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Travel guide
Zermatt
4 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: July to September; skiing from December to April
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Welcome
Zermatt, in a few days
A car-free village at 1,620 metres below a 4,478-metre pyramid. Zermatt has lived off the Matterhorn since the first ascent in 1865, with 400 km of paths in summer and a ski area linked to Italy in winter.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 2 things
- D2 Day 2 2 things
- D3 Day 3 3 things
- D4 Day 4 1 thing
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · The Matterhorn free · about 30 minA 4,478-metre pyramid of four near-symmetrical faces; Whymper reached the top in July 1865, and four of his party died descending.
- Afternoon · Matterhorn Glacier Paradise · half a dayThe highest cable car station in Europe, at 3,883 metres on the Klein Matterhorn, reached in stages from the village over the Theodul Glacier.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hotel Jägerhof ↗ · All places to stay by budget →€230 a night
D2
Day 2
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Riffelsee free · about 30 minA small lake at 2,757 metres, a few minutes below Rotenboden station on the Gornergrat line, where the whole Matterhorn is reflected on still days.
- Afternoon · Gornergrat · half a dayA cog railway opened in 1898 climbs to 3,089 metres, facing 29 peaks over 4,000 metres and the Gorner Glacier.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hotel Jägerhof ↗€230 a night
D3
Day 3
3 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Sunnegga and Leisee · 2 to 3 hAn underground funicular to 2,288 metres in under five minutes, then a shallow, sun-warmed lake for a swim with the Matterhorn behind.
- Afternoon · Hinterdorf, old Zermatt free · about 30 minAbout thirty barns and granaries of blackened larch packed into a few lanes behind the main street, the oldest from the 16th century.
- Late afternoon · Matterhorn Museum · about 1 h 30An underground museum built as a mountain village, on farming life before tourism, the birth of mountaineering and the 1865 ascent.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hotel Jägerhof ↗€230 a night
D4
Day 4
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Charles Kuonen Suspension Bridge free · half a dayAt Randa, one stop before Zermatt, a 494-metre footbridge 65 cm wide, opened in 2017, hanging up to 85 metres above the Grabengufer ravine.
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
Some links are partner links: we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Fondue: melted cheese in a pot, shared and stirred.
- Raclette: cheese melted off the wheel over potatoes.
- Rösti: grated potato fried into a golden cake.
- Swiss chocolate, sold by weight in every town.
- Birchermüesli, devised by a doctor around 1900 and still the standard breakfast.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Everything costs: buy lunch at a Coop or Migros and eat it outside.
- Validate your Swiss Travel Pass before the first journey if you are chaining trains.
- Trains leave at the stated minute, not a moment after. Be early.
- Take mountain weather and mountain kit seriously, even in July.
Getting by
Words that help
English ↔ German
| English | German |
|---|---|
| Hello | Hallo |
| Thank you | Danke |
| Please | Bitte |
| Yes | Ja |
| No | Nein |
| Excuse me | Entschuldigung |
| Goodbye | Auf Wiedersehen |
| Do you speak English? | Sprechen Sie Englisch? |
| I don't understand | Ich verstehe nicht |
| How much is it? | Wie viel kostet das? |
| Where are the toilets? | Wo sind die Toiletten? |
| The bill, please | Die Rechnung, bitte |
| Help! | Hilfe! |
| Cheers! | Prost! |
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencySwiss franc (CHF)
BudgetAbout €240 a day, mid-range
Best seasonJuly to September; skiing from December to April
PlugJ/C · 230V
Tap waterSafe to drink, and among the best in Europe
TippingService is included, round up
Emergency112 / 144
EntrySchengen area: an ID card or passport for EU citizens, 90 days visa-free for UK, US, Canadian and Australian passports.
HealthNo specific vaccination needed. Check that tetanus, polio and MMR are up to date.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/zermatt
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.