Val Bavona: the Foroglio waterfall and the stone huts of Val Calnègia

Val Bavona is the steepest and poorest valley in the Swiss Alps: twelve villages without electricity until a few years ago, houses built under fallen boulders, and a waterfall, at Foroglio, that drops a hundred metres right behind the houses. This is where you understand what living on nothing in the mountains meant.

The route

From Foroglio we climb to the waterfall and on into Val Calnègia, a hanging plateau with its splüi, houses built under erratic boulders, and the hamlets of Puntid and Calnègia.

We return by the same path, with a stop at the Foroglio grotto for anyone who wants polenta.

Who it's for

• anyone who wants to see with their own eyes an architecture that exists nowhere else
• anyone who loves waterfalls and hanging valleys
• anyone after a half-day walk with a huge payoff

Good to know

There is almost no phone signal in Val Bavona and the villages are lived in only in summer. The Foroglio grotto is open April to October. The valley is closed by snow in winter: this walk runs May to October.

You are crossing into Switzerland

A valid ID in your pocket, not in your rucksack: Switzerland is not in the European Union and border checks do happen.

Mountain rescue is charged for: in Switzerland the helicopter is billed to the person who calls it. Guiddy accident insurance is included, but a Rega card (about €40 a year) or a policy covering rescue costs in Switzerland is what we suggest to everyone.

Swiss francs: huts and cable cars almost always take cards, but a few valley huts are still cash only. The European health card is valid in Switzerland for emergency care.

If your dog comes along: Switzerland requires a microchip, an EU pet passport and a valid rabies vaccination, given at least 21 days beforehand. Without them the dog is turned back at the border.

Getting there

A9 to Bellinzona, then Locarno, up Vallemaggia to Cevio and into Val Bavona: two hours twenty from the ring road.

By car you need the Swiss motorway vignette (CHF 40, valid for the calendar year) if you use the motorway: you buy it at the border, at petrol stations near the crossing, or online.