Charmey, in the Gruyère valley, holds one of the largest and best-organised désalpes in Switzerland: around eight hundred animals brought down through the village over a morning, led by cows in flower and mirror headdresses, with the armaillis in their embroidered blue bredzon smocks, and a market of Gruyère and vacherin along the street.
No attendance figure is published.
It is anchored to the last Saturday of September, which makes it more plannable than most désalpes — but it remains weather-dependent, and Charmey has postponed.
The village is in the Fribourg pre-Alps, forty minutes from Bulle and reachable from Fribourg by post bus. The road in is single-carriageway and the morning traffic is the limiting factor.
PlanningAnchored to the last Saturday of September — and dependent on the weather at altitude like every désalpe.