لوكيرباد

The baths are open all year. July to September is best for hiking. December to March is the ski season, and the baths in snow are a main draw. Spring and November are quiet, and some lifts close.

• Thermenpark is a large bath complex with indoor and outdoor pools.
• Alpentherme is a modern spa with pools and saunas.
• Gemmi Luftseilbahn is a cable car that climbs the cliff to the Gemmi Pass.
• Loèche-les-Bains is the village, with old houses and the church.
• Wildstrubel is the mountain massif above the pass.
• Lämmerenhütte is a mountain hut near a high lake.
• Altels is a glacier peak seen from the pass.

• Soak in the hot pools, outdoors in winter if you can.
• Ride the cable car to the Gemmi Pass.
• Hike to a high lake and mountain hut.
• Walk the ladder path on the cliff, with guides only if you have mountain experience.
• Ski or sledge in winter.

• Sierre is a wine town, about 40 minutes away by bus and train.
• Sion has two castles on hills.
• Crans-Montana is a ski and golf resort.
• Brig-Glis has a large baroque palace.
• The Gemmi Pass leads on foot to Kandersteg in the Bernese Oberland.

• Sierre and Sion are the nearest towns in the Rhone valley.
• Crans-Montana is the nearest resort.

• By air: Geneva is the main airport, about 3 hours away.
• By train: take a train to Leuk, then a postal bus up to the village. Check times on SBB.
• The bus ride from Leuk takes about 30 minutes.

• The village is compact and easy to walk.
• A local bus links the baths, lifts and hotels.
• The cable car runs from the village to the pass.

• A car is not needed in the village.
• The road up from the valley is narrow with bends.
• Parking is paid and can fill up in winter.

Try raclette, cheese fondue and dried meat from the Valais. Local wines such as Fendant are served in village restaurants. Many hotels have restaurants with set menus.

People speak German with a Valais dialect. English is widely understood.

• Leukerbad is very safe.
• Thermal water is hot. Follow time limits at each pool.
• Mountain weather changes fast, and snow stays late on high paths.
• Avalanche risk exists in winter. Stay on marked trails.

The hot springs have been known since Roman times. Visitors have come to bathe here for centuries. Bathing grew during the Middle Ages, when travellers crossed the Gemmi Pass.

The village developed into a modern spa resort in the 20th century.

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