We’ve just arrived at the skiing and hiking village of Bettmeralp in Switzerland, and after almost a full day of driving we’re settling into the Hotel Garni Slalom before heading out to explore our picturesque Alpine surroundings.

Our route followed a similar pattern to our previous days in the Alps, ascending and descending into one glorious mountain pass after the next. Our route to Bettmeralp took us through some barely noticeable border crossings, allowing us to take a shortcut through the Mont Blanc tunnel in Italy (for a modest fee of €32), and briefly back into France again for a last chance to eat French onion soup in Chamonix before finally getting our passports out for entry into Switzerland.

Descending into the Rhone Valley, we spent another 30 minutes on the highway before arriving at the only means of reaching the Bettmeralp village; via cableway. Grabbing our luggage, we only just managed to make the last cable-car of the day, ascending to 2000m above sea level and to some classic Alpine scenery like you read about in story books.

Despite arriving fairly late in the day, the light was perfect; from our hotel room, there was a clear view of the mountain scenery on the opposite side of the valley, with the Matterhorn standing proudly in the distance. It was noticeably cooler, but that didn’t stop us from wandering out and exploring our surrounds.