Switzerland: Zurich & Valais
21st May - 3rd June 2026
Thursday 21st May: We flew from Manchester to Zurich where we planned to stay for a couple of days before heading south to the Valais. On the Friday we walked around Hohenberg looking for birds and butterflies and in some of the more grassy and meadowy areas we found Mazarine Blue, Small Heath, Small White, Red Admiral, Sooty Copper and Speckled Wood.
Saturday 23rd May: On the Saturday we took the train down the west side of Lake Zurich to the bottom of the lake where a nature reserve has been created called Frauenwinkel. Here we hear Great Reed Warbler singing and saw both Common Blue and Large Skipper.
We then took a bus to Greifensee nature reserve which is further round on the east side of Lake Zurich. This turned out to be excellent for not only birds such as Common Tern and Marsh Warbler but also orchids with Broad-leaved Marsh Orchid, Early Purple Orchid, Military Orchid and Common Spotted Orchid. There we also a fair variety of different butterflies including Marsh Fritillary, False Heath Fritillary, Adonis Blue, Small Tortoiseshell, Dingy Skipper, Brimstone and Swallowtail.
False Heath Fritillary Marsh Fritillary Adonis Blue
Sunday 24th May: The next morning we took a train from Zurich to Brig which is the main town in the Valais region of Switzerland. Brig is an excellent place from which to explore the mountains with excellent public transport in the form of trains, buses and cable cars which take you to pretty much any town or village in the region that you want to visit.
Monday 25th May: We decided to spend the first day on the Simplon Pass which is a famous valley that connects Switzerland with Italy and is the main south over the alps. We spent all day walking through various parts of the Pass and found a wide range of butterflies including Small Blue, Queen of Spain Fritillary, Southern Grizzled Skipper, Rosy Grizzled Skipper, Northern Wall Brown, Chequered Skipper, Dark Green-veined White, Large White, Painted Lady, Woodland Ringlet, Small Copper, Green Hairstreak, Orange Tip and Green-veined White. In the wooded areas we also saw both Elderflower Orchid and Early Purple Orchid.
Chequered Skipper Dark-veined White Northern Wall Brown
Tuesday 26th May: The next day we headed east up the Rhone valley to Bettmeralp which requires a cable car to get to the village which is at 1948m. One of the interesting birds that breeds here is the Water Pipit and we also saw Ring Ouzel, Red Kite, Linnet, Northern Wheatear, Whinchat, Alpine Chough and Raven. As the morning wore on and the temperature rose we found a number of butterflies including Large Wall Brown, Dingy Skipper, Green Hairstreak, Small Tortoiseshell, Large Wall Brown, Alpine Heath, de Prunner’s Ringlet, Clouded Yellow, Common Blue and Small Blue.
Water Pipit Northern Wall Brown Alpine Heath
Wednesday 27th May: On the Wednesday we decided to explore the area to the west of Brig in particular Inden and Leukerbad. At Inden we found a delightful walk through the woods seeing Western Bonelli’s Warbler, Bird’s Nest Orchid, White Helleborine, Glanville Fritillary, Swallowtail and Wall Brown.
Western Bonelli's Warbler Swallowtail Bird's Nest Orchid
We then took the bus to the top of the mountain to the spa town of Leukerbad which is at 1402m. The butterflies here were really excellent including Adonis Blue, Common Blue, Small Blue, Turquoise Blue, Clouded Apollo, Small Heath, Orange Tip, Clouded Yellow, Small Tortoiseshell, Wood White, Southern Heath Fritillary, Pale Clouded Yellow and Glanville Fritillary. We also found some Heath Fragrant Orchids and Frog Orchids.
Turquoise Blue Pale Clouded Yellow Clouded Apollo
Thursday 28th May: We decided to return to Bettmeralp and also further west to the town of Riederalp. Along the road there were many sunny banks with flowers and butterflies including Large Blue, Mountain Ringlet, Geranium Argus, Olive Skipper and Pearl-bordered Fritillary.
Olive Skipper Mountain Ringlet Large Blue
Friday 29th May: Another bus trip to the Simplon Pass, this time alighting at Rossbodenstrasse which we read was a good spot for butterflies. We ascended all the way to the top of road and on the way found some interesting species including our first Darwin’s Heath as well as Baton Blue, Green Hairstreak, Southern Heath Fritillary and Pearl-bordered Fritillary.
Darwin's Heath Green Hairstreak Woodland Ringlet
Saturday 30th May: For our final day in the Valais we returned to Leukerbad and decided to go on a long walk from the village up to the top of the mountain. Early on we saw a male and female Crossbill and soon after the butterflies started to appear. One particular area near a stream had large numbers of Small Blue, Common Blue, Adonis Blue, Mazarine Blue, Geranium Argus, Pearl-bordered Fritillary, Glanville Fritillary and a single Baton Blue. Further on we found Clouded Apollo, Pale Clouded Yellow, Queen of Spain Fritillary, Dingy Skipper and a Northern Brown Argus.
Crossbill Small/Mazarine Blue & Geranium Bronze Southern Heath Fritillary Mazarine Blue Glanville Fritillary Batob Blue
Sunday 31st May: On the Sunday we took the train from Brig back to Zurich and the following day caught a bus to the Effingen Jurapark Argau. Here we found some interesting orchids including Fly Orchid, Greater Butterfly Orchid, Bee Orchid, Chalk Fragrant Orchid, Common Spotted Orchid, Common Twayblade and Pyramidal Orchid.
Fly Orchid Greater Butterfly Orchid Pyramidal Orchid
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