Access by car
Driving to Thyon
Those who plan to drive from or via other places in French-speaking Switzerland should take Swiss Autoroute A9, which runs along Lake Geneva and then heads up the Rhone Valley, to Sion. Note that you need a Swiss autoroute sticker on your windshield to use the Swiss autoroutes: stickers cost CHF 40.- per year. Exit the Autoroute at Sion-Est, and turn right straight off the exit (you can’t turn left). Follow signs for Val d’Hérens up the mountain to Vex (about 9 km up), and the villages above. The highest village, Thyon, is a 25-km drive up the mountain, and those not used to driving hairpins will be when they arrive.
From south of the Alps one can drive to Thyon région via one of the following mountain passes: the Forclaz, the Pas.de-Morgins, the Simplon, and the Grand-St-Bernard. Mountain passes are not always open during the winter, so it may be best to call for information on ++41 27 788 44 00.
From the north two tunnels allow drivers to put their car on a train which goes under the Alps. There is the Lotschberg BLS tunnel between Kandersteig and Goppenstein, which is about 40 minutes from Sion further up the Rhone Valley (info at ++41 900 55 33 33), and the Furka tunnel between Realp and Oberwald, which is also up the Rhone valley from Sion, but a bit further away (info on ++41 27 922 82 82).
Flying
International connections may be made at Geneva, Zurich, Berne and Basle International airports. |
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Access by train
Train Links
The efficient Swiss train system (CFF) gets one quickly and comfortably from any of the major Swiss cities and airports to Sion on direct trains, and there is regular postal bus service between the Sion train station and the villages making up Thyon-Région.
There are also good train connections for the following European cities: Freiburg, Cologne, Wiesbaden, Hamburg, Dortmund, Luxembourg, Brussells, Florence, Rome, Venice-Milan (Cisalpino), Strasbourg and Paris (which has as special TGV des Neiges straight through to Sion during ski season).
There are good train links between Switzerland and the Europan network as a whole. For further info call ++ 41 900 300 300 or try the Swiss train network’s website: http://www.cff.ch/
Those arriving in Sion with the train should check the bus schedule, as there are fewer postal busses leaving Sion for Thyon-Région than there are trains into Sion (4-5 Sion-Thyon runs and 7-8 Sion –Hérémence runs per day). Info may be had directly with the bus company on ++41 27 322 71 72 or at http://www.theytaz-excursion.ch/., but non-French speakers may find it simpler to check the postal bus connection with the Swiss CFF when they purchase their train ticket. It is possible to buy the bus ticket and get schedule info when the train ticket is purchased, as long as one goes to the CFF ticket window and not a machine.
Taxi Service Between Sion and Thyon-Région
Taxis will take those in a hurry right up to their lodgings from the train station in Sion: Les Collons runs about CHF 80.-, Hérémence CHF 50.- and the trip all the way up to Thyon 2000 generally costs about CHF 100.-
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