Grosses Walsertal

The Grosses Walsertal runs south-east from the Walgau into the Lechquellen mountains, a steep-sided valley of six small communities, and the name comes from its settlement: Walser families from the Valais in Switzerland migrated over the passes in the fourteenth century and took up land too high and steep for the existing population, keeping their dialect, building style and farming practice for centuries afterwards. The valley was designated a UNESCO biosphere reserve in 2000, the first in Vorarlberg, on the basis of that combination of steep alpine farming and intact landscape, and the local response has been a deliberate programme of small-scale agriculture, cheese dairies, timber building and low-impact tourism. Walking is on old farm and alp paths with huts, and the Faschinajoch and Schadonapass cross out of it.

What you actually see

• A Walser settlement valley - farms and dialect from fourteenth-century migration.
• A UNESCO biosphere reserve - designated in 2000 around the working landscape.
• Alp dairies - small cheese operations on the high pastures.
• Old farm paths - the walking network between alps and villages.

When to go

June to October. Two days.

Honest expectations

The valley is steep and roads are narrow with hairpins. Public transport is limited to a few buses a day. It is quiet and low-key - the appeal is the working landscape, not attractions.

Nearby

Bludenz is at the valley mouth; the Bregenzerwald is over the Faschinajoch.