Things to do in Zermatt
 

I am going to be in Zermatt for 2 days in mid september...need help planning my visit.

Do you hike? I've got lots of hiking suggestions if you do.

Not really...does that mean i should go to Zermatt if i don't hike or ski???

> i should (not, I think)go to Zermatt if i don't hike or ski???

Hello Piya, of course you can go anywhere you like to BUT why do you want to go to Zermatt in the first place? Because you live nearby or because it's famous? Any reason? Perhaps that might help us give better advices.

Because its famous and Matterhorn is one of the most recommended places to visit...

We were in Zermatt for 4 days last year in Sept. Of the 4 days we were there, we only saw the summit of the Matterhorn once.

We did the Glacier Express while there. One 6 person gondola ride, followed by two cable cars to the top. When we got off of the second cable car, we were advised that there was a big storm going on up top. We went anyway. White knuckled swaying for 5-10 minutes waiting for a good opportunity to dock the cable car. A real bust!! The ice palace was under construction, couldn't see the Matterhorn from the iced in cable car. One woman got frost bite on her feet walking around the ice in dress shoes! Hopefully, your weather will be better.

A cog wheel train ride to the Riffelalp resort for lunch might be nice. Beautiful view of Matterhorn from the outdoor cafe at the hotel.

Eat lots of raclette!! Drink much beer!! Start hiking!!

Enjoy

Thanks for your response..Masterphil.. btw whats raclette??

A wonderful, wonderful hot melted cheese wheel that is heated over fire and then the melted layer is scraped onto your plate served with potato, onion, tomato, gerkins on the side. It is to die for!! Eat enough of it and you might! :)

There ain;t a lot to do in Zermatt if you do not hike or ski once you see the Mattehorn and walk down the main drag.

Just a warning... if you happen to ride up to the observation area where the restaurant is, make sure you know when the last tram leaves.

There's a remote possibilty you could get stranded and made to wait until the help from the restaurant finishes work. By then your tour bus will have left. (Luckily, our bus was caught on this side of an avalance. It was only a short ride on a chicken truck to the bus!)

Piya, I agree with all above about the stunning views and hearty food. What I recall most about Zermatt is the huge cemetery in the center of town with dozens (100's?) of graves marking those who fell trying to scale the Matterhorn over a period of a few centuries. As I recall, many headstones were decorated with flowers. What a way to go! So many of the climbers were soooo young.

It's been many years since my last visit. Perhaps others remember the site more clearly...

OMG that sounds soooo yummy....thanks for the suggestion...will make sure i have enuf of it!!!!!

Thanks all for your response!!

Texasgal2..thanks for the warning..

The Walliserkanne restaurant in Zermatt has fabulous raclette and their rosti is wonderful too (shredded potatoes - sometimes made with fillings and topped with cheese - good hearty food).

You can easly fill two days without serious hiking, although there are some nice short walks you might want to take to see the Matterhorn from different vantage points. You might consider going to the Gornergrat, maybe stopping at Riffelalp enroute as suggested above (the resort is a 10 minute walk from the station, but it's level and easy - fantastic views on a clear day). There's also a nice easy hike from Rotenboden to Riffelberg - 1.75 miles downhill - gorgeous mountain views.

The trip to the Gornergrat gives you a few opportunities to get off the train on the way up, explore a bit, take some snaps, then get back on and continue the journey.

I've got a long trip report here and it details what we did while in Zermatt - if you want some ideas, just click on my name, then look for April in the Alps under my trip reports.

I have been going to Zermatt every so often for forty-six years (!) and I was there for three nights last week (August 2-5). The weather was exceptionally cold (low 40s in the morning) and it rained more than half the time, but Switzerland has not had a good summer. Maybe it will be a golden autumn. There are things to do if you don't hike. Take the cog-wheel train up to Gorgergrat for an outstanding view of the Matterhorn and of even higher peaks nearby. You can have a nice lunch on the terrace of the restaurant. There are other high elevations to take cog-wheel trains and the tourist office at the train station, your first introduction to the village, will provide details. Rather than being morbid, two interesting locations are cemeteries, one behind the Roman Catholic Church in the middle of town and the other around the English church. Many climbers are buried in them, with such inscriptions as "died in a terrible snowstorm on the Matterhorn" or "killed by rocks on the Matterhorn" on their headstones. The sanctuary of the Roman Catholic Church has an appealing painting of Noah and the Ark on its ceiling. I'm sure that other readers can suggest more options for you.

I stayed in the Hotel Europe and recommend it for its service and its food, although the rooms are small and construction is going on around three sides of it. Be sure to take half-board. The location is good, too. A restaurant that has always been a favorite of mine is directly across the street from Hotel Europe. It is the Stockhorn, where you can get grilled meat, fondu, and raclette. Since it is open only in the evening and I was taking half-board, regretably, I did not eat there this time.

All of the above is the good news. Now, the bad. I'm sad to say that Zermatt has gone from being a charming Alpine village to being a sprawling town with wall-to-wall chalets, with so many electrified vehicles that pedestrians, once the rulers of the street, have to be careful not to get run down, with its own suburbs, and with thousands of tourists milling about aimlessly. The Bahnhofstrasse, the main thoroughfare, needs traffic lights to regulate pedestrian movement (vehicles mostly prohibited here). There has been so much uncontrolled development that many buildings have lost their view of the Matterhorn and there is no longer the sense that the village is one with this great mountain. Instead, it is apparent that local leaders are out to exploit one of earth's great beauty sites for immediate financial gain. ZZ

Melnq8 - what a great trip report!!! I can't wait to go there..

Can you please recommend some nice nice short walk/hike routes in Zermatt...may be to see the Matterhorn from different vantage points??

"Just a warning... if you happen to ride up to the observation area where the restaurant is, make sure you know when the last tram leaves."

Texasgal2 - We missed the gondola down from the second highest point (Trockener Steg) two weeks ago. The restaurant staff would not take us down. We had 3 hours of light to hike down 3500 feet. Part of the trail was terrifying. It was a very difficult experience.

Piya -

Thank you! I hope it helped. The walk from Sunnegga to Tuftern was fantastic, and one I'd highly recommend.

Colduphere - how scary!!! So glad you made it down. Was it dark when you reached the base?

Hi latedaytraveler (that name seems appropriate to us) - we finished down around 8:15 pm so it was not that dark - just shadowy in the mountains. And the reason we made it down was my wife was not going to spend the night outside with three children. One ledge in particular was very narrow - I said I don't think we should risk that and she said what option do we have. And over it we went.