Bavonatal residents embrace five months of winter isolation

Fewer than 10 people live in the Bavonatal, one of Switzerland’s most remote valleys, where winter brings five months without a post bus. SRF visited residents who deliberately choose a life away from the constant pressure of everyday life.

In summer, the valley attracts hikers, climbers and mountain bikers. Visitors can walk between its 12 small hamlets or take on more demanding mountain routes. Grotto restaurants and simple accommodation are available, including an eight-bed bed and breakfast run by Silvana Rodriguez.

The post bus travels into the Bavonatal only from April to the end of October. Once winter begins in early November, the valley closes down until the end of March, and even the bus service stops.

Rodriguez lives in Sonlerto, a hamlet in the valley, with her partner, seven-year-old daughter, two cats and a dog. She has already spent six long, quiet winters there. Although her bed and breakfast is closed during the season, the 45-year-old says she does not get bored.

She spends the winter doing housework, taking her daughter to school and collecting her afterwards. She also finds time to sit in the garden for hours and enjoy the silence.

Rodriguez occasionally leaves the valley for her daughter, who needs experiences and social contact beyond school. They sometimes go to the city to shop or do something together. For herself, however, she says this is less important. She describes herself as a loner who likes solitude and says she does not feel the need to be around people constantly.

Even travelling to Cevio, the nearest larger village in the Maggia Valley, can sometimes feel like too much for her. She still looks forward to spring, though. In her view, the contrast between winter’s quiet, darkness and stillness and the lively return of spring is what gives the valley its particular appeal.

The Bavonatal is quiet in summer too when rain keeps tourists away. Rodriguez believes everyone needs regular periods of calm, whether daily or at least occasionally. Rather than concentrating their rest into two weekend days, she says, people would be healthier if they regularly slowed down and lived in closer harmony with nature.

Rodriguez says she rarely needs a holiday herself. She mainly travels for her daughter and considers herself to be on holiday in the Bavonatal all the time. When she needs to recharge, she simply goes behind the house, draws new energy from the surroundings and soon feels better.