Your Summer in Arolla

For more than a hundred and fifty years, Arolla has been a summer retreat. At 2,000 metres, at the head of the Val d’Hérens, the village is reached by car or postal bus and keeps, all summer, that scent of pure air and pasture the first English guests once came for. Summer truly begins on 1 June, when the Grand Hôtel & Kurhaus reopens, and lasts until the first October snows.

Hiking, first of all

From June to mid-October, a web of trails opens straight from the hotel garden: flowering pastures, alpine lakes, nature trails and centuries-old irrigation channels. The Blue Lake (2,090 m) remains the signature walk, fit for families; keener walkers aim for the balconies of Mont-Collon or the approaches to the Pigne d’Arolla (3,796 m). For high-mountain routes, the guides of Hérens Montagne lead the summits and glaciers.

The mountain huts

Arolla is a natural springboard towards the Alpine Club huts. The Cabane des Vignettes, perched on its rocky spur, and the more accessible Cabane de la Tsa make for fine days out or staging posts towards the high passes. A night in a refuge is still one of the simplest ways to touch the high mountains — no great technique required for anyone who walks at a steady pace.

On wheels, in the air, among the wildlife

The e-bike has changed everything: it brings the high pastures closer and lets you go further without wearing yourself out. From village to alpage, the routes fit a half-day, helmet on and wind in your face. Thrill-seekers take off on a tandem paraglider above the valley. And everywhere, wildlife shows itself: marmots with their unmistakable whistle, ibex on the ridges, chamois at dawn. At dusk, the stag’s bellow already heralds the end of the warm season.

The luxury of doing nothing

Summer in Arolla is also the luxury of slowness: a forest bath, an open-air yoga session, a book on the terrace of the Jardin des Arolles facing Mont-Collon. Here, you come as much to walk as to stop.

Far from the crowds and close to nature: that is the simple promise of a summer in Arolla. You set off in the morning from the hotel, return for tea in the lounge, and begin again the next day — at the pace of the mountain.