Welcome to our Zematt page, where we give detail on the resort, transport and the walks we did on our holiday.

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Guide to Zermatt

OH Our holiday ZV Zermatt village and amenities TR Transport WA Walking OW Our walks EP Extra photos

Walk photos

If you have any questions or suggestions to improve information given, please e-mail D and J.

Those photos marked by * or "From ANO" have not been taken by us.

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Our holiday

Zermatt was our summer holiday destination in 2001.

We stayed at the Parkhotel Beausite, which is 10 minutes walk from the railway station. This was an excellent hotel with superb food, and we would recommend it highly. Facilities include three dining areas (one for breakfast, and two for evening meal), a large lounge and bar, a swimming pool and sauna. It is set in very pleasant grounds. Our room had a balcony, with a good view of the Gornergrat railway line. The front rooms have a view of the Matterhorn.

Breakfast is buffet style, with a large selection of cereals, breads, fruit, yoghurts, pastries, meat and cheeses. Cooked food is available - bacon, eggs and sausage, plus champagne!

The evening meals are very enjoyable, typically 4/5 courses, with special events such as a gala dinner, fondue evening and grill evening. One aspect of the meals which impressed us was that there was always a fish choice on the main course. Vegetarians may be a little bit disappointed as there is a reasonable section, but the menu does not change daily. Many of the soups and appetisers are vegetarian, and there is a salad buffet and cheese board daily.

Our holiday was with Inghams, but most of the main operators go to Zermatt including Crystal, Kuoni and Swiss Travel Service. The main way to reach Zermatt from the UK is to fly to Geneva or Zurich, and then use the efficient Swiss trains to take you to Zermatt (in about 4 to 5hrs). Most transfers are by train, and many operators include a Swiss Holiday Card as part of the deal. This covers you for travel from the airport to resort, 50% reductions on rail journeys, and various reductions on local trains and cable cars. Another very useful service is that you can arrange to register your luggage at the UK airport, and your hotel will pick up your bags from the station. The baggage may be sent on a later train, so have a change in hand lugguage for your first evening.

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Zermatt Village and Ameneties.

Zermatt lies in the Mattertal in the Canton of Valais (Wallis), in the south of Switzerland. It is in a superb setting, dominated by the Matterhorn which lies to the south of the village.

Zermatt is quite spread out, with many hotels and apartments to cater for the large number of tourists that visit both in the summer and winter. The main street Bahnhofstrasse runs between the railway station and the village square. This street contains shops, hotels, restaurants, and bars. It can be very busy, but once off the main street you can often find relative peace and calm, away from the day trippers. The Zermatt Tourist Office is by the station, and the Post Office and Mountain Guides Alpine Centre are on the main street. Zermatt is well known as a 'car free' village - but beware of the numerous electric taxis darting around.

Zermatt is a major climbing and walking centre and attracts visitors from all over the world. The 'English Church', the Climbers Cemetery and the Alpine Museum are all interesting places to visit in the village. It is a lot more lively on summer evenings than many Alpine resorts, there is a band concert in the village square on certain evenings. Internet is available at the 'Brown Cow' pub in the Hotel Post on the main street. We have been informed since our stay that there is internet access available to guests at the Beausite.

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Transport

Most visitors to Zermatt arrive on the train from Brig. The station at Zermatt has a taxi rank outside where you can take an 'electric taxi' on to your accommodation. Many hotels send down their own taxis to the station to meet guests. People arriving by car leave them at large car parks in Tasch, and take the train to Zermatt. Only residents are allowed to bring cars into the village.

There are five main transport options that you can use in Zermatt, we used all five whilst we were there. The train from Brig stops at a number of stations, and can be used on walks down the valley. The Gornergrat train takes you from Zermatt to the top of the Gornergrat, at over 3000m. There are three cable cars, the Klein Matterhorn, the Schwarzsee and the Sunnegga/Rothorn.

The Gornergrat train and Klein Matterhorn cable car are excursions in their own right. Whilst we were in Zermatt there was no special pass, however you did get a reduction with your Swiss Holiday Card.

In 2002 a new pass has been introduced the Zermatt Peaks Pass, which covers the Gornergrat, Klein Matterhorn, Rothorn and Schwarzsee routes.

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Walking

Zermatt is one of the most famous walking and climbing centres in the world due to its proximity to the Matterhorn. The Matterhorn is probably the most recognisable mountain in the world. Whilst Zermatt often becomes very busy, it is surprisingly easy to escape from the crowds on many of the walks.

The views around the Zermatt area are stupendous. In addition to the Matterhorn there are another 28 snow clad 4000m peaks including Liskamm, Monte Rosa, Dom, Breithorn and Weisshorn in the area. The Mountain Guides Bureau at the Alpine Centre in the main street offer guided climbs to some of these peaks. The Breithorn is the easiest, and we saw may roped groups ascending.

The best maps for walking in Zermatt are not available in the UK. You can buy them in Zermatt in a number of shops. The maps are at a scale of 1:15000 and are an aerial photograph of the area with the paths superimposed. The maps are produced by Hallwag and are called Top Swiss Erlebniskarte - Airphoto. There is one Kompass map 117 that covers some of the Zermatt area. Another excellent map is the 1:25000 Zermatt Wanderkarte (Zermatt Matterhorn. Zermatt-Cervinia Breuil-Täsch). This shows all walking routes prominently in red and marked with timings on each section, both ascending and descending. It is printed on very strong paper, obviously intended to last a lifetime. It is published by the Tourist Office.

The paths in the area are well marked with signposts at most path junctions. There are many options refreshments on the walks, ranging from mountain huts to quite expensive restaurants.

Zermatt is situated at the head of the Mattertal and is at a altitude of about 1600m. It is in a superb walking area.

The main walking areas include:

• Sunnegga/Rothorn to the east of the resort which is serviced by the Sunnegga/Rothorn lift system.
• Gornergrat/Riffelalp area to the south east of the village which is serviced by the Gornergrat railway.
• Schwarzsee/Hornli area to the south of the village which is serviced by the Schwarzsee and Klein Matterhorn lifts.
• Zmutttal is a long valley to the south west of the village - there is no transport in this valley.
• Trift and Trift Gorge is to the west of the village. A favorite for many, not least because there are no lifts.
• Mattertal - there is a high level path the Europaweg which runs on the eastern side of the valley. This is serviced by the Sunnegga lift at the southern end, and by the main train line that runs down the valley.

We did walks from all of the above areas. On nearly all the walks there are good views of the 4000m peaks, most of these peaks were first climbed by Victorian Britons accompanied by the Alpine Guides.

Walking badges are available if you visit the five SAC (Swiss Alpine Club) huts in the area.

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Our walks

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Extra photos

Some extra photos.
Parkhotel Beausite before restoration. (*)	Parkhotel Beausite after restoration. (*)
Parkhotel Beausite - one of our photos.	The train - view from our balcony - it was often full with Japanese tourists.
Around Zermatt.	One of the electric taxis.
From ANO - Riffelhorn and Matterhorn	From ANO - Monte Rosa hut
From ANO - Riffelsee, beside Rifflehorn	From ANO - Riffelalp - Pavillion Terrasse - on a sunny day in season
Next 6 pictures below - we did Trift several times but did not go to Rothornhutte, these are pictures from friends.
From ANO - En route to Rothornhutte	From ANO - Unter Gabelhorn
From ANO - Looking back towards Zermatt valley	From ANO - Summer meltwaters of the Trift glacier
From ANO - Rothornhutte	From ANO - View of Matterhorn across Trift Glacier from Rothornhutte

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This page was last updated on 14th March 2009.

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