Adventure Guide To The Alps

Annotation Switzerland, Germany, Italy, France, Austria -- the Alps extend through them all and this guide shows you how to experience their excitement and beauty. A native of the German Alps, the author explores the history, flora, fauna, people and culture, foods, festivals, adventures. Cortina, St. Moritz, Innsbruck, Chamonix, Milan, Zermatt, Intertaken and Venice are just a few of the magical spots you will visit.

A new compendium of adventures, from the best-selling and award-winning Wild Guide series now released for Europe's favourite adventure holiday destination - including 800 secret places. Discover hidden mountain peaks, plunging waterfalls and pristine lakes. Step back into history to explore lost ruins, forts and caves and to wander where wolves still roam free. Meet Alpine farmers and sample their delicious fare. Plan a night camping under a star-filled sky or snuggled down in a remote mountain refuge. Climb the hidden limestone peaks of the Chablais, Cool off with a swim in pristine Lac Lauvitel, Explore the caves of the Vercors, Eat cheese made the traditional way in the heart of the Beaufort, Try artisan charcuterie with the wines of the Combe de Savoie Find the forgotten Maginot forts of the Italian border, Marvel at the prehistoric stone carvings in the Vallee des Merveilles, Commune with marmots and ibex in the Vanoise, Listen for wolves in the wildernesses of Mercantour and Ubaye

Detailing 22 treks in France, Switzerland, and Italy, this informative guide has detailed maps in full color and provides descriptions of treks in the Southern Alps, the Western Outliers, the Mont Blanc Range, the Pennine Alps, and Western Oberland. A Trek Essentials box in each chapter summarizes the number of days required, how to access each trek, and the highest elevations.

A detailed guide to every aspect of the destination: history, culture, foods, restaurants, hotels, sightseeing, things to do - written by an author who knows the place intimately and is a long-time resident. The history and culture, the climbs, hikes and walks, the rivers trips - it's all here!

This fifth edition of John Hermann's classic Motorcycle Journeys Through the Alps and Beyond touring guide is the best-loved and most-respected resource for any traveler planning to ride the high and twisty roads of Europe. Detailing more area than any previous edition, Hermann's fun-to-read text has been thoroughly updated and revised, now adding new roads in Switzerland and France. All maps feature mountain relief backgrounds to highlight the topography, and many spectacular new photos have been added. Every region of the Alps is covered: Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Italy, France, and even special alpine-lookalike places such as Corsica, Slovenia, and the Pyrenees and Picos de Europa mountain ranges of Spain. All of the important roads and passes are described and critiqued. Each recommended trip features a detailed route description, easy-to-follow maps, advice on accommodations and things to do, and plenty of inspiring photographs. Local customs, history, and amusing travel anecdotes dot every page to enrich the journey. There is no other motorcycle travel guide like this one! Motorcycle Journeys Through the Alps and Beyond is simply the best guide for any motorcyclist planning their trip of a lifetime to motorcycling's nirvana.

The Valais region encompasses Switzerland''s most rugged terrain. Our coverage extends from the gateway city of Geneva to the upper reaches of the Walliser Alps along the Italian frontier. Visitors are apt to enter the region in Geneva, a small, cosmopolitan city between the border of France and the western end of Lake Geneva, known in French as Lac Leman. The city bustles with the business of international organizations, plays along a garden-lined lakefront, and harbors a pleasant pedestrian old town. The city of Lausanne lies across the lake, drawing visitors for its own pleasant lakefront and the Olympic Games History Museum. Beyond, in the Valais region, protrudes the magnificent Matterhorn Peak, with famed Zermatt at its foot and secluded Saas-Fee just over the hill. In southeastern Switzerland next to the border of Italy, Zermatt reclines amid a cluster of 38 4,000-m peaks. Above the town towers the distinctive hook of the Matterhorn crest. For most visitors, Zermatt isn''t a place to relax; it''s a place to play, and play hard. About 400 km of hiking paths wind through the mountains above Zermatt, most areas well-served by cableway or mountain train. The most spectacular of the trails run through the Sunnegga and Rothorn areas, winding around lakes, skirting glaciers, and all within view of the Matterhorn across the valley. One of these, the Marmot Trail, leads from mid-mountain Rothorn at Blauherd down to Sunnegga via a path lined with several marmot family groups. Walkers wanting a closer look at the majestic mountain should try the new Matterhorn Trail. It drops from the lift station at Schwarzsee, along the foot of the Matterhorn to Stafel, to the lake at Zmutt, and then down to the lift station at Furi OCo passing several inviting mountain huts along the way. Saas-Fee lies to the east of Zermatt, on the opposite side of the towering Dom. Like Zermatt, the resort is reached via a climb up the forked valley south of Visp OCo to reach Saas-Fee, drivers at Stalden take the lft fork toward Saastal instead of the right fork toward Tnsch. (Although only a few km apart as-the-crow-flies, the drive between Saas-Fee and Zermatt takes around an hour.) Also like Zermatt, the village of Saas-Fee is technically car-free, served only by a swarm of electric taxi carts. The swarm here, however, is considerably smaller and less menacing. Drivers park in the nine-story cliff-side garage on the village edge and, from the garage loading bays, telephone hotels for pickup. (Visitors arriving by train must bus in from Brig or Visp.) Guests here split into two distinct camps OCo those who''ve come for the small-resort exclusivity, and those who''ve come for the big-mountain recreation. Both camps enjoy the views from the Allalin, where the world''s highest revolving restaurant, the Drehrestaurant Metro-Alpin, does a full rotation each hour. Steps away, adventurers stroll through the largest ice pavilion in the world (the Mittelallin Eispavillon), a cave carved out of the glacier and embellished with sculptures and a chapel. At the heart of the Alps lies Switzerland; at the heart of Switzerland lies the Jungfrau region; and at the heart of the Jungfrau lies Interlaken. Tucked away in what is arguably the most spectacular Alpine scenery in the world, Interlaken enjoys renown for its diversity of outdoor adventures and its role as the Jungfrau region''s mountain transportation hub. It''s an inviting town OCo a busy, bustling place with back alleys few tourists take time to explore. These are just a few of the Swiss gems explored in this guide, equivalent to 160 print pages and loaded with detail on all the restaurants, hotels, shops and activities you''ll want to know about. Plus, there are maps and photos throughout. This is an excerpt from the much larger Adventure Guide to the Alps, which runs 500 pages in print, and covers the German, French, Austrian and Italian Alps as well."