Verbier to Zermatt E-Bike Tour: the Swiss Heart of the Haute Route in 6 Days

We meet in the morning in Martigny, at the foot of the valley: bikes and bags go into the Exo'bus, and half an hour later you are in Verbier. E-bike set-up, a battery management briefing, and off we go.

Verbier is a name that makes mountain bikers dream the world over: hundreds of kilometres of trails, legendary downhill runs and guides who ride here all year. We gain height to link the best trails of the moment, facing the Grand Combin.

In the afternoon, the mood changes as we join the bisses: irrigation channels the people of the Valais have clung to cliffs since the Middle Ages, sometimes on wooden troughs hanging over the void, to water sun-scorched meadows. Their maintenance paths are now exceptional balcony trails. We finish in Nendaz, the capital of the Valais bisses, and the first evening ends on a terrace.

The biggest climb of the trip, and the day the journey really turns. A long ascent takes us to the watershed between Nendaz and Val d'Hérens; the motor helps, but the gradient stays proper Swiss. At the top, the view opens onto the glaciers at the head of the valley and the Dent Blanche.

Down we go along an airy ridge, then a long singletrack through arolla and pine forest. A little botany for the road: the arolla pine takes its English name from the village of Arolla, at the very end of this valley.

Val d'Hérens keeps its traditions like nowhere else: the costumes of Evolène, a carnival of carved wooden masks, the earth pyramids of Euseigne sculpted by erosion, and the Hérens queens, black cows that fight every spring to lead the herd. Tonight's hotel has kept all its Alpine soul.

The moment everyone waits for. We climb to Col de Torrent, above 2,900 m, the high point of the Haute Route by e-bike. The final switchbacks are sometimes on foot, bike alongside: that is the price of high mountains, and every metre is worth it. At the pass, the Imperial Crown of Val d'Anniviers is revealed: Weisshorn, Zinalrothorn, Ober Gabelhorn, Dent Blanche.

The descent drops to Lac de Moiry, a reservoir of unreal turquoise beneath its glacier, then on to Grimentz. Here, cellars still hold "glacier wine", a vin de garde handed down through families for generations. For centuries the people of Anniviers lived as semi-nomads, moving up and down the valley with the seasons, from the vineyards of Sierre to the high pastures.

Evening in a historic hotel, the kind of place that makes the Haute Route so special.

A day of contrasts. It opens with a monumental descent, more than 1,800 m in one go, from the high pastures to the vineyards of the Rhône valley: pure joy if you love linking turns.

Then the Valais switches language. Past the language border, signposts, menus and conversations switch to German. The scenery stays faithful: larches, pastures, and wooden granaries perched on flat stones to keep the mice out. We alternate forest singletrack, flowing sections and a few honest climbs.

The stage ends high above Bürchen, at an alpine lodge at around 2,000 m. Silence, crisp air, the peaks of the Upper Valais straight ahead, and a good night's sleep before the final day.

Final stage, heading up the Mattertal, the valley that leads to Zermatt. The slopes steepen, hamlets cling to the hillside, and above us rises the Dom, 4,545 m, the highest mountain entirely within Switzerland. The Matterhorn stays hidden until the very end.

Climbs, panoramic traverses and playful singletrack follow one another until the bend where it finally appears: 4,478 m, the most famous pyramid in the Alps. It moves everyone, even those who have seen it a thousand times in photos.

We ride into car-free Zermatt, where small electric vehicles have replaced cars. Five stages, 235 km, 11,000 m of climbing: you have just ridden the Swiss Haute Route. Spa, celebration dinner and sunset on the Matterhorn.

A final morning at the foot of the Matterhorn. Depending on the group's energy and the weather, your guide offers one more ride on the trails around Zermatt, or you can wander through the old village, among centuries-old granaries and mountain guide shops.

Late in the morning we ride down to Täsch, where the Exo'bus is waiting with the luggage. Back in Martigny by early afternoon, your head full of passes, turquoise lakes and 4,000 m peaks.