9 summer things to do in Saas-Fee, Switzerland

Saas-Fee, Switzerland, is the bucket-list destination you’ve never heard of.

They have a saying up here: “Come up to slow down.” And it’s true; everything negative seems to fade away as you step into Saas-Fee — a car-free village at 1,800 metres elevation. It’s a sort of travel sorcery.

Tucked away in the Valais canton, known for its wine, year-round snow and 300 days of sunshine, Saas-Fee, Switzerland, is the kind of place you have to intentionally seek out. Zermatt’s less-flashy cousin could easily be overlooked, but shouldn’t.

Most people who take Switzerland’s famed Glacier Express panoramic train — known as the “slowest fast train the world,” it’s an epic eight-hour journey that goes through 91 tunnels and across 291 bridges — from swanky St. Moritz end up in Zermatt. But fall just one stop short of its final destination, and a quick detour from Brig brings you to scenic Saas-Fee.

Unlike Zermatt, which draws more than two million visitors each year, Saas-Fee offers a more intimate Swiss experience with even more big-mountain postcard views — complete with summer skiing — and fewer crowds plus a more laid-back vibe, with nature and wellness at the forefront.

FUN FACT: the Canadian ski team calls Saas-Fee home in the summertime because they can train here in our off-season.

And with a fraction of international visitors, and less than 1,600 full-time residents, Saas-Fee is inherently less touristy, too, which means a more attractive price tag for experiences and luxury accommodations like The Capra than you’ll find in the bigger, more heavily marketed destinations across Switzerland.

A landscape photo of Saas-Fee Switzerland - a car-free village near Zermatt. There are snow-capped mountains in the background with chalet-like buildings huddled together.

The Saas-Fee Switzerland landscape — whether you look at it from your hotel balcony or a cable car — is so authentically Swiss. This car-free village near Zermatt featured year-round snow-capped mountains and a lovely mix of chalets, old wooden homes and hotels that fit in perfectly among them. (All photos taken with the iPhone 16 Pro)

9 awesome things to do in Saas-Fee, Switzerland

Sitting in the Saas Valley at 1,820 metres (5,971 feet) elevation, surrounded by 18 “four-thousander” peaks as they’re called — which simply means their summits top the 4k-metre mark (that’s 13k+ feet!) — Saas Fee is a true hidden gem in Switzerland. It’s also home to Switzerland’s tallest mountain, which is not the Matterhorn (but only because it’s shared with Italy); it’s The Dom, which stands at an impressive 4,545 metres (14,911 feet) tall.

Saas-Fee (pronounced “Zsass-Fay,” by the way) is the kind of place where you can do everything or nothing and feel like you’ve tapped into its magic. The great news is that even if you didn’t factor the Swiss Travel Pass price into your trip, stay overnight for even just one night in the Saas Valley and your hotel will issue you a digital Saastal Card, which will give you unlimited use of its extensive bus network — including neighbouring Saas-Grund, Saas-Balen and Saas-Almagell — cable cars (except the Metro Alpin) and up to 30 per cent off of numerous activities in the region.

Language-wise, it’s mostly German-speaking but it’s a more sing-songy type of German than you’ll hear elsewhere in Switzerland, with influences from other languages creeping in and phrases that are unique to the area. For example, instead of “guten morgen” to say good morning, or the widely familiar “Grüezi” (used across Switzerland for “hello”), people in Saas-Fee offer a more tonal “morga” with a rolling R.

A large black long-horned cow or bull with an enormous leather collar attached to a silver bell with an alpine meadow behind it. There are so many cows in Switzerland!

There are so many cows in Switzerland! I was confident getting this close because the shepherd was nearby and I asked if it was safe. Otherwise, please adhere to all signage and use extreme caution approaching the cows in Saas-Fee Switzerland.

Below, you’ll find my favourite things to do in Saas-Fee, Switzerland, and farther down, you can also read more about lodging and Saas-Fee weather to help you plan your visit.

Looking for more Swiss travel ideas? Check out some of my other posts to help you plan your Switzerland itinerary: Swiss Riviera; best hotel in Saas-Fee; and Swiss Travel Pass price.

Here are the top 9 things to do in Saas-Fee, Switzerland:

I arrived just in time for the 40th Cantonal Alphorn players festival in the Saas-Fee village square, which was a helluva welcome, but if your trip doesn’t line up quite as perfectly, don’t worry — there are still plenty of amazing things to do in this charming village.

