Bex Salt Mines

Salt was found at Bex in the fifteenth century and has been extracted here since, which makes this the only salt mine in Switzerland still working - a fact that shapes the visit, since the tour runs through a live industrial site rather than a preserved one. Tens of kilometres of galleries, shafts and chambers have been cut over the centuries; visitors ride a narrow-gauge mine train into the hillside and then walk part of the network, seeing both the hand-cut historic workings and the modern method, which dissolves the salt underground and pumps out the brine. Salt was a strategic resource for a landlocked country, and the mine's history is tied to Bernese and later cantonal control of the supply.

What you actually see

• Switzerland's only working salt mine - production alongside the visitor route.
• A narrow-gauge mine train - the ride into the hillside to start the tour.
• Hand-cut historic galleries - centuries of workings still walkable.
• The modern brine method - salt dissolved underground and pumped out.

When to go

Late March to mid-November. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Visits are guided, timed and must be booked - walk-ups often fail. It is around eighteen degrees underground; bring a layer. Closed all winter. Parts involve walking and steps.

Nearby

Aigle castle is north; the Rhone valley and Martigny are south.