Binn Valley in the Upper Valais: Through the Twingi Gorge to Grengiols

(This post published October 14, 2024)

August 19, 2014 – Day 5 of our vacation week in Valais: It rained a bit in the morning so we did an afternoon hike close by, and still managed an 11-km walk in about 3 hours. We took the bus toward the back of the Binn Valley just across from our vacation cottage, and walked back to Grengiols (couple of train stations westward) through the Twingi Gorge. Very little uphill, mostly downhill. On our arrival day we had actually taken the bus this same route and visited the two quaint villages of Ernen and Binn, so those pictures are from an earlier trip. This time we started the hike at the exit of the tunnel.

The original road through the Twingi Gorge was built in the 1930's, but previously it was an important route already in the days of the Romans, for access over the Albrun Pass to Italy. But due to the steepness of the gorge walls, passage in winter was often not possible. So it was in 1964 that the 1.8-kilometer tunnel was built to circumvent the gorge. 

Heading up to the Binn Valley, this is a view of the Rhone Valley and the town of Fiesch. Our Cottage is at the red dot.

Along the way the bus stops at the quaint town of Ernen with a lovely church where a local plays the Bells (Carillon). He hasn't found anyone to take over the craft for him.

A look up the valley from the bus

Heading up toward Binn, we see the gorge that we will be coming down, and then heading over the green meadow areas.

We started our hike at the bus stop at the upper exit of the motor-vehicle tunnel at 2:45 p.m. We first had to do a short walk along the road and over the river (this is the view from the bridge) to the little hamlet called Ze Binne. 

An information placard states that the hamlet of Ze Binne was first mentioned in documents dating from 1395. 

The St.Sebastian Chapel in Ze Binne was built in 1725. The Hamlet sits on a promontory at the junction of this valley and the Leng Valley, where there is a pilgrim church called Heiligkreuz, which was one of the most popular pilgrim churches in the Upper Wallis during the Baroque Era. 

Our trail took us through the hamlet of Ze Binne and down to the small reservoir lake. 

A good look at the upper end of the Twingi Gorge

A short walk next to the reservoir lake and we reach the old road through the Twingi Gorge. (The new road is through the tunnel). From here it's 2½ hours to the Grengiols train station, so about a 3-hour hike in all.  

We started in Ze Binne at 14:45, a bit late in the day because it was rainy in the morning. But then we had some nice weather for this 10+ kilometer walk. We were on our way back to our little cabin at 6:45 p.m., a quick 10-minute train ride. 

Information about the history of the road through the Twingi Gorge: The path through the Twingi Gorge was an important trade route to the back of the valley and to the important passage over the Albrun Pass already in pre-historic times. 

An interesting "waterfall" down a cliff on our right as we head out of the valley. 

On our left and across the gorge to the south are more waterfalls along the very, very steep mountainsides, and still quite a lot of remaining avalanche snow. 

View down the Twingi Gorge. Ahead we see the Ridge (Bettmerhorn) we had walked the day before, above the Aletsch Glacier.

A close-up view of Fiescheralp on the north side of the Rhône Valley, with the Bettmerhorn Ridge on the left, and Mt. Eggishorn on the right.  

There was a crew here fixing damage from a small rock slide across the road. Before the tunnel was built, this road along the gorge was the route up the valley. It was often not possible to pass in winter, due to avalanches. 

A couple of tunnels along the way. 

At the end of the old Twingi road and near the west end of the new tunnel, we descended into the gorge to cross the Binna River on this lovely old Roman arched bridge. 

It is not known how old the bridge is, but as this gorge was an important passage via the Albrun Pass during the time of the Romans, it is called a Römerweg (Roman Road) and the bridge is known as a Roman bridge. 

A look up the Twingi Gorge again as we now head westward towards Grengiols. 

Another look across the Rhône Valley to Bettmeralp and Fiescheralp.  

Picnic time at 4:40 p.m.!

An outlier village of Grengiols has the coolest name! The actual name is "Bächerhäusern", but this is probably how they pronounce it in the local dialect. 

The little "Mother of God" chapel in Bächerhäusern was built in 1668 and the locals believe this religious site has protected them from avalanches. The altar is late Renaissance, according to information next to the chapel. 

Information about the religious practices of the area. Besides the chapel in Bächerhäusern, there are five other chapels in the vicinity of Grengiols, as well as the larger 1915-built St.Peter's church. 

We also passed the massive 1915-built St.Peter's church on our long descent through Grengiols to the train station nearer the valley bottom.

The massive 1915-built St.Peter's Church in Grengiols. 

The massive 1915-built St.Peter's Church in Grengiols. 

What our hike looks like on Google Satellite Maps. 

We caught the bus near our cottage and rode to the end of the tunnel, and walked from there to Grengiols.

A look back at the town of Grengiols as we head back toward Fiesch by train (a 10-minute ride to the stop where our accommodation is). 

This is the little chalet which we had rented for the week. Well, we only had half of it and it was VERY small. What we hadn't realized at the time of booking is that it was right in the middle of the vacation village called "Fiescher Dorf", where kids of all ages go for week-long camps. There was a sports hall right across from the front entrance, and an outside basketball court just past the house, so a lot of noise from kids playing ball until 10 p.m. every night, 

It would only have taken 15 minutes longer if we had started in the village of Binn, but we figured since we had taken the same bus ride up this valley on the first day of our vacation here, and walked around Binn for a bit at the time, we would start right at the entrance of motor vehicle tunnel, or at the south end of the old road in the Twingi Gorge. The following are photos of Binn:

Mountain village of Binn

Mountain village of Binn

Mountain village of Binn

Mountain village of Binn

Location of the Binn Valley within Switzerland.