Please keep in mind that this is a warm-weather guide to Saas-Fee, Switzerland; I visited in July and the weather was glorious. Once the snow falls, the town turns into the ultimate ski village and I hope to return one day to experience ski season as well.

1. Feed the Saas-Fee marmots.

Even though the marmot is so tightly tied to Saas-Fee that there’s a hotel named after it and even marmot-themed souvenirs at the local shops, the wild marmots in Saas-Fee seems to be one of those things that you only hear about if you ask just the right questions — or happen to have a front desk agent like I did at The Capra who suggested it one morning when I was looking for something to do.

It’s also one of those things that no one can quite explain how to find, other than waving their hands in the general direction of “up and over there.” It took me ages to find them, and required help from numerous passersby, my very limited German with their much-better-but-still-broken English, and a couple of wrong turns along the way. So I’m going to give you written directions, and soon there will be a Reel on my Instagram feed showing you exactly how to find them.

Remember, though, that these are wild animals. You need to move slowly and respectfully, ensuring your children (if they’re with you) aren’t running around, chasing them or trying to pick them up. No one should touch the wild marmots, period. Just feed and admire them.

Speaking of children, why not consider sending them on their own adventure in the Swiss Alps in summer so you can explore Saas-Fee and the rest of Switzerland on your own?

And although we’re normally taught not to feed wild animals, I was told many times that in Saas-Fee, it’s not only acceptable to feed the wild marmots, it’s encouraged. You’ll need some carrots or, their favourite, bananas to take with you, so head to the Coop Saas-Fee grocery store (Obere Dorfstrasse 6, 3906) in the centre of town and stock up. I initially made the mistake of taking just one banana with me and it was gobbled up in a flash, so to avoid the long, steep walk back to the Coop to fetch more that I did, just take a whole bunch with you in the first place.

a photo of the Coop Saas Fee (a grocery store) with a red electric truck in the foreground and several people of all ages on the right hand side.

The Coop Saas Fee is where your wild marmot encounter should begin.

Here’s how to find the wild marmots in Saas-Fee:

Your starting point is the Herz Jesu-Kirche (Im Dorf 32, 3906), a Catholic Church beside a building that reads “MYRIAM” on its façade; you’re going to head up the little road (called “Kirchstrasse,” or Church Street, heading southwest) between these two buildings after you curve to the right around the church.
Keep walking up, up, up until you hit a fork in the road; turn left here.
Walk until you see another fork in the road, with a white stucco building that has two green street signs on it. Stay on the street called “Obere Gasse” and do not take the sharp left turn on “Hirschstrasse.”
Continue walking up, up, up until you see a brown building (it looks like there’s a restaurant patio on its front deck) with white lettering that spells “Schäferstube.” Now look to the left of that building for some wee white sheep; they’re not real, so they’ll be there!
These wooden sheep are also at a fork in the road (yes, another fork!). Take the path to the left (which means the sheep will be on your right hand side when you pass them), and head toward a large white and tan building.
Do not continue on the path that leads into this building; instead, take the path that shoots off to the right.
This path leads into a forested area with a dirt trail; walk through the forest and stay on this trail until you reach the alpine meadow. This is where you’re going to quietly look for the wild marmots! Turn to your right and slowly make your way up into this meadow — just watch where you step because there are burrow holes everywhere.
If you get to a big pile of rocks with a faux water fountain tap, you’ve gone too far. Turn around, and now make your way to the left at the meadow.

You can also try plugging in these co-ordinates to your map-of-choice: 46.10552° N, 7.91836° E.

A photo collage of the wild saas-fee marmots. Two of the images are of a woman feeding bananas to the marmots (with permission).

The Saas-Fee marmots were one of the absolute best things about my visit to this little car-free village in Switzerland’s Saas Valley.

2. Walk on a glacier.

I’d seen glaciers before (in British Columbia and Alaska), but I’d never physically been on one before I stepped onto the Chessjen Glacier. Now, I didn’t get very far because I quickly saw people with lots of equipment — cramp-ons, hiking poles and backpacks undoubtedly filled with emergency supplies — and decided it probably wasn’t safe for me to hike without any of these things. Especially alone.

But making your way up there and feeling it under your feet? BIG YES.

