About Champex Lac

Overview

The town is situated in a unique location several hours hike from the French and Italian borders.  The lake sits at approximately 1,470 metres elevation and the town is essentially built in the valley that surrounds the lake.  There is a good selection of restaurants, hotels, a grocery store and bakery, a tourist info centre, a sports store, ski stores, and a garage.  There are a wide range of activities available in the village from alpine skiing at La Breya, cross country skiing around lake, ice skating, snow-shoeing, rock climbing, hiking, fishing, canoeing, paddle-boarding, berry-picking, and both mountain biking and road cycling.  We could spend hours outlining everything there is to do and all of the things Champex Lac has to offer, but the website http://www.champex.info/ is such a good source of info and does a much better job than we'd ever be able to. Please visit it for more information.

Skiing

Champex has an exceptional little skihill that gets dry powder snow through the season.  It's got an great little beginner hill for the tots and kids learning to ski. There are over 20 ski hills within 1 hour of Champex including Verbier and Chamonix and Champex Lac is one of the stops on the famous Haute Route.  Further, there is extensive ski touring and 15 km of cross-country in the valley.

Hiking

Champex Lac is one of the stops on the world famous adventure race 'the Tour du Mont Blanc'.  With over 8,000 km of signposted hiking trails in the Valais region there is a suitable hike for anyone of any age.   Despite our best efforts we barely made a dent in most of the hiking. Many of the hikes in the region have serviced huts where you can grab a meal or a drink and perhaps stay the night.

Biking

From the wine trail that starts in Leuk through to Martigny and winds its way through the vineyards of the Sion region to the downhill bike park of Verbier there is enough road riding, cruising and mountain biking to satisfy all levels of biking enthusiast.  The Tour of Switzerland and the Tour de France have both come through the region in the past few years.

Getting There

The Region

The Community
There are approximately 25 scheduled flights per day into Geneva airport from London airports.  There are connections with Canada, the US, and most destinations in Europe and the Middle East as well.  From there it is a car-ride (we always rented a car, but have friends who store a car in Geneva) of approximately 1.5 hours to the Chalet along the North Side of Lake Geneva.  There are various public transit and rail options as well.
From wine tours and river rafting to thermal baths and para-gliding there is something for everyone and anyone in the region.  Considered one of the best places to eat in Switzerland the area is famous for its Raclette and Fondue cheese along with its white wine.  There are Roman ruins, churches, natural wonders, lakes and valleys to enjoy.  Enjoy the Christmas markets in the winter and the Jazz festivals in the summer, 
The community of Champex Lac is made up of a small, but vibrant population of friendly shop owners, locals and retiree's.  The community is predominantly French speaking, however many speak English, German and Italian.  There is a moderate sized population of English property owners in the village and a vibrant community of foreign nationals at different times of the year.  We made many good friends and memories during our five years there.