The village is located on the south side of the Simplon Pass. The architectural style with its typical stone slab roofs is reminiscent of neighbouring Italy. The village centre is classified as a site of national importance in the inventory of sites worthy of protection in Switzerland.

The beginnings of the history of the Simplon valley and village are largely obscure due to a lack of sources. Sources for the Roman period and the early Middle Ages allow only a few reliable statements to be made about the history of the pass and the village. What is immediately clear, however, is that the history of the pass and the village are closely linked. Pass traffic and mountain farming have always characterised life in the valley, sometimes complementing each other, sometimes competing. The village has always flourished when trade and transport across the pass was flourishing. The village itself was probably founded around 1200, by people of Alemannic origin from Upper Valais, in the valley basin of Brig. This makes it one of the earliest and oldest settlements of the southern Walser. A church in Simplon is first mentioned in 1267. The narrow Gondo Gorge was considered insurmountable until the 17th century. Only the Brig merchant Kaspar Jodok von Stockalper began to use the Simplon Pass to transport salt on pack animals from the Mediterranean. Today, hikers along the Simplon route experience the transition from the Alpine Valais to the already Italian environment on the south side: the typical stone slab roofs of the Simplon village with the village square, which resembles an Italian-style piazza. The highlight is the section through the Gondo Gorge, lined with granite walls.