Hi,

We are about to buy a holiday home in Switzerland, we face two options: A small chalet in a tourist winter resort in Valais and the other, an apartment in a beautiful village, next to a lake near Interlaken. I wonder which place is better as a summer house and as an investment along time. Any tips are highly appreciated.

Thanks
Shavner

Interlaken: It'll be good for holidays all year round.

That, and the fact that the Wallis is just weird.

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It's an terrible choice !

Interlaken area is absolutely beautifull. One of the best place in all Switzerland. Not so far to some reputed skii resorts.

What about the Valais winter resort ? I am Valaisan. Choice would be important.

For summer holidays Interlaken would be much better than a winter resort in Valais.

For an investment along time the small chalet in a Valais winter resort would be better.

Alexandre

I would go for Interlaken, best of both worlds and it's lovely there in the Summer. Not too far away from the beautiful city of Bern either - no contest

Could you explain ?

Well, Interlaken is close to the ski resorts in the winter, but is still a popular destination during the summer. It is geared up for tourists, has easy transport links with the rest of Switzerland, and, as observed by a previous poster, it is close to Bern. The lakes surrounding Interlaken are beautiful, the setting spectacular, and the whole area is likely to be immune from any future effects of global warming - you don't need snow to have a good time in Interlaken.

That, and the fact that it isn't weird, are all advantages that Interlaken has over the Wallis.

That, and the fact that the Wallis is just weird.

Explain that !

Regards

Oh, you agree with me?

Splendid!

You are shy, Doug.

Valais is a great area and I don't find it wierd. Does that make me wierd?

If the Valais chalet is in a primarily winter resort, Interlaken would probably be a better option. It is likely to appeal to a broader range of tourists due to the wider range of attractions and proximity to other towns.

Valais resorts tend to be more isolated. You may be able to attract the highest rental during the skiing season in Valais. There is a summer market there as well but it is more likely to be focussed on walkers rather than a broad range of tourists. If the chalet is accessible to Zermatt or Saas Fe, it could end up more profitable than Interlaken.

I think it boils down to how you are going to use your holiday home and how long you will personally use it. Are you going to rent it most of the time? Will you use it for yourself mainly winter or summer. Interlaken is very central,but if you are spending a lot of time in the Valais and you have a bad winter it could be hard

I'd get the chalet as I hate apartments. But then again it depends which resort it's near in Valais. On the other hand, maintenance in an apartment will probably be easier than a chalet. Actually, I'd probably prefer a summer house on an island somewhere in the Mediterranean as I already live in a chalet in a mountain town. More details please.

You mean "different" or are you ignorant of all things outside of England...?




[grabs coat and calls a cab]

I really appreciate all the answers , this forum is very generous and kind. Not that there is a right answer but what you have all written opens my mind regarding the choices .

Here are some details: A home in Switzerland for us is mainly a sanctuary to run away from the heat and pressure of where we live; we also like hiking and I look at it as a base for endless wondering in quietness and beauty of Switzerland.

In Valais I am talking about LAUCHERNALP, we have been there and we liked the wildness feeling, not exactly like a Swiss-chocolate cover. Financially I think that such an investment would cover itself during the Winter and will give us what we want during the Summer. However, as we live in a big city, we may find hard to be relatively isolated and beside, I also hate too much maintenance.

The village near Interlaken on the other hand, is really really beautiful and quiet, accessible all year round, close enough to endless hiking paths and winter resorts. It would NOT give a return on investment as I am not sure it rents well during winter. I like the idea of the proximity to Interlaken and Bern but on the other hand, I think that this is more a bourgeois choice comparing to LAUCHERNALP.

On a personal level, I am 57 y/o and sometimes I think that the Chalet choice may be a good one for the next 10 years or so, but maybe later on I will be happy with the Village choice.

Again I want to thank you all for paying attention our our "rich people problem".

What you must consider is altitude. The higher the property the soon winter begins and the later it ends. 5 months of snow can get depressing. LAUCHERNALP appears to be 1900 meters - this is very high and above the tree line.

Additionally at altitude you can forget about sitting out on warm evenings - there aren't any. Likewise morning are surprisingly cold and wet with dew year round...

I agree. You can expect frosts by early September. If you have a good, South facing, location you should have some good summer days. I have stayed in Zermatt during the summer and early autumn. This is a similar altitude. It can be very pleasant in the evenings, but does tend to cool off quickly.

Lauchernalp is no where as isolated as Zermatt. From Visp there is good access to most of Switzerland so this would certainly be in its favour. It should have reasonable prospects for summer letting as well as excellent winter prices.

I don't know if we are thinking of the same Lauchernalp. The one I've heard of (walked in that area once) has a Postbus which runs along the Lötschental (the valley) to Fafleralp and connects to the lower end of the aerial cabin to Lauchernalp at Wiler. The aerial cableway runs in winter because of the skiing, but in summer it looks like it runs only in the morning (several times) and the evening as I supposed it is mainly used by hikers. (EDIT: sorry, this is incorrect - using the summer timetable starting 30th May it runs throughout the day. Perhaps looking it up on 9th May, I had found the 'between the seasons' timetable). The postbus up the valley runs once an hour.

If you look at www.map.search.ch, put in Lauchernalp and switch on things like 'culture', 'gastronomie', 'public buildings' you don't get a lot of reaction on the screen. These facilities are certainly much better in Interlaken and region. On the other hand, from Lauchernalp you can walk up over the Lötschenpass to Kandersteg...
As many folk here have found this year, if you go up high and there's a lot of snow, you'll be needing your snowshoes for hiking until mid-May, or perhaps much longer.
I love the countryside but I'd have to go for Interlaken here.

There is only the one that I know of. I thought it was closer to Visp than the travel times indicate. Actually, there is not a lot of difference in times from Zermatt or Lauchernalp to Visp.

I wouldn't just be considering distance and the time it takes me to get there, but if I wasn't going by car (a car well-suited to mountain roads and let's hope there is a road for it to use!), then I'd be asking myself HOW I can get there and, of equal importance, what I'll find there when I arrive.
Going back to the original question - Are you hoping to rent out this chalet or just use it yourselves? In mountain resorts there tends to be a pretty long 'skiing season over, hiking season not yet begun' period. Some of the shops (if there are any!) close and a village can be a pretty depressing place with most of the chalets empty and shutters closed.
Some hotels and restaurants don't open for the summer again until June either.
If you really want peace and quiet this is probably an ideal place to be! Otherwise, perhaps pick a place which gives you the choice of finding peace and quiet when you want it or enjoying other facilites nearby.