Bellwald – Chalet «Zur Alten Mühle»

About this accommodation:
Holiday flat (ground floor) in a detached house. ~40 square metres living space.
Spacious bathroom with bathtub. Kitchen-living room with electric cooker with oven (4 hotplates) & wood-burning stove (one hotplate).
1 double bedroom. 1 bedroom with 3 single beds.
Terrace with wooden benches.
The guest cards & visitor's tax, towels, bed linen and final cleaning are already included in the day/night price!

The accommodation:
Wonderful picture book chalet in the sunny Upper Valais Alps (Goms) in the mountain village of Bellwald at 1600 metres above sea level.

Near the mill there is a beautiful almost snow-sure (artificial snow) ski area (1700m to 2560m.a.s.l.) of the Bellwald Sportbahnen A.G. which can be reached on foot in 15 minutes uphill. For those who prefer to be driven, there are two ski bus stops down the slope on the village road; Restaurant Bellwald (20 seconds away) and Restaurant Pöstli.
The bus fare (sports bus) is included in the ski ticket.

The Aletsch Arena, Belalp, Zermatt, Crans-Montana and Saas-Fee ski areas are also within easy reach for day trips...

You can also go sledging on part of the Bellwald Sportbahnen ski slope (you can bring your own or hire one on site) and take the chairlift up in comfort.

There are also very interesting leisure activities on offer in summer. (More details below)

The chalet "Zur Alten Mühle" was built in 1940.
In its first use it was a grain water mill. In the late 1940s and 1950s, it was completely converted into a residential building for the first time.
At that time, it was still far away from the village centre. Today it stands in the centre of Bellwald. The village supermarket Volg with bread/baked goods sales from Imwinkelried (regional) bakery, Raiffeisen bank, post office (Volg) and the Bellwald-Fürgangen cable car station are each 5 minutes' walk away.

The mill is a paradise for book lovers (see photos; bookshelves)! Here you will find the peace and cosiness for your books.
In winter, the crackling of the wood stove makes the atmosphere perfect.

You will look in vain for the television here. Fear and anxiety of the TV channels and muggle press and the associated negative feelings stay outside !
But there is Internet via WLAN (WiFi)
Almost everyone has their laptop and DVD's, smartphone or tablet with them...

I wish you a wonderful stay in the mill !

Access for guests:
Completely independent flat with its own front door and terrace.
Laundry via my washing machine upstairs.

Other important notes:
The total price includes the tourist tax and guest card.
(the owner of the building pays CHF 800.- per year in Bellwald in standard tourist tax for his guests IN ADVANCE)

Here you will be: Bellwald, Valais, Switzerland
Bellwald is an idyllic mountain village with beautiful nature and mountain panoramas, just right for resting, relaxing and recharging your batteries.

There are many opportunities for leisure activities and recreation in Bellwald and the region.
Up-to-date information, flyers and suggestions can be found at the Bellwald tourist office and on the Internet. (www punkt Bellwald punkt ch)

Numerous restaurants and bars invite you to stop for a bite to eat.
For party lovers, there are usually a few events in the bars, in the village and on New Year's Eve during the winter season.

There are many other ski resorts within a day trip's distance (see above). Just one stop away from Bellwald-Fürgangen on the M.G.B., the cable car to Fiescheralp in Fiesch is the first access point to the Aletsch Arena.

Outside the winter season, you can go hiking. But even with snow, a walk through a quiet snow-covered enchanted forest followed by a stop at a restaurant is a lovely activity.

In summer, you can take the chairlift up to Bellwald Sportbahnen with scooters and mountain cars and then whizz down...

