It's time for the second instalment of of what's in store for us during the Swiss Alps Tour in September. So without further ado, may I present Day 2 
Swiss Alps Tour: Day 2 - Verbier to Zermatt
Distance: 244km/153miles
Approx. Riding Time: 5 Hours
Maximum Altitude: 2,365m
Countries: Switzerland (Canton of Valais)
Route: Verbier, Martigny, Saxon, Ardon
, Sion, Grand Dixence Dam, Crans-Montana, Sierre, Leukerbad, Tasch, Zermatt.
Overview: A much easier day than Day 1 with around 5 hours in the saddle. It will be completely different experience with plenty of interesting places to visit and many superb photo opportunities. Don't forget your camera
Route Summary: The day starts from Verbier at 1530m in the French speaking part of Valais and winds down to the valley where the road becomes wider and faster for the gentle descent to Martigny. The Rhone valley is very flat through Valais but with soaring mountains either side of you to make up for the relatively boring road. To make the riding more interesting we peel off through Ardon (I can only imagine the photo opportunities), pass through Sion and head up the Val d’Herens. This is a small road that gets tighter and twistier but is simply superb fun. It ends at our first sightseeing stop - The Grand Dixence Dam - the worlds largest gravity fed dam.
The statistics alone are mind-boggling. 285m high and an altitude of 2365m. 200m this at its base, 700m long and weighs 15 million tons. Visitors can go inside the dam but last year we took the cable car to the top and walked across the top of the dam.
You can read more about the Grand Dixence Dam here.
Then we head back down the Val d'Herens, through Sion again and start climbing along some nice twisty roads with a great view down to the Rhone Valley until we ride through the Ski resort of Crans-Montana before dropping back down to the valley floor again through Sierre. Remember, east of Sierre they speak Swiss-German. It is totally incomprehensible
A short bit of flat road before we start climbing again before arriving at the picturesque spa resort of Leukerbad.
Every day 3.9 million litres of hot water flow from 65 natural springs in this area. There's are a number of public and private thermal baths and the water is between 28 and 43C which might be just the ticket after Day 1's riding
You can read more about Leukerbad here.
Back down to the Rhone valley for another stretch of flat road before we head south along the beautiful Mattertal (valley) towards Tasch. Here we will park our bikes, remove our luggage and take a the short train trip to Zermatt, because the only vehicles allowed in Zermatt are strange electric milk-float type cars and horse drawn carts.
There are a few VERY expensive hotels in Zermatt, this being one of them, but there's lots of other accommodation too and I'll be searching for options next week. It's a perfect place to stay though with beautiful buildings and real character and plenty of places to eat and drink
Don't forget of course that Zermatt is very close to the 4,478m high Matterhorn which, providing it is clear, we'll be able to take photos of.
You can read more about Zermatt here.
You can look at the route in more detail here.
So there you have it - Day 2. Good roads, sightseeing, spas and even a train journey. I hope you approve
Swiss Alps Tour: Day 2 - Verbier to Zermatt
Distance: 244km/153miles
Approx. Riding Time: 5 Hours
Maximum Altitude: 2,365m
Countries: Switzerland (Canton of Valais)
Route: Verbier, Martigny, Saxon, Ardon
, Sion, Grand Dixence Dam, Crans-Montana, Sierre, Leukerbad, Tasch, Zermatt.Overview: A much easier day than Day 1 with around 5 hours in the saddle. It will be completely different experience with plenty of interesting places to visit and many superb photo opportunities. Don't forget your camera
Route Summary: The day starts from Verbier at 1530m in the French speaking part of Valais and winds down to the valley where the road becomes wider and faster for the gentle descent to Martigny. The Rhone valley is very flat through Valais but with soaring mountains either side of you to make up for the relatively boring road. To make the riding more interesting we peel off through Ardon (I can only imagine the photo opportunities), pass through Sion and head up the Val d’Herens. This is a small road that gets tighter and twistier but is simply superb fun. It ends at our first sightseeing stop - The Grand Dixence Dam - the worlds largest gravity fed dam.
The statistics alone are mind-boggling. 285m high and an altitude of 2365m. 200m this at its base, 700m long and weighs 15 million tons. Visitors can go inside the dam but last year we took the cable car to the top and walked across the top of the dam.
You can read more about the Grand Dixence Dam here.
Then we head back down the Val d'Herens, through Sion again and start climbing along some nice twisty roads with a great view down to the Rhone Valley until we ride through the Ski resort of Crans-Montana before dropping back down to the valley floor again through Sierre. Remember, east of Sierre they speak Swiss-German. It is totally incomprehensible
A short bit of flat road before we start climbing again before arriving at the picturesque spa resort of Leukerbad.
Every day 3.9 million litres of hot water flow from 65 natural springs in this area. There's are a number of public and private thermal baths and the water is between 28 and 43C which might be just the ticket after Day 1's riding
You can read more about Leukerbad here.
Back down to the Rhone valley for another stretch of flat road before we head south along the beautiful Mattertal (valley) towards Tasch. Here we will park our bikes, remove our luggage and take a the short train trip to Zermatt, because the only vehicles allowed in Zermatt are strange electric milk-float type cars and horse drawn carts.
There are a few VERY expensive hotels in Zermatt, this being one of them, but there's lots of other accommodation too and I'll be searching for options next week. It's a perfect place to stay though with beautiful buildings and real character and plenty of places to eat and drink
Don't forget of course that Zermatt is very close to the 4,478m high Matterhorn which, providing it is clear, we'll be able to take photos of.You can read more about Zermatt here.
You can look at the route in more detail here.
So there you have it - Day 2. Good roads, sightseeing, spas and even a train journey. I hope you approve
LOOKIN GOOOOD 
