Lotschental

The Lotschental runs about twenty-seven kilometres north-east off the Rhone valley, and until the Lotschberg railway opened in 1913 it was reached only over high passes, which left it culturally distinct in ways still visible. Its best-known tradition is the Tschaggatta: during the carnival weeks between Candlemas and Ash Wednesday, figures in sheepskins and heavy carved wooden masks - deliberately grotesque, with bared teeth and horns - move through the villages after dark. The masks are carved locally and sold year round. The upper valley leads into the Lotschental side of the Aletsch region, with the Langgletscher at its head, and Blatten, Wiler, Kippel and Ferden keep dense clusters of dark timber houses.

What you actually see

• Tschaggatta masks - carved grotesques worn through the winter carnival.
• Dark timber villages - Blatten, Wiler, Kippel and Ferden.
• A valley isolated until 1913 - opened by the Lotschberg railway.
• The Langgletscher - the glacier at the head of the valley.

When to go

June to October for walking; February for the carnival. A day.

Honest expectations

The carnival is a village tradition, not a show - dates are local and crowds are small but the atmosphere is not staged for visitors. Avalanche risk closes parts of the valley in winter. Postbus timetables thin out of season. Masks sold as souvenirs vary widely in quality.

Nearby

The Rhone valley is below Goppenstein; the Aletsch region is over the ridge.