For mountain bikers, there is the Bellwald Sportbahnen Bike Park!
Start at 2040m finish at 1650m, length 2200 to 3000m.
The record is 3.20 minutes !
www punkt Bellwald punkt com / Bikepark Bellwald

For hikers, the Gommer Höhenweg and the Rotten(Rhône)Weg are beautiful activities.
Here is an extract from the Gommer Höhenweg brochure published by the Furka Oberalp Bahn (now M.G.B.):

Goms, the uppermost part of the Rhone Valley with its pretty villages, hidden art treasures and harmonious landscape, invites you to enjoy a leisurely hike. The Goms High Trail offers views of tanned villages, dreamy hamlets and the young Rhone, which runs through the valley like a silver ribbon. To the east is the Galenstock with its glistening firn, to the west the pyramid of the Weisshorn.
The -Rottenweg- follows the young Rotten (the name of the Rhone in Upper Valais) on the left side of the valley from Oberwald to Ernen. Flower-filled meadows alternate with shady forests. The charm of this trail lies in the opportunity to visit the quaint Valais villages with their beautiful churches. The Rottenweg has hardly any inclines and is well laid out throughout, making it suitable for hikers and walkers who are not used to the mountains.
Hiking made to measure. The Gommer Höhenweg and Rottenweg lead in short stages to the individual villages with their railway stations on the Furka-Oberalp Railway (now the M.G.B.). You can therefore easily change the programme during the hike and shorten or extend the tour...

On the way around the accommodation:
Train:
Arrival by train (S.B.B.) via Hbf. Brig. In Brig station forecourt, change to the M.G.B. rack railway (Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn, formerly F.O. Furka Oberalp) to the Fürgangen-Bellwald stop. Then take the aerial cableway to Bellwald.
For personal timetables:
www*sbb*ch
For personal maps&routes:
www*wego*here*com

Plane:
1. airport Geneva-Cointrin,
2. airport Milano,
3. airport Zurich,
4. airport Basel,
from there hire car or via train/S.B.B. direction Brig and then M.G.B. Bellwald-Fürgangen. Bellwald-Fürgangen.

If you arrive at Milan airport, you can also take the car transport through the Simplon tunnel of the S.B.B. Iselle di Trasquera (IT) - Brig (CH) (~5:30 to ~22 hrs).
www*sbb*ch/bahnhof-services/auto-velo/autoverlad/autoverlad-simplon*html

Car:
Bellwald can be easily reached by road at any time of year. In winter there is a very good snow clearing service.
Nevertheless, it is a good idea to have snow chains with you for exceptional cases.
To shorten your journey and take a pleasant break, you can take the following car transport:

If travelling from the west via e.g. Basel & Bern:
Car transport Lötschberg (B.L.S.) - Kandersteg-Goppenstein (5:50 to 23:20), www*bls*ch/e/autoverlad/fahrplan-goppenstein*php

If travelling from the east via e.g. Zurich & Lucerne
Take the Furka car transport (M.G.B.) - Realp-Oberwald (~5:30 to ~18:30 & ~19 & ~21).
www*matterhorngotthardbahn*ch/en/winter/anreise/autoverlad/furka/fahrplanpreise

You can of course also take the passes:
Furkapass
Grimselpass

Attention: only open when --snow-free! I.e. ~May to ~October. The Furka Pass can also be closed spontaneously due to snowfall all year round.
Attention: Although the passes are very well developed, they are also very winding routes.

There are plenty of free car parks in Bellwald. There is a car park at the entrance to Bellwald, a large one below the cable car station in Bellwald centrally (for 80 cars).

House rules:
ALWAYS treat the mill (chalet) and its inventory with respect and consideration! The tenant pays for any damage caused !
Loving and house-trained pets are allowed. House parties are forbidden !!!
Please smoke outside.
The tourist tax is included in the total price.
Guest cards can therefore be obtained free of charge from the tourist office.
This gives you discounts in the region.
The rooms must be aired for at least 5 minutes after each night.
The same for the bathroom after every shower etc.
When cooking, please also air the rooms briefly from time to time (the quickest way is to simply open the front door for 1 minute).
Many thanks and best wishes!
Géréon - owner of the chalet (and the watchmaker of Bellwald. My workshop is upstairs in the mill)