Brig

Brig lies five minutes below Ried-Brig and is the practical hub of any stay: this is where you shop, where the train stops, where the hospital is. But it's also a town worth visiting in its own right. Brig-Glis was named Alpine Town of the Year in 2008 and received the Wakker Prize in 2026 for the care with which it manages its townscape.

The Stockalper Palace dominates the town centre. Kaspar Stockalper vom Thurm (1609-1691) built it from 1649 onwards with the proceeds of his salt and transport trade over the Simplon, and it's considered the most powerful secular baroque building in what is now Switzerland. Three granite towers with onion domes surround a Renaissance arcaded courtyard that's free to enter during the day. Inside are the town council, the district court and the Passage Simplon museum. A guided tour costs from CHF 12, or CHF 17 combined with the town walk.

Every Saturday morning between eight and noon, the Stadtplatz fills with market stalls selling local vegetables, fruit, meat and cheese, the best way to start a holiday week. From June to October, a public town walk of an hour and a half sets off every Thursday at quarter past five from the Chavez fountain. The centre is car-free, with terraces, shops and cafés all within walking distance of each other.

Just outside town lies Brigerbad, where the Romans already used to bathe. The spring supplies fifty litres per second of lithium-rich thermal water at 21 to 50 degrees to more than 2,600 square metres of pools, all year round. In summer there's also the Geschina open-air pool, with a diving tower, slide and a generous sunbathing lawn. And from Brig station, the Glacier Express departs for Zermatt and St Moritz, one of the world's most beautiful train journeys, quite literally around the corner.