You’ll need to get to the the Felskinn cable car, also called the Téléphérique du Felskinn (Saastal Bergbahnen AG, Sportplatzstrasse 40, 3906), which can be done one of two ways — take an initial cable car (Spielboden) from Saas-Fee to Felskinn or walk up to it. I did the latter; it was a spectacular day, the paved path was easy to follow and it was absolutely stunning, and like everything else in Saas-Fee, you’re either going straight up or straight down, so be prepared. Both of these cable cars are free with your Saastal Card.

A black and white cable car (the Felskinn Saas Fee gondola) hangs on a wire several hundred feet above a mountainside with a dramatically rocky mountain covered in snow behind it.

The Felskinn Saas Fee cable car ride is covered with your Saastal Card — and worth every inch as you climb more than a thousand metres to the Chessjen Glacier.

The Felskinn ride is not for the weak; it’s a dramatic cable car journey that goes on, and on, and on. There are some dips at connection points that will give your tummy a little wobble but the views are insane — with more and more snow along the way melting into tiny waterfalls in every direction in the summer months.

You’ll arrive at about 3,000 metres (2,980 meters or 9,777 feet to be exact) and can walk on the glacier not long after exiting the cable car. If you get all the way to the top and the visibility isn’t great, give it 15 minutes; the clouds can move quickly up here and your view might be completely different after a coffee break.

The Chessjen Glacier has become more and more unstable and is considered a dangerous hike due to rockfall; if there are warnings or closures, please pay attention and proceed with caution — and the right equipment.

A woman dressed in black layers walking on the Saas Fee glacier, with a lot of slush under her feet due to the summer climate -- even at 9,777 feet above sea level.

Stepping out onto the Chessjen glacier (with a lot of slush under my feet due to the summer climate, even at 9,777 feet above sea level) was a moment of humility where I stepped back and recognized my personal limits, deciding not to attempt the hike along the ridge. Note the three hikers in the background who had set off about 20 minutes before I snapped this picture.

A weather note: you’ll want to pack layers for this ascent. While it was mid- to high-20s (77-80°F) in Saas-Fee proper, at 1,800 metres, it was much cooler at 3k metres. I needed merino wool leggings, a merino wool T-shirt, merino wool long-sleeved shirt (I had great success with all of my Unbound Merino clothing) and a merino wool headband (I used the BUFF Merino Lightweight Neckwear throughout the Swiss Alps in different configurations). I also had gloves and a thermal vest with me just in case. You should also wear glacier-specific sunscreen and wear sunglasses up here, too.

Wondering what else to pack for your trip to Saas-Fee, Switzerland? My packing list for Europe in carry-on post is a must-read.

3. Ride the world’s highest underground funicular: the Metro Alpin.

Then step onto the Fee Glacier and dine at the highest revolving restaurant in the world, which is set right into the mountain.

From Felskinn, where you just walked on the Chessjen Glacier, continue into a nearby building to find the world’s highest underground funicular. This is the Metro Alpin and while it’s not included with your Saastal Card, you will get a discount, and this would be a real shame to miss when visiting Saas-Fee, Switzerland.

The Metro Alpin funicular opened in 1984 and runs a whopping 1,749 metres (5,738 feet), facing an altitude difference of 476 metres (1,561 feet) between both stations. Once you’re on it, you move up through the mountain to Mittelallalin station, located at 3,500 metres (11,482 feet) above sea level. And if you thought it was chilly when you got out of the Felskinn cable car, just wait until you get off the Metro Alpin funicular. It was about 4ºC (39ºF) and I needed my mitts, my extra merino wool sweatshirt (also from Unbound Merino) and my warm vest to walk around. It was so cool — literally and figuratively.

The Fee Glacier -- a large glacier that looks like a big patch of snow on the top of a mountain range with a glacial pool on the left where ice has broken up and is melting under the summer sun.

The magnificent Fee Glacier — with a glacial pool on the bottom-left where ice has broken up, melting under the summer sun to reveal more turquoise water.

The Fee Glacier is 4.6 kilometres (2.85 miles) long, and sits within in the Pennine Alps east of the Mischabel mountain range, between The Dom to the north and Allalinhorn to the south. Unfortunately, like so many of the world’s glaciers, it’s retreating, so you’ll probably see some white fabric sheets over large swaths of the glacier here and there; these are conservation efforts to reduce melt.

