The terrace of Nendaz, stretching from 1300 m to 1400 m in altitude, commands a fantastic view of the Bernese, Valais and Vaud Alps. A modern holiday resort has grown up all around the centre of this delightful old Valais village with its traditional timber houses, barns and grain stores.
Around Nendaz there are approximately 250 kilometres of hiking trails, a network of paths running from the orchards in the valley up to the high alps.
Owing to the dry climate of the Valais, farmers built a system of irrigation channels across the region centuries ago. Nendaz has the biggest network of these ‘bisses’, some of which are still used, and 98 km of footpath now run along 8 of them. These footpaths offer a superb place to run with very little incline, providing a great alternative to the more direct route up the mountains.
Aside from being a fantastic place to run, Nendaz is one of the biggest raspberry and apricot growing areas in Switzerland, and has dedicated one of the local themed trails to fruit growing. There is also a hike to some of the biggest larch trees in Europe on the Balavaux Alp (Isérables) or, if you have a taste for the exotic, take a stroll through the Japanese Garden. A particular highlight is the excursion by cableway or mountain bike to the glacier terrain on Mont Fort, with its expansive view of 20 four-thousand-metre peaks, including the Matterhorn and Mont Blanc.
