Valais: living, going out and working in the canton

In 2024, the canton's population growth (+1.5%) was 83% driven by immigration, according to the cantonal statistics office: three quarters of newcomers come from the European Union, first of all from France, Portugal and Italy.

Valais is bilingual: article 12 of the Constitution declares French and German “national” languages and requires equal treatment between them in legislation and in the administration.

In practice, Valais/Wallis Promotion describes a canton split in two: people in Central and Lower Valais speak French, while those in Upper Valais speak Valais German (Walliserdeutsch), an Alemannic dialect that the body says is spoken by around 80,000 people and that varies almost from one valley to the next; it describes the dialect as hard to understand for those not familiar with it.

Valais still lives under its Constitution of 8 March 1907, amended many times (the version in force dates from 1 May 2023).

Two particularities: the Constitution requires one councillor from Upper Valais, one from Central Valais and one from Lower Valais, the other two being chosen from the whole canton, with no more than one member per district (art. 52). And the Council of State organises itself every year: the outgoing president cannot immediately be re-elected.

Popular rights let citizens propose or reject texts:

• Optional referendum: 3,000 active citizens within ninety days of official publication (art. 31).
• Popular initiative: 4,000 active citizens can ask for a law, decree or decision to be drafted, adopted, amended or repealed (art. 33).

Who can vote? Citizens exercise their political rights at 18 years of age (art. 88) and vote in one municipality only (art. 89). The text of the Constitution does not mention voting rights for foreign nationals; we did not read the law on political rights: ask your municipality of residence.

• Tax: in France. Valais is one of the eight cantons of the 1983 agreement (Vaud, Valais, Neuchâtel, Jura, Bern, Basel-City, Basel-Country, Solothurn). You are taxed in France like any French employee: your Swiss employer pays your salary without tax withheld at source if it holds your 2041-AS certificate, which you give it before taking up your duties, then every year before 1 January. Without it, the employer withholds Swiss tax.
• To stay in this regime: no more than 45 nights a year in Switzerland for a full-time job, and a commute of at most three hours a day, round trip included (beyond that, you must be able to prove that you go home every day without exceeding 45 nights).
• The compensation between states: France pays the eight cantons 4.5% of the gross payroll of their cross-border workers. It is a mechanism between states, with no direct effect on your salary or your tax.
• Remote working: up to 40% of your annual working time from France, the regime does not change. Beyond that, you leave the cross-border regime and your whole remuneration is taxed under the general rules of the 1966 treaty.
• G permit: it is an authorisation issued by the authorities of the canton where you work, and your employer files the application. In Valais, the competent authority is the Population and Migration Service (SPM), in Sion.
• Hospitality collective agreement (CCNT): its minimums run from CHF 3,713 to 5,293 gross a month in 2026 depending on qualification (CHF 4,528 with a CFC), full-time.
• Cantonal minimum wage: we could not confirm, on an official Valais website, that the canton has a statutory minimum wage of its own. Rely on what your contract and the CCNT provide, and ask the cantonal administration if in doubt.

Valais/Wallis Promotion also offers a settling-in guide for people moving to the canton (“Living and Working” section, valais4you).

Mountain trains and lifts are part of the landscape: the Gornergrat Bahn (cog railway from Zermatt), the Metro Alpin in Saas-Fee (the world's highest underground funicular), the Furka steam train (between Realp and Gletsch), the Emosson funicular (the world's steepest, an 87% gradient). Fares and operating days change often: check them before you go.

