To get to Leukerbad you have to get on the main rail line between Geneva and Milan, Italy, and get off at the stop for Leuk. This is where we transferred onto a bus, pulling a trailer (for bikes) that wound 20 KM up and up switchbacks into the mountains until we could go no further.
Leuker is “bad” because “bad” means “baths” in German. So Leukerbad is the village in the Alps where the hot springs flow out, and the Romans established bathhouses.
Leukerbad is at the upper end of the valley, and the only way out is walking up and over the mountains. I mean it is literally walled in on three sides. The best way out, and the way the Romans used, is going 900 meters (about 3000 feet) over the Gemmi Pass.
Leukerbad sits at 1402 meters (4602 feet) and is a small town, headquarters for mountain bikers, hikers and climbers, skiers in the winter and other ner’-do-wells. People like me. There are a lot of restaurants and hotels, but in our time here we meet two other English speakers, both from the UK.
BUT….
The other thing Leukerbad has is the thermal baths.
So this seems like a great place for us to go: I can hike and climb while Gail relaxes at the spa and baths.
I don’t know why you haven’t heard of it. I hadn’t either, until I ran across an article on the internet about the longest Via Ferrata climbing route in Switzerland, a route that happens to start here, in Leukerbad.
So here we are.
Unfortunately for me, the Via Feratta is closed due to heavy snows, and won’t be open until at least the 29 July, four or five days after we leave. Still, I end up taking a few good hikes and climb the Torrenthorn (see the following posts).
Fortunately for Gail, the two main thermal baths are running.
The bus dropped us off in the main town square at the combo SBB Bus/train station, City Hall, Tourist Information and shopping center.
This is a seriously small village.
It is a modern building; in town there are many old old cabins, some still in use, interspersed between more modern buildings.
To find our hotel, the Hotel Alpina, Daniel emailed me and said, “We are next to the church.”
OK. Easy enough. The church was obvious (tallest steeple in town) and sure enough, there is the hotel. We have a great little room, cozy and wood-beamed ceiling, with a deck out over the cafe below.
We can see the Daubhorn and canyon wall, and with the church next to us we get the bells (but surprisingly, not overwhelmingly so).
When we arrive, we are shown our room. Down below a birthday party for the owner’s wife is in full swing; the whole accordion playing, beer - singing, laughing hoopla. When the church bells chime in, we feel very… very… well, we feel very Swiss.
So we head down for a beer and glass of wine.
It takes us about thirty minutes to explore the entire town. Three grocery stores, including one next to us, about twenty-five restaurants, a few sports and clothing stores, one main street and that’s about it. There are two lifts out of town, one up to the Torrent Ski Area, and one up to Gemmi Pass. The canyon walls rise RIGHT THERE, you have to tilt your head back to see out, and the days are shortened.
The Walliser Alpentherme and Spa is one block from us, the Leukerbad Therme is “all the way across town” so we snag at 3:30 appointment for the Römisch-Irisches Bad at Walliser.
A group of men are playing Alpen Horns at the city hall where we arrived, and the sound echoes throughout the entire valley.
We head up to the room to get our swimsuits, which we will not need at the Alpentherme. Not at first.
The Römisch-Irisches Bad is a nude bath that you take in stages. We had a great experience in Baden-Baden Germany a couple years ago, so we had no hesitation signing up for this one. And it was a real deal at only CHF63 each. We got the two hour “bad” experience plus three hours in the heated pools of the Walliser Alpentherme and Spa.
Here is what it was like, if you are interested in going.
First, the Römisch-Irisches Bad. You show up and they give you a wrist band that is programmed to allow you to enter and exit only certain areas.
Into the co-ed changing and locker room (there are changing booths if you are suddenly shy, but there are naked people walking politely around) where you strip, change, shower and lock up your street clothes.
We went to the private third floor, accessed by only one glass elevator. No other stairs or elevator access. Your wrist band lets you enter (or not if you are just trying to sneak a peek).
We were greeted by a young twenty-something girl, our hostess. She showed us where to hang our towels and swimsuits, and where to shower (yes, a second time).
The floor is laid out in a square. You go around the outside, station to station (event to event if you will). In the middle are two very big “hang out” pools, like a yin-yang symbol.
