{"id":8516,"date":"2022-07-21T09:15:03","date_gmt":"2022-07-21T09:15:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/justpaste.in\/blogs\/exploring-swiss-villages-saint-martin-valais\/"},"modified":"2026-08-04T09:52:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T09:52:24","slug":"exploring-swiss-villages-saint-martin-valais","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/justpaste.in\/blogs\/exploring-swiss-villages-saint-martin-valais\/","title":{"rendered":"Exploring Val D\u2019Herens In Switzerland: Nax, Saint Martin In Valais, Swiss Alps Views And Hidden Villages"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our next stop after Zermatt was to Val d\u2019Herens, more specifically to the village of Nax<\/a>, a spot up in the mountains with an incredible view of the surrounding valleys!<\/p>\n

Easy as it was to get on the train here \u2013 after our day of skiing, I was surprisingly quite knackered! We checked into the Maya Boutique Hotel<\/a> in Nax (a hotel built using straw \u2013 yes straw! More on that later\u2026), before popping downstairs to the restaurant for an amazing meal.<\/p>\n

\"Exploring<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"Exploring <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\"Exploring <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

The next morning, we woke up to the stunning views over the valley Swiss Alps that make a stay in Nax absolutely special. And you don\u2019t have to go too far for that view too \u2013 you can see it right from your room or even down in the restaurant!<\/p>\n

\"Exploring<\/a><\/p>\n

Oh yeah, the whole straw-hotel thing. Well, the couple who own it (you\u2019ll get to meet them when you visit) have won so many awards for their hotel design. Suffice to say, building homes made of straw isn\u2019t something you\u2019d find in the Swiss Mountains but is one that has meant having a seriously energy efficient home and a ridiculously cosy stay in the mountains.<\/p>\n

\"Exploring<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Exploring<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"Exploring <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\"Exploring <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

\"Exploring<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"Exploring <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\"Exploring <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

\"Exploring<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Exploring<\/a><\/p>\n

When you\u2019re here, the owners are also part of a *technically<\/em> free electric car scheme to get you around. Although it\u2019s free, you are recommended to give a donation to help with the running of it (which makes sense) but this just means that when you visit, you get to whizz around the Swiss countryside easily and see so many of the cute villages and towns dotted around.<\/p>\n

\"Exploring<\/a><\/p>\n

Speaking of which, after breakfast, we started our day with one of said cute Swiss villages \u2013 the village of Saint Martin<\/a>!<\/p>\n

\"Exploring<\/a><\/p>\n

In true Swiss style, the best way to enjoy the countryside in Switzerland is to take a little hike \u2013 albeit, with snowshoes \u2013 seeing as it\u2019s winter and all.<\/p>\n

\"Exploring<\/a><\/p>\n

And so off we went into the mountain, stopping to take in view every so often and even spotting a glacier in the distance \u2013 a remnant of the ice age!<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"Exploring <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\"Exploring <\/div>\n
\"Exploring <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

When you spend some time here, you soon understand why the Swiss manage to stay so fit despite eating (or at least, having access to) so much cheese (*read: fondue<\/em>) and delicious chocolates \u2013 it\u2019s all the exercise. Hiking here is just like going to the pub in the UK, something that\u2019s done regularly and for fun!<\/p>\n

\"Exploring<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Exploring<\/a><\/p>\n

Oh and everyone here doesn\u2019t matter if they\u2019re zipping past on a ski, show-shoeing or just hanging around their homes says hello here. Like, everyone! A bit of a pleasant surprise coming from London where sometimes you don\u2019t even know who your neighbour is.<\/p>\n

\"Exploring<\/a><\/p>\n

We stopped off part way in the woods for a snack break of local Swiss cheeses and meats \u2013 brilliantly paired with some tea to warm us up (though you\u2019d be fairly warm anyway seeing as you\u2019re snowshoeing).<\/p>\n

\"Exploring<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"Exploring <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\"Exploring <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

Eventually, we made our way back down from the woods to the village with its pretty little (and large) Swiss cottages\u2026<\/p>\n

\"Exploring<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Exploring<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"Exploring <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\"Exploring <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

\"Exploring<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Exploring<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2026before diving right into a fondue for lunch! (I ate so much cheese in Switzerland!).<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"Exploring <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\"Exploring <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

\"Exploring<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Exploring<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Exploring<\/a><\/p>\n

Lunch over, it was finally time to say farewell to Switzerland!<\/p>\n

Our previous visits to this absolutely gorgeous country had been in summer time and so it was pretty fantastic (and eye-opening in parts to finally get to visit in winter and see its beauty in a totally different way!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our next stop after Zermatt was to Val d\u2019Herens, more specifically to the village of Nax, a spot up in the mountains with an incredible view of the surrounding valleys! Easy as it was to get on the train here \u2013 after our day of skiing, I was surprisingly quite knackered! We checked into the … Continue Reading<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8517,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,396],"tags":[355,905,407,906],"class_list":["post-8516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel","category-travel-journal","tag-europe","tag-saint-martin","tag-switzerland","tag-valais"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/justpaste.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/justpaste.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/justpaste.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justpaste.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justpaste.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/justpaste.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8516\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justpaste.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/justpaste.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justpaste.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justpaste.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}