Home to the most photographed mountain of Switzerland, the Matterhorn, Zermatt should be on everyone’s bucket list of places to visit! The cute car-free town has beautiful streets with historic wooden buildings, and views on the iconic mountain. Even though we live in Switzerland, we are still in awe every time we see the Matterhorn mountain.
You will have a view on the Matterhorn from Zermatt and the town center, but for the best views you will of course go up. There are several possibilities for that from the center of Zermatt.
Things to do in Zermatt
Sunnegga mountain metro
We decided to go up with the mountain metro Sunnegga. We knew that there were walking trails up there, and restaurants with views. When you arrive on top on Sunnegga, you are immediately treated to the beautiful Matterhorn view. We took the cable car shaped lift down to get to the walking path in direction of Findeln (signs will lead you the way). Findeln is a well preserved, historic part of Zermatt with a lot of typical wooden mountain barns. Make sure you have enough battery on your camera as this is a very picturesque place! The walk down to Findeln takes approximately 30 minutes. It is a bit steep down though, so remember you will also have to walk back up 😊.
You will find several mountain restaurants on the way, most of them with their terrace facing the Matterhorn. A well-known restaurant on the way is Chez Vrony which looked very nice, but we decided to continue a bit more down to Restaurant Findlerhof. The last part to Restaurant Findlerhof is in between the dark brown little chalets until you get to the restaurant with its sun terrace. Remember to reserve in advance, because restaurants with views like this can of course get a bit busy on sunny days! The food was really good and they have a small playground with a slide where small children could play.
After our lunch we hiked back up to Sunnegga again. It was mostly only climbing, but it was definitely worth it!
Our children saw that you could exchange your Sunnegga metro card in town for one of those typical Matterhorn shaped chocolates of Chocolaterie Fuchs, and so we did. We wandered through the streets of Zermatt which are full of bars, tea rooms and shops with typical Swiss products. The cute Matterhorn shaped chocolate was a nice treat.
Gornergrat
This may be the most done train ride in Zermatt as it takes you all the way up to the Gornergrat viewing platform near the Matterhorn. On top of the Gornergrat (3089 m.) you will have 360 degrees views on the mountains surrounding you, a restaurant and hotel. We decided to save the Gornergrat trip for a next visit, which gives us a good reason to come back!
What is the best season to visit Zermatt?
Zermatt is a great destination all year round. It has beautiful ski slopes in winter, an ice skating rink in the town center and definitely caters for children with their beginners area called Wolli park. Zermatt is also good to go to for non skiers. We didn’t go skiing in Zermatt but enjoyed our winter walk and the beautiful scenery.
In summer there are plenty of hikes to be done in Zermatt, and we may go back to do that!
Zermatt day trip:
It is possible to go to Zermatt on a day trip if you live in Switzerland, or if your Swiss holiday is based elsewhere, but if you have the chance to stay overnight it would give you more time, as it does take a bit of time to actually get to Zermatt.
Zermatt hotels:
There are plenty hotels in Zermatt. There is even a hotel on top of Gornergrat. Even though children are welcome, it seems a perfect place for a romantic getaway. I’m mentioning it anyway as the views from the rooms seem really stunning!
Family friendly hotels in Zermat:
How to get to Zermatt:
You can go to Zermatt by train or by car. If you go by car, you will arrive in the town of Täsch where a big parking lot for Zermatt visitors is created. It is all very well organized as you will immediately get to an arrival hall where you can buy your train tickets for the 12 minute train ride to the center of Zermatt. Arriving in Zermatt, you will see the little electric taxis on the train station square. The tourism office is also located on that square and you can buy your tickets there to go up with the Sunegga metro or the Gornergrat train.
Panoramic train:
You can also come to Zermatt on the Glacier Express which is one of Switzerland’s panoramic train lines that runs between Zermatt and St Moritz.
You may also like to read on other beautiful destinations in Switzerland:
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