The specialities to know

• Raclette du Valais PDO: a semi-hard mountain cheese made from raw cow's milk, produced and matured exclusively in Valais (3 to 6 months of maturing). The name “Raclette” has been official for this cheese since 1874 and the PDO dates from 2007. A wheel weighs about 5 kg. It is eaten melted, with unpeeled boiled potatoes, onions and gherkins, or sliced on a Valais platter.
• Valais rye bread PDO: made in Valais with at least 80% ingredients from the canton, mainly rye. In the past it was baked only a few times a year in the villages, kept dry and dipped in milk or soup.
• Valais dried meat PGI: Swiss beef, not smoked, salted with a spice blend that is specific to each producer, then dried for 5 to 16 weeks depending on the cut (it loses 40 to 50% of its weight). The canton has 31 producers of PGI dried meats. Valais cured ham and dry-cured bacon are also PGI-protected.
• The brisolée: the autumn tradition, roasted chestnuts served with Valais cheeses, rye bread, dried meat and new wine.
• PDO spirits: abricotine (Valais apricot brandy) and Valais pear brandy are on the official list of Swiss PDO-PGI products.
• Wine: the fifty or so grape varieties of Valais can be tasted in Sion in wine bars in the historic centre or the vineyards. Valais/Wallis Promotion recommends a white Fendant with raclette.

Where to try them, in Sion

Sion Tourisme also lists the Café de Valère (in the Valère village, open Tuesday to Sunday), the Buvette l'Entre2 (closed in winter), La Sitterie (route du Rawyl 41) and some thirty other restaurants.

The essentials

• Sion and its hills: Valère (a fortified basilica surrounded by houses, which holds the world's oldest playable organ, according to Valais/Wallis Promotion) and Tourbillon (the ruins of a castle built around 1300 for the bishop, with a view over the valley). At the foot of the hills, the old town is “one of the best preserved in Switzerland”; its Friday market is presented as the largest weekly market in French-speaking Switzerland.
• Zermatt and the Gornergrat: the Matterhorn is best admired from the cog railway.
• The Aletsch glacier from the Eggishorn: the largest glacier in the Alps, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• Leukerbad: 3.9 million litres of thermal water a day at 51°C, 30 pools, the largest thermal spa resort in the Alps.
• The Saint-Léonard underground lake: the largest in Europe (300 m long), visited by boat.
• The Grande Dixence dam, the world's highest gravity dam, with its exhibition pavilion (mid-June to end of September or mid-October) and a 700 m zip line.
• The Bisse de Clavau: an irrigation canal through terraced vineyards, between Sion and Saint-Léonard.
• Champex-Lac, nicknamed “Switzerland's little Canada”, and Stockalper Castle in Brig (17th century, three domed towers).

Museums

The three cantonal museums in Sion (art, history, nature) come under the Culture Service.

No official list of clubs could be read for Valais: this section relies on the wine bars and café-bars listed by Sion Tourisme. The list is not exhaustive: nightlife addresses open and close quickly.

Zermatt Unplugged announces its 2027 edition, but without a readable date at the time of our check: see its website.

1. Constitution of the Canton of Valais (RS 101.1), version in force since 1 May 2023: art. 12, 27, 31, 33, 52, 84, 85, 88, 89.
2. Valais Statistics and Equalisation Service, permanent resident population on 31.12.2025: 376,113 residents, 276,443 Swiss, 99,670 foreign nationals; statistical information bulletin of August 2025 (2024 data).
3. Site guides, checked against official sources: cross-border tax (1983 agreement, 2041-AS certificate, 45 nights, 4.5% compensation, 40% remote working), G permit, contract and salary (CCNT).
4. Valais/Wallis Promotion: Raclette du Valais PDO, Valais rye bread PDO, Valais meat specialities, seasonal products, 15 must-see sights, Valais and its people, good to know.
5. Sion Tourisme: the castles, the museums, the old town, restaurants, cafés and bars, wine bars, how to get to Sion.
6. Swiss AOP-IGP Association, product list: the Valais PDO and PGI products.
7. Festivals: Sion sous les étoiles, Verbier Festival, Openair Gampel, Zermatt Unplugged.
8. Valais Population and Migration Service: the authority competent for the G permit.
9. Map coordinates: © OpenStreetMap contributors, checked address by address when the address is known; base map © swisstopo.