When I visited in mid-July, the snowcats were busy grooming and the summer skiers were just days away from arriving. Look hard enough in the photo below and you’ll see a T-bar running in the distance; there’s no chair lift here, likely due to the strong potential for high winds.

A woman wearing a white vest and black backpack stands beside a red snowcat (groomer) in several inches of snow, looking out at the Fee Glacier after getting off of the Metro Alpin funicular in Saas Fee Switzerland.

After getting off of the Metro Alpin funicular in Saas Fee Switzerland, I stood beside these bright red snowcats (groomers) in several inches of snow, part of the magnificent Fee Glacier.

After exploring outside, warm up inside at the Allalin Restaurant — the highest revolving restaurant in the world. Open from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., it makes one full rotation every hour and you must order at least one food item from the menu to claim a seat. I saw larger groups with reservations but I walked in without one and managed to find a fantastic window seat.

A photo inside the Allalin Restaurant -- the highest revolving restaurant in the world -- showing a slate dessert platter with three desserts and a coffee in a clear glass mug, filled to the top with whipped cream. Behind it is a brown leather bench with two pillows on it -- the one in front reads: "The Mountains Are Calling."

My dessert platter and boozy coffee at Allalin Restaurant — the highest revolving restaurant in the world at an astonishing 3,500 metres (11,482 feet).

The views were so extraordinary that I stayed for two hours, eating lunch at 3,500 metres (11,482 feet) and watching the shifting cloud cover send sunlight dancing across the faces of Mittellallalin, Allalin and the glaciers, bleeding into the snow like paint seeping into its canvas. The clouds move so much up here that you can look at the same place five times every five minutes and have five completely different views. This will probably remain one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen for the rest of my life. Pictures will never do this place justice.

Three photos of mountains and mountain peaks with snow on them. The middle photo also includes a partial shot of the Allalin Restaurant -- at the foot of the Allalinhorn -- the highest revolving restaurant in the world.

Just a few examples of the views from both the viewing platform once you get off the Metro Alpin as well as from a window seat at Allalin Restaurant. The middle photo includes a partial shot of this restaurant — at the foot of the Allalinhorn — which is the highest revolving restaurant in the world.

4. Walk along the Vispa River.

A major affluent (tributary) of the Rhône, descending from the Fee Glacier, the Vispa River (“Feevispa”) is one helluva long and winding river. Its colour hardly seems real — a sort of milky turquoise — and it’s heavily rocky with a fast flow, so many of its sections look more like rapids than a mere river.

If you walk from the wild marmot’s meadow to the Felskinn cable car, you will find these picturesque rapids set amongst alpine wildflowers en route. It’s nothing short of breathtaking.

The Vispa River running through Saas Fee, with evergreens on either side, mountains in the background and purple wildflowers in the foreground.

Just another postcard view in Saas Fee, with the Vispa River cutting through part of the valley.

5. Take a spin on a Mountaincart.

New in summer 2025, the Saas-Fee Mountaincarts are the best-value fun you can have in Switzerland. It’s open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. during the warmer months and you must be at least 10 years old to ride. Take the Hannig cable car to the top — another free ride with your Saastal Card — and it’s just 10 CHF for 10 to 15 year olds and 15 CHF for 16+ riders. Without a Saastal Card, those prices jump slightly to 12 and 18 CHF, respectively. Considering how great this activity is, I was really pleasantly surprised by the price.

During this 4.5 kilometre (2.8 mile) winding descent to the Saas-Fee village, you can reach speeds of up to 45 km/hr if you choose to, though be warned that the hairpin turns come quickly. And if you’ve been on the Mountaincarts a few times, there are even little offshoots where you can do a more rugged, offroading-type adventure before meeting back up with the main trail. It takes about 30 minutes to reach the bottom and it’s pure, exhilarating fun. Do not skip this!

Two photos - the top picture has a woman holding on to handlebars as she descends a mountain path in Hannig Saas-Fee on a three-wheel non-motorized vehicle called a mountaincart; the second photo shows several people in the distance on the same path with wider mountain and landscape views.

Make it to the top of Hannig Saas Fee — whether on foot or by cable car — and be rewarded with a downhill adventure by mountaincart. It’s one of the most-fun mountain activities I’ve ever done!