Yes, there are other people going through, at different stages along the way.
Our first stop was a sauna, fifteen minutes cooking at 54 degrees C (129F). On to the next sauna, opening the pores they say, at 68 degrees C (154F).
You have to at least have some idea of C to F conversions, by the way.
Then we showered again and went into the MAIN EVENT! The brush massage!
You walk into a room where a warm stone slab is waiting, like an alter. I laid down on my back, no towel or anything, and the young hostess started in with a scrub brush, toes to stomach, fingers to chest. Flip over and repeat. It makes you all tingly.
After about a twenty minute massage, we were shown to the 38° C (100 F) degree steam room where we rubbed coarse salt on ourselves (YIKES! It stung, but Gail liked it) and sweated a while.
We then passed to the 36 degree half of the Yin-Yang pool where we swam and floated a while, then off to the 34 degree bubbly “hot tub” that was warm in spite of being only 93 degrees fahrenheit. The hostess brought us lemon-water drinks to re-hydrate while we bubbled. Always with a smile on her face, that nice young hostess.
Back to the “yang” side of the pool, brisk now at 28 degrees, then a final plunge in the 12 degree (54F) cold plunge pool.
At this point you can go back and revisit any of the rooms, or tuck off into the quiet sleep room.
We tucked in, and rested soundly as the cathedral bells tolled outside.
After two hours, we thanked the smiling young hostess, put our suits back on, and headed out into the general spa and therme crowd. There is a big, warm water pool, and various places bubble up. For instance, there are beds you can lay on, about a root into the water, with your head resting comfortably on a rubber bumper. Suddenly bubbles come up, like a hot tub, for maybe ten minutes hen it is quiet while the seats along the edge all bubble. You are surrounded by mountains, and it is very relaxing. There are spouts that pour water down on your head, and you can always just float around.
Inside there is another pool and a “hot tub” that is slightly warmer. No chlorine in the water, it is just natural spring water pumped through, so it is continuously flushed.
That first night we ate dinner at the hotel. Gail had a veggie penne pasta, I had pork cordon blue which is basically pork, with more pork, breaded and stuffed with cheese. They were good, solid meals, but not outstanding in any way.
The next day I went climbing while Gail returned to the Walliser Alpentherme for a facial. When we hooked up in the afternoon, we walked over to the other big thermal spring spa, the Leukerbad Therme.
This one had a lot more water features, kind of like a DisneyLand of thermal springs, but it was a lot noisier with kids running around. There is an actual kid area with water slides and all, but the kids still invaded the “relaxation pools.”
The water felt slightly warmer than at Walliser.
They had the bubble beds and seats, even bubble booths and a big water volcano. There were the water spouts to dump on your head, and a waterfall as well. The hottest pool was hidden in a dark, round room with mood lights.
Overall, we preferred Walliser, I think because it was more relaxing.
Gail found a nice place for us to eat dinner, the 1411 Altitude. The food was about the same price as the last night, but the quality was better, the presentation beautiful, and the portions a little smaller. We started with a complimentary ravioli, stuffed with ricotta cheese in a spicy sauce, and that may have been the single best thing of the evening. The bread was seeded and there was a garlic herb butter to go with it. Gail started with a salad that was a fantastic mix, and I had BBQ shrimp with mango sauce. Gail then had a chicken skewer and a bowl of coconut curry cream soup. The idea is to cut up the chicken and eat it in the curry sauce/soup. I had meat stuffed ravioli.
The last day I had some chores to do before hiking. We went to the bus station and shipped our luggage on to the next town, Kandersteg, where we will arrive via mountain hiking on Wednesday. We had to do a little laundry, since Kandersteg has no facilities and I am not sure about Appenzell.
There is a small laundry in Leukerbad, just around the corner from us. I did not find any information on it with a google search, but it is here. About a block below the hotel, two washing machines and one dryer, open 8-19:00 (right under the Hotel Dala).
Meanwhile, Gail went back to the Walliser for a hot oil massage.
Then we went hiking on the Thermalquellen Weg, spent some time at a little mountain cafe, and came back into Leukerbad to read and eat dinner at the little burger shack on the main square. I can tell we have been gone a long time; a bacon-cheese burger and fries tasted pretty good tonight.