Top 10 Tourist Attractions in Zermatt
In a green valley
enclosed between steep mountainsides, the climbing and winter sports capital of
the Valais region is also one of Switzerland's great international resorts.
Zermatt is dominated by the definitive mountain, the huge and gracefully curved
Matterhorn, making almost any angle a postcard view. You can't drive to
Zermatt. The closest you can get by automobile is a large carpark about five
kilometers from the village, to which there are shuttles by electric vehicles.
Trains from Brig deposit passengers right in the village; from there, a rack
railroad, funicular, and cableways lift visitors to an endless series of
panoramic alpine views as well as skiing and hiking trails. Zermatt is famous
for its magnificent long ski runs, with terrain for all skill levels, but it
also offers outdoor sports for other seasons. There is a mountain trail for
cyclists from the Winkelmatten up to the Furi, and the Zermatt Alpin Center
offers expert guides for climbers year-round. Hotels, fine restaurants, and
luxury spas abound in Zermatt, but summer or winter, it's the mountains that are
still the prime tourist attraction.
Accommodation: Where to Stay in Zermatt
1. The Matterhorn
Without the sharp pyramid of
the Matterhorn rising as a dramatic backdrop, Zermatt would be another pretty
little Swiss village instead of a world-famous symbol of the Alps and of Switzerland itself. Along with making Zermatt the
Swiss poster child, the mountain defines the town and gives it a year-round
appeal that no other ski resort can match. The 4,478-meter peak was first
climbed in 1865 by a British team of five and two Swiss guides. Although a few
thousand people master it each year, it should still only be attempted by
well-experienced climbers.
2. Winter Sports
Thanks to the surrounding
glaciers, Zermatt offers year-round skiing, with ski terrain at
altitudes
between 2,500 and 3,900 meters and Switzerland's highest vertical drop, more
than 2,133 meters. In the summer, you can ski on the Breithorn plateau, via the
cableway to the Kleines Matterhorn, and on the 3,500-meter Plateau Rosa near
the Theodul Pass. One of the great ski experiences in the Alps is taking the
lifts to the top and skiing over the Theodul Pass and down into the Italian ski
resort of Cervina. Heli-skiing, high-altitude ski-tours, Nordic trails, and
night skiing are other options, but you don't need to ski to enjoy winter
sports here. There are natural-ice skating rinks, snowshoe trails, and several
curling rinks. Because it is far enough away from major cities, Zermatt doesn't
attract the big weekend crowds, and you can access three separate ski areas on
one pass.
3. The Gornergrat Railway
The Gornergrat Bahn, Europe's highest
mountain railroad running over open country, takes 45 minutes to climb 10
kilometers to the summit of the Gornergrat. The rack-railroad climbs the east
side of Nikolai valley and up the slopes of the Riffelberg in a wide curve,
with ever more impressive views of the Matterhorn. Riffelberg, at 2,582 meters
altitude, has a hotel and restaurant with a terrace that is a popular sundeck
for skiers. A few minutes' walk below the Rotenboden station, at 2,819 meters,
is the Riffelsee with the peak of the Matterhorn mirrored in its water - the
view is at its most spectacular in the morning. The line then runs high above
the Gorner glacier to the summit station, at 3,089 meters, from which it is
only a five-minute climb to the famous Gornergrat observatory on a rocky ridge
above the Gorner glacier. From here is one of the most magnificent panoramas in
the Alps: in the middle, the Matterhorn, with the Breithorn, the twin peaks of
Zwillinge, the Lyskamm, and Monte Rosa to the left; to the north, the peaks of
the Mischabel group, including the 4,545-meter Dom - the highest peak entirely
within Switzerland.
You can walk from the
Gornergrat back down to Zermatt. The path drops steeply for the first 90
minutes to the Findel Glacier Restaurant where a 45-minute detour leads up to
the Findel Glacier. From the restaurant, the walk continues via the resort
village of Findeln, from which it is about an hour to Zermatt.
