prompted the people of Valais to organise bloodless fights in which the strongest are crowned queens.

The ‘coiffed damsels’ are strange geological formations, pyramids crowned with rocks that have remained in precarious balance since the receding of the glaciers. The most spectacular are the Pyramids of Euseigne, which attract many visitors every year.

The most famous place is Evolène, considered one of the most beautiful villages in Switzerland, but there are many other places to discover, such as Hérémence and its unusual Brutalist-style church.

Hérémence is where the valley of the same name begins, a side valley that climbs up to Val des Dix, where you can visit Grande-Dixence, the highest dam in the world.

At the very end of Val d'Hérens, the valley splits in two at Les Haudères, from where you can explore the Ferpècle valley and the Val d'Arolla, at the foot of the glaciers and of summits over 4,000m high.