6. Chase waterfalls.

Although Fellbachfall is technically in Saas-Balen, it’s easily accessible from Saas-Fee and worth dipping out to take in the Saas Valley’s best waterfall — a 40-metre-high (131-foot) beast that roars over its edge. Saas-Balen is another small and authentically Swiss mountain village in the Valais canton that sits a little more than 300 metres (984 feet) below Saas-Fee. It’s even quieter here; I saw three people total on my walk from the bus stop to Fellbachfall.

So, I hopped on a bus thanks to the Saastal Card my hotel issued to me the day I checked in and went waterfall hunting. Worth it. Overall, it required very little effort to reach with a really nice payoff. Plus, you can see yet another part of the Vispa River all the way in Saas-Balen, too.

If you need help finding the right bus for any adventure in the Saas Valley, the SBB app is your public transit bestie. I have a section dedicated to using the SBB app in mySwiss Travel Pass price post.

Fellbachfall is actually divided into Fellbachfall I and Fellbachfall II, with Fellbachfall I being the main attraction and Fellbachfall II (near the bottom) a smaller section. Use “Fellbachfall II” in Google Maps to find the best walking route after you get off the bus. As a whole, it’s a splendid view and there’s a massive rock upon which you can sit and take it all in.

This is the Fellbachfall in Saas-Balen in Switzerland -- the best waterfall in the Saas Valley. The photo sees water pouring dramatically over the rock ledge down into a smaller section, surrounded by green grass.

This is the Fellbachfall in Saas-Balen in Switzerland — widely regarded as the best waterfall in the Saas Valley.

7. Go summer tobagganing.

This must be the next best thing to flying. Another local Saas-Fee activity you should try is the Feeblitz Rodelbobbahn — summer tobogganing! Or, as we would call it in North America, a mountain coaster. It’s just 5 CHF per ride with the Saastal Card, with six- and 10-ride packs available at a further discounted rate. Try finding activity prices like this in Switzerland’s more touristy centres.

Unlike all of the other mountain coasters I’ve done, you don’t start at the top and wind your way down. Here, you start at the bottom and it pulls you up like a roller coaster to the top and then you let gravity do it’s thing. It’s an absolute blast.

A mountain coaster track (Feeblitz Rodelbobbahn) in Saas-Fee Switzerland, with tall green trees, chalets and mountain views around it.

This summer mountain coaster track (called Feeblitz Rodelbobbahn) in Saas-Fee Switzerland, takes you through tall green trees as you head to the top, with magnificent views of the village chalets and mountain views as you come soaring down. Don’t let this picture fool you — this is just the base where you set off; it was too fast for me to take any photos from the top!

8. Explore the village.

A photo collage showing various things to do in Saas Fee Switzerland, including a cable car, old wooden homes, a field with brown cows and a long viaduct.

There are so many things to do in Saas-Fee that it begs for so much more than just a day trip.

Don’t forget to stop and smell the proverbial roses — or, as you do across this country, fill up your water bottle in the various glacier-fed water fountains — while you’re in Saas-Fee, Switzerland. There’s quite a lot to explore just in the village alone. Take in the original Swiss wood architecture and slate roofs, visit the shops, stop for a coffee and people-watch, and visit local restaurants.

One of the things I loved most about Saas-Fee was just roaming around and seeing all of the different homes and buildings, like Alice’s House:

One of the Saas-Fee homes, with the name "Alice" written abovethe front door.

One of the quaint Saas-Fee homes, which I’m calling Alice’s House for good reason.

And, fun fact, did you know WHAM!’s iconic White Christmas video was filmed in Saas-Fee, Switzerland? Yep, in 1984, George Michael himself walked the streets of this very village; there’s even a pillar in town with an ironworks art piece wrapped around it, dedicated to this moment in time:

An art piece on a white pillar denoting that the band WHAM! filmed their White Christmas video here in Saas Fee.

The WHAM! sign in Saas-Fee Switzerland is part landmark, part art piece.

Shopping in Saas-Fee is a small but mighty collection of outdoorsy-adventure clothing and gear with a really nice mix of artisan-style shops that have everything from yarn and jewelry to marmot-embroidered tea towels. Plus there’s the Coop grocery store, where you bought your treats for said marmots; you can also find sunscreen and basic beauty products plus healthy, ready-made meals and more here.

My favourite retail stores included Walliser Handgewebe, Marc O’Polo and especially Boutique Bergluft. Finally, there’s a huge cheese shop — though I dared not enter since I would have bought far more than I’d have been able to consume alone!

Two photos of storefronts in Saas Fee Switzerland, both with goods out front outside the shops.

