grande dixence

First time visit and I would come again. The dam is just vast and slightly surreal. Once you are walking on the top, the size becomes easier to comprehend and then you look up the lake behind the dam and the view is stunning. The water is milky and doesn't seem quite real. There are long walks around the lake and a series of tunnels you can walk through on the way.Loved it.

During a summer of continual poor weather we hoped a break in the cloud cover and rain would allow a fruitful trip to the dam. The weather cleared and we were very impressed by the size of the dam, and the engineering and construction achievements. Worth walking up to the dam summit instead of using the cable car and there are further walks around the nearby mountains.

We are constantly inundated by TV programs and articles describing the latest feat of technology so for me it was refreshing to visit a truly enormous undertaking that was built in the fifties in a time when these things had to be done manually. 6'000'000 m3 of concrete was used between 1951 and 1961 to build this 285m high dam that holds back 400'000'000'000 litres of water to produce 20% of Swiss hydro electric production. I thoroughly recommend the guided tour (10 CHF) which takes you actually inside the dam itself. You need good shoes and a jacket as inside is wet (Dams leak) and cold (6°C). You can take the cable car to the top of the dam or if you are feeling adventurous there is a path for you to walk up assuming you have good footwear. The view from the top of the dam as well as the lake itself are well worth the trip to the top.

The journey up to the dam was beautiful but not for passengers who don't travel well. There is plenty of parking especially up high near the shop, hotel and exhibition. Exhibition and film good with English translations. Tour into dam wall is not suitable for people with any physical limitations as steps inside are very deep and not easy walking surface - nonetheless very interesting but no machinery to see. Cable car and view at the top of dam impressive and run every 10 minutes. Many walks well signposted as is neatly always the case in Switzerland but again check on the difficulty before embarking. A worthwhile visit which is sure to leave you in awe at the sheer size of the project.

The drive from Sion was very spectacular, going through lots of small villages , the meadows were full of wild flowers, very pretty. We drove up to the dam and found the tourist information place. We wanted to do the tour of the inside of the dam and the cable car, total combines cost 15chf. There was a problem with the ticket machine and waited for quite a long time before it was decided to write on the back of the tickets and let the cable car man know. As my friend was using crutches we asked about house safe /easy the tour would be , and were told that there were some steep steps, and that it would be best if we walked to the chapel and waited there for the rest of the group to arrive for 11.30 start . This we did, but at 11.40 the guide and the group walked past the chapel without looking for us, this meant we had to try to catch up with them. It was an unmade rocky path and my friend struggled a bit.We then were taken inside, and shown some machinery, but the guide only spoke in French, and we had no leaflets to explain what it was, luckily my friend speaks French so she could translate for the rest of the people. We then had to climb some steps to enter the inside of the wall and walk through the tunnels. It was quite dark, and one lady got rather panicky. It wasn`t very well lit and the steps were rather difficult to see.Most of the walk there was a grill on the ground but in some parts there was nothing, this meant that as the tunnel was round it was wet in the bottom and quite difficult to avoid getting your feet wet. Walking with legs wide apart was the only option unless you had boots on. There were lots of steps inside and one set was very steep. To be honest I was disappointed that there was no working machinery to see, it was really just a walk through the inside of the wall,There was a film shown about the construction , that was very interesting, but again it was in French, no subtitles, Don't let this put you off visiting, it was an experience, but could have been made better .The cable ride to the top was great and the walk across the top of the dam was worth it just for the views. Luckily it was a warm day and not windy. The hotel has a food area and the meals were very reasonable priced. There is also a picnic area just a short distance away.

Great hiking trail even in snow conditions, possibilities of buying food and drink on the way, great wievs on mont Blanc de Cheillon

Our Swiss host felt that if we were in his part of Switzerland, this was a must see, so he took us up there on the second day of our trip. The ride up was amazing, with twisting, winding roads that we are very unused to in Central Canada. The Dam itself was remarkable! The sheer size of it will take your breath away and the museum showing its construction at a time when todays machinery and technology was not available was really something to think about. We took the trolley up to the top, then spent an hour or so walking the trails and tunnels around the lakes edge, which was heaven for me with my love of photographing flowers! Even though it was late season, there was still a beautiful array of them! We then chose to walk back down, rather than ride, so enjoyed the journey down as well as the little church constructed for the workers that is half way down to the main buildings. They have a restaurant that was too busy for our liking so we carried on, but not before stopping at the little gift shop on site.

Driving up to the dam we didn't have much of a feeling of seeing the dam. But once we got our first sight of the dam both of us said WOW!! It looked so alien!! Once we reached the parking lot and walked up to the gondola we were in awe. A little museum showed a short film of the building of the dam. Another wow! Took the 4 minute ride up and saw the dam from the top. We really liked what we saw. The water was such a milky color from the soft white stones. We hiked around the water and it was such a nice walk, walking through tunnels. So many wild flowers on the mountain. We really were amazed with the dam and highly recommend this place to see if you are in the area.

The dam is open to the public for a limited time only - June to September. If you're in the area during this time don't miss going to the dam. The drive there is very picturesque but then you get to the bottom of the dam. We took the guided tour and it was very informative, you get to walk in the dam for a while. Then we took the cable car to the top of the dam (you can also hike) and from the some 2,300 m the view of the valley is gorgeous and The lake is fantastic.

If you like your scenery big, then do not miss a trip to see the dam! Both the dam and the surrounding 10,000ft peaks will astound you in their magnitude. The photos shown above do not do justice to the scale of the place. The dam itself is massive and it's at least 300ft from the top of the dam down to the lake. We thought that this would be just another day out in Switzerland, but it turned out to be one of the highlights of our whole trip to the country. Afterwards follow the signs to the picture postcard village of Evolene, not far away, which is unmissable too.

we visited the trimended place and walked around the lake. we even passed the night on the parking in front of the wall in a camping car.

huge construction from mid-20th century. breath taking views and walks

Simplesmente fabulosa, de tirar o fôlego! Recomendo pegar o teleférico e subir até o topo para ter uma ampla visão desta obra grandiosa!

Esta barragem hidrelétrica é a mais elevada do mundo (285 metros de altitude)e é a maior obra de engenharia moderna na Suíça. Ótimo passeio!

Un posto sicuramente da vedere! È fantastico, consiglio di salire con la funivia e scendere a piedi, è bella sia vista dal basso che direttamente sopra la diga, è la piu alta al mondo e il paesaggio attorno è formidabile, l 'ho visitata ad agosto ma le montagne piu alte sono perennemente innevate, se si va in vacanza nel Vallese la diga si DEVE vedere!