Stunning Views in Zermatt

We only had a short stay in Zermatt and so we were crossing our fingers for sunny days. Today we woke up to this incredible sight.

Even looking at it in person it seemed fake! And we were in luck, a sunny day was at hand.

There are dozens of ski runs in and around Zermatt, you can even ski into Italy as it lies just over the ridgeline from Zermatt. But there are two big ski areas that draw the most attention: Matterhorn Glacier Paradise and Gornergrat. Access to both originates in Zermatt, one is by gondolas and the other by train. They also each provide their own view of the Matterhorn and the surrounding peaks.

“Even looking at it in person it seemed fake!”

We took advantage of the sun and went to both in one day starting with the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise gondolas. We chose this mainly because it is literally right across the “street” from our hotel.

So into the mix we went and despite what looked like an awful line, we were at the front and sailing up the mountainside within 15 minutes.

The gondola trip takes a full hour from the base to the top. As you progress higher and higher the scenery changes and there are fewer people.

As you near the Matterhorn, the gondolas change direction and keep going higher.

And then you begin to leave the Matterhorn behind.

It’s about here that you switch gondolas from a six person cabin to a 20 person gondola. However we were by ourselves with the whistling wind and the slow sway of the gondola. So it really starts to feel a bit like you’re headed to someplace very scary.

On the last leg you begin to see glaciers and crevices on the mountain.

Once at the top there is a whole other world. There is a cafe, a movie theatre, and you’re even able to walk underneath a glacier inside a tunnel.

Of course there is also a scenic overlook.

It was frosty and a bit windy on the platform but not nearly as cold as we expected due the European heatwave.

After about 30 minutes we headed back down to town to walk over to the Gornergrat for a trip up a different mountain.

The town had woken up and some skiers had turned into shoppers.

As we mentioned, cars aren’t allowed in Zermatt so there is a fleet of electric taxis and busses. But even those aren’t allowed on Bahnhofstrasse. One hotel has a horse and carriage as their railway shuttle.

We walked about 20 minutes to the railway station from the gondolas. Everywhere you looked you saw Alpine cuteness.

The Gornergrat Railway looks like this and leaves right across the street from the Zermatt railway station (Bahnhoff)

It goes straight up the mountain and is the world’s steepest grade railway. You also get the top in about 40 minutes so slightly faster than the gondolas. Once up there, there are restaurants, cafes, gift shop, and even a hotel!

Skiers were off within a couple of minutes of leaving the train.

As you can see we had sun the whole day and it turned out to be perfect for seeing the area in and around Zermatt.

Notes from a reference in an earlier post about the Swiss Half Fare card.

This card is available to tourists from Swissrail. You can buy time increments where the half fare offer is in effect. The longer you go, the more expensive it is. We bought 5 days and it was about $200 each.

However, it got us half price tickets on the Glacier Express (saved $200), half price on our Zermatt to Zurich trai tickets (saved $110), half price on the gondolas at Matterhorn Glacier Paradise (saved $95), and also half price on the Gornergrat Railway (saved $88). You’ll need to show it each time you use a ticket but that’s easy enough by saving a copy on your phone. They have a 3D bare code that the conductor will scan.

Soooooo worth it if you’re going to spend time in Switzerland riding the rails.