My two favourite shops in Saas-Fee Switzerland.

Cap off a full day of exploration with dinner at Brassierie 1809 in The Capra Saas-Fee or Mistral (where I had the braised rabbit over tomato salsa with a salad surrounded by dollops of what may have been pomegranate molasses and a side of house-made spätzle), which comes with a fabulous view of a roaring section of the Vispa River below if you sit on the patio.

One of the Saas-Fee restaurants perched precariously on the edge high above a riverbank with white water rapids below.

I didn’t have the opportunity to try too many Saas-Fee restaurants, but Mistral was one that my hotel recommended and its location — with views from the patio overlooking the Vispa River — was excellent.

9. Hike to the Mattmarksee.

You simply have to see the Mattmark reservoir (also called the Mattmarksee or Mattmark Dam) — Europe’s largest earthfill dam. And you don’t have to hike there if that’s not your thing, since your Saastal Card gives you unlimited use of the excellent bus network throughout the Saas Valley. That said, the hike is relatively easy from the Saas-Fee village until the last section, with lots of beautiful views en route.

A tall, narrow waterfall streams down the side of a mountain in Saas-Almagell, with purple wildflowers in the foreground.

Between Saas-Fee Switzerland and Saas-Almagell — on my hike to the Mattmarksee — there were plenty of stunning things to see, like glacier-fed waterfalls trickling down into alpine meadows filled with gorgeous wildflowers.

The front desk at my hotel — The Capra — had suggested going to the Brittaniahütte, but it meant walking on the glacier for 45 minutes and I just didn’t come prepared to do that without a guide and proper equipment, so I went with their second suggestion: to Mattmarksee in Saas-Almagell, the valley’s southernmost village, which is affectionately nicknamed the “Mountain Village Pearl.”

Your hotel should offer you a hard copy map, and for the most part, there’s clear signage en route. The path mostly follows the Vispa riverbank and there are a few waterfalls along the way, which were a nice surprise. But when I hit a section that had two path markers (the Swiss hiking network is extremely well-marked), I chose the option that didn’t follow the road because there was no footpath alongside the highway.

However, I got about 300 feet and was met with a barricade; there was no more trail unless I turned and went on a trail in the opposite direction. So, I turned around and started following the alternative route, but with extremely narrow roads that are well-travelled by cyclists, motorcyclists and large public transit buses (with drivers who FOR REAL do not care about sharing the road and drive like bats out of hell, even on switchbacks), I didn’t go far.

You must understand, there aren’t even little bike lanes on these mountain highways in Switzerland and many of them have cliff drop-offs on one or both sides. There is simply nowhere to walk safely. So, when there was still no path even after I walked half a kilometre or so, I turned around again. I’d seen a bus stop not far from that original fork in the path, so I checked the SBB app and there was a bus coming in 12 minutes that had one more stop on its route heading in the direction I wanted to go — and that bus got me to the final destination.

I watched carefully as the bus made its way up; if I’d just gone a bit farther, would there have been another path? Nope. The bus was totally the right call at this point in the hike, and a welcome break after walking nine kilometres (5.6 miles) with a changing altitude of 259 metres (849 feet).

Great news: if you hiked all or most of the way to Mattmarksee, know that you can hop on two connecting buses to return to Saas-Fee in just half an hour; you’ve earned it.

When the front desk suggested the “Mattmark” hike, I had no idea what was waiting at the end. What a fantastic surprise to find the Mattmarksee. In 1965, two million cubic metres of ice and other debris broke away from the Allalin glacier, plunging into a dam construction site, killing 88 people. Despite its sad beginnings, what remains is beautiful: a turquoise glacier-fed lake that sits at 2,197 metres (7,208 feet), between the Rimpfischhorn (4,199 metres) and Stellihorn (3,436 metres) mountains, though you can see the Strahlhorn peak (4,190 metres) from the lake, too.

A woman standing in front of a turquoise body of water called the Mattmarksee surrounded by a manmade rock wall on three sides and a mountain on the fourth.

The Mattmarksee reservoir is simply breathtaking. Yes, the water really is this colour!

And it was walking the Mattmark dam wall, on the last full day of my solo journey around Switzerland, that I was moved to tears. See, I had a bit of an epiphany here. After the most challenging five-year period of my life — when the pandemic intersected with perimenopause and many other really difficult things in both of our families — I felt like I’d just come out the other side of it, like I was finally over this horrible hump.

