Ski Resort Focus: Zermatt
Zermatt is one of Europe's leading winter resorts with something for everyone - whether on or off piste. There are a wide variety of activites and cultural attractions on offer and a great range of hotels, apartments and chalets to experience them from as your base. Getting to and from Zermatt can be as environmentally friendly as you like with a number of options available to you including the train.
Travelling to Zermatt
Car: Travel by car is only possible as far as Täsch which has around 2,900 parking spaces available although some are outdoors. There is a taxi service available to and from Zermatt and also a shuttle train which runs every 20 minutes.
Train: There has been major investment in this area with a new tunnel between Frutigen and Raron significantly shortening journey times to Zermatt. Connections are available from Paris (and therefore via the Eurostar from London) or Frankfurt (via Eurostar to Brussels from London and then DB to Frankfurt) to Brig or Visp. This can be surprisingly cost effective, even for first class travel for portions of the trip, if advance bookings are made and a bit of shopping around undertaken. Zermatt is also the terminus of the world famous Glacier Express.
Air: The more traditional approach to Zurich, Geneva, Basel, Milan or Sion airports require a transfer either by coach, helicopter bus or train to Zermatt and can take up to four hours depending on the method chosen.
Excursions
There are a wide variety of excursions to take part in during your time in Zermatt. These include the Glacier Palace, Cheese Making, Gorner Gorge walk, Glacier Garden, helicopter sight-seeing flights, various campfire locations and the nearby lakes including Schwarzsee, Riffelsee, Leisee, Grindjisee, Grünsee and Stellisee. You can find details of other types of off slopes activites below including cultural activites, sporting activities and more.
Cultural Attractions
- Matterhorn Museum - Zermatlantis
- Zermatt Festival (Autumn)
- Zermatt Guided Tour
- Mountaineer's Cemetery
- Churches and Chapels
- Galleries
- Cinema
- Zermatt Unplugged (April)
- Folklore Festival (August)
Winter Activities
- Skiing and Snowboarding
- Cross-country Skiing
- Winter Hiking and Walking
- Toboganning
- Snowshoe Hiking
- Ice Climbing
- Ice Skating and Ice Hockey
- Curling and Ice Stick Shooting
- Paragliding
Accommodation
Accommodation Available
- 5* - Hotel Mont Cervin Palace
- 4* - Hotel Tschugge
- 4* - La Perle Apartments
- 4* - Chalet Patricia
- 4* - Hotel Alpen Resort
- 4* - Hotel Antares
- 4* - Hotel Monte Rosa
- 4* - Hotel Schweizerhof
- 4* - Hotel Simi
- 3* - Hotel Holiday
- 3* - Hotel Aristella
- 3* - Chalet Annie
- 3* - Hotel Alpenroyal
- 3* - Residence Patricia Apartments
Zermatt has an incredible range of accommodation ranging from the luxurious down to something to suit most budgets. It is often a good idea to obtain package holidays if you are new to travelling abroad or new to arranging ski holidays - it is certainly possible to book everything yourself to allow for ultimate flexibility but you need to do a good amount of research to ensure you are not caught out along the line.
Apres Ski
No resort would be complete without its complement of apres ski activities and Zermatt is no exception. There are a large number of possibilities with bars, restaurants and night spots catering for all tastes around the resort. Recommended by a leading tour operator are the Papperia Bar, Elsie's Place, Vernissage, Brown Cow and the Pink Elephant for jazz music.