4 Hinterdorf
5 Kleines Matterhorn
One of the most spectacular trips - in a
place where spectacular scenery becomes almost ordinary - is on the highest
cable car inEurope,
from the Trockener Steg to the north face of the Kleines Matterhorn. From the
upper station, there is a lift to the summit of the Kleines Matterhorn, at
3,884 meters. A cableway from Furgg leads to the Schwarzsee, an alpine lake
with a restaurant. Inside the glacier that lies between the Klein Matterhorn
and the Breithorn is the Glacier Palace, which you can access via a lift that
takes you 15 meters below the surface into a world of sparkling crystals.
Carved out of the glacier are tunnels and halls with ice sculptures and a snack
bar.
6. Sunnegga
A funicular climbs in
a tunnel from the center of Zermatt to the Sunnegga sun terrace at 2,289
meters. Here, you'll find a year-round restaurant, and in the summer, several
other attractions. Children splash in the crystal water of the Leisee, and
there is a marmot watching station to see these furry little mammals that live
in alpine burrows. This is also the starting point for several hikes. In
winter, Wolli's adventure park is a non-threatening first ski experience for
beginners, and experienced skiers continue on the gondolas, chairlifts, and a
cable car up to the Rothorn area's trails and snowfields. You can also link
from here to the Gornergrat ski pistes.
7. Matterhorn
Museum
The history of Zermatt as a resort is closely
tied to the early climbers, and you'll learn their fascinating story in this
well-designed contemporary museum. You'll see dramatic excerpts from Der Berg
Ruft (The Mountain Calls), filmed in Zermatt in 1937 to 1938, along with
artifacts, photos, and a relief of the Matterhorn showing the different routes
to the summit. But there's a lot more than climbing here. You'll see
furnishings and home interiors illustrating mountain life and dip further into
the past with finds from the Neolithic Age.
Outside the museum is
one of Zermatt's most popular highlights, the charming 1906 Marmot Fountain. A
family of bronze marmots cavorts among the cascades, polished to a high shine
by the pats of a century of passers-by. Behind the fountain is a beautiful
life-sized bronze ibex.Address: Kirchplatz, Zermatt
8. Gorner Gorge
Since the last ice
age, the melting snows and ice from the Gorner Glacier have swelled the
Gornervispe each spring, and as it swirls and churns through the rock, it has
carved a dramatic chasm. About a 15-minute walk from the village of Zermatt,
wooden walkways descend into this world of waterfalls where greenish serpentine
rock is carved into fantastic shapes. In the winter, you can book an adventure
trip through the gorge with a mountain guide.
9. Theodul Glacier and Pass
Cable cars ascend from Zermatt to
Winkelmatten via Furi to the Schwarzsee, and via Furi and Furgg to the
Trockener Steg at the upper Theodul Glacier, an altitude of 2,939 meters. From
the Trockener Steg, a ski lift, also open in the summer, goes up to the Furgg
saddle at 3,365 meters on the Italian border. Another ski lift runs via Gandegg
to the Theodul Pass. You can take a five-hour glacier tour with a guide, hiking
to the Hermettji then, 2.25 hours beyond, cross the crevassed Upper Theodul
glacier with a rope to the pass. The Theodul Pass was already being used in the
fourth century as a route into Italy.
From Testa Grigia, near the top, a cable car runs down to Cervina, a resort
town on the Italian side. In the winter, skiers cross the frontier to ski both
areas in the same day.
From the cable car station
at Furi, it's about a half-hour walk to the Dossen Glacier Garden, where you
can see the effects of the last ice age on the landscape as the Gorner Glacier,
the second-largest in the Alps, retreated. Giant pot holes, carved into solid
rock by the swirling whirlpools under glacial waterfalls, look as though some
giant scoop has gouged them out. You can also see the remains of a soapstone
quarry here.
10 English
Church
Built in 1870 by the
Alpine Club, the Church of St. Peter provided a place of worship for English
guests, who at that time made up most of those coming to Zermatt. Many of the
donations that financed it were in memory of climbers who had lost their lives
in the ascent, and the graves of several of these are in its churchyard. Inside
are a number of plaques in memory of mountaineers with close ties to Zermatt
and the surrounding peaks.
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