I sat down on a bench looking out into this mesmerizing lake and acknowledged how much these past five years had felt so uphill, where I often questioned “what is the point of all of this?” And here, in this place, it occurred to me: the point is beauty and love. Seeing beautiful places and beautiful things and feeling love well up inside of you because of all the people and places you find along the way, whether they’re a permanent fixture in your life like best friends, a partner or child, or simply a fleeting place on the side of the road that made you stop for a moment to take it in. This is the point. This is it. This is all of it.

It may not feel as profound reading this as it was feeling it, but it was one of the most transformative moments I’ve had in a very long time — the perfect ending to the most perfect solo travel journey.

There's a long gravel pathway in the centre of the photo with a large lake on the left and trickling waterfalls coming down a mountain face on the. right. Of all the hikes in Switzerland that the author did, this was the one that brought her to tears.

Of all the hikes in Switzerland, it was this one — to Mattmarksee — that brought me to tears. Maybe it was because I was nearing the end of my solo journey; maybe it was because the Mattmarksee was such a beautiful and unexpected surprise at the end of this hike…but this long gravel pathway along one edge of the dam led me to one of the most important self-discoveries I’ve ever had.

Saas-Fee weather (in summer)

Well, it’s complicated. Let’s start there. Saas-Fee, as you now know, is a valley village at altitude. So while you may risk heat stroke in July or August down at sea level — say, in Montreux or Vevey, which are along Lake Geneva — those 40-degree days are unlikely in Saas-Fee. Spending part of your summer here will be a welcome retreat from the heat waves that have been burdening many European countries the last few years.

My mid-July visit, however, reinforced that my packing list for Europe in carry-on theme was essential: layers, layers and more layers. While I could comfortably wear summery clothes while wandering around the village most days, as soon as you ascend a few hundred feet, you’ll feel markedly cooler. Ascend a thousand metres (that’s more than 3,200 feet), and you’ll be so glad you stuffed your day pack with all those layers.

A photo of a village street in Saas-Fee Switzerland with a cloud-covered mountainscape in the backdrop, intended to show how the Saas-Fee weather can change dramatically in short order, helping visitors see the various mountain peaks as the wind blows the clouds away.

There was some writing on a storefront window as I wandered one of the village streets in Saas-Fee Switzerland, which read: “TURN AROUND — that’s the Dom at 4,545m!” So, I turned around to see this — a cloud-covered mountainscape, covering Switzerland’s highest peak. And if I’d had a spare 15 minutes, I would have stuck around because Saas-Fee weather can change dramatically in very short order. If you’re disappointed in a particular view, and you have time on your side…just wait.

Best hotel in Saas-Fee, Switzerland

Although some tourists do come to Saas Fee, Switzerland, for just a day trip, I’d really encourage you to come for at least three of four nights. This place is worth the detour — and The Capra is worth the splurge.

The edge of a stonework hotel with wooden beam accent, flanked by a large bush of pink and white flowers. On the facade, there is signage with the hotel's awards and recognitions noting it is the best hotel in Saas-Fee.

You’d expect the best hotel in Saas-Fee to have a few recognizable awards, and The Capra exceeded every expectation I had. Be sure to read about it on my site.

And before you think you can’t afford it, consider that food and activities are noticeably cheaper in Saas-Fee than in a city like nearby Zermatt, so you can likely stay in a much nicer hotel like this one and do loads of activities and eat at great restaurants and keep within whatever budget you’d set aside for Zermatt.

If, however, your budget won’t quite stretch to stay at The Capra, at least head there for a spa service and a meal. This five-star wellness boutique hotel, where I had the absolute pleasure of staying during my time in Saas-Fee, is a two-key Michelin property that’s in the process of earning a second star for a sustainability designation, and the newest hotel added to the coveted Swiss Deluxe Hotels collective. It’s warm and cozy like a chalet but with modern touches, impeccable design, thoughtful artwork and luxury details like Bogner bath salts replenished every day for your room’s very high-tech bathtub.

If you can’t tell, I am one billion per cent obsessed with Saas-Fee, Switzerland; I’m pretty sure it’s heaven on earth. Plan a visit so you can feel it for yourself.

DISCLAIMER: This post was not organized or sponsored by the tourism board, though my stay at the hotel in Saas-Fee was gifted. All opinions and suggestions are my own.

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