Unesco World Heritage: Aletsch Glacier near Brig

Unesco World Heritage: Aletsch Glacier near Brig

At the foot of the largest Alpine glacier

This historic town with 5,000 inhabitants is situated on the southern shores of the Rhone between the Bernese and the Valais Alps. A few kilometers to the north lies the UNESCO world heritage site of the Aletsch area with the largest glacier of the Alps. Various cable cars lead to the glacier area. The best cable car ride to Belalp, a car free village, is from Brig. Because of its location at the foot of the Simplon Pass, an important connection to Italy, the site was already settled in 7 B.C.(!) Brig has a picturesque historic old quarter with the Stockalper Palace.

Attractions Brig


High alpine pass between glaciers and Mediterranean ravines

With an elevation of 2,005 meters, this pass connects the Rhône Valley in the Swiss canton of Wallis with the Val d'Ossola in the Italian province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola. People have been using the pass since prehistoric times. It was even later used by Roman emperors. The influential merchant Kaspar von Stockalper built the first road here in the 17th century, which is now a hiking trail. The modern road through the pass follows Napoleon Bonaparte's route. At the top of the pass there is a hospice. Coming down the southern side, you will find the Mediterranean-looking town of Simplon and the the romantically wild Gondo Gorge with the majestic, glacier-covered Fletschhorn towering above it. 

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