Zermatt, Valais, Switzerland
We awoke to a perfect morning — barely a cloud in the sky. With about an hour’s drive to reach Tasch, a small village not far from Zermatt, we again set off at about 8:30am. We parked the car in a multi-storey carpark and then walked straight into the modern railway station building. After purchasing our tickets for the shuttle train into Zermatt and the tourist train up the Gornergrat (mountain), we had only a short wait until the next shuttle train departed. As Zermatt is largely a car-free zone (you can only drive into the town if you have a permit), tourists leave their cars in Tasch. It is an extremely well-organised system, with shuttle trains leaving every 10 minutes.
Once in Zermatt, we simply had to cross a road to enter the station for the tourist train. Within about 15 minutes, we were on board the train, enjoying views of the Matterhorn (best known by most people as the symbol on the Toblerone chocolate packaging — in fact, at the top, I saw one tourist holding a Toblerone bar in front of him to include in his photo of the mountain!).
The journey lasted for just over half an hour, stopping at a number of stations on the way. The view at the top was absolutely stunning — 360 degrees of awesome mountains. It was only about 9C at the top, but felt much warmer in the sun.
After spending some time taking photos and taking in the breathtaking views of the mountains and the Gorner Glacier (and searching for Michael’s lost reading glasses which he eventually found in his pocket!), we began the descent back to Zermatt. The walk was not at all difficult, but there were some steep sections that challenged my knees. My little toes were also rather sore from rubbing against my shoes — perhaps I should have worn my woollen Explorer socks.
We stopped for lunch (sandwiches we’d prepared beforehand) overlooking a beautiful lake in which the Matterhorn was perfectly reflected. Of course, I was constantly getting out my camera to take yet another photo — the scenery was just so awesome. Astrid and I stopped for a coffee and shared a cake, sitting on the deck with the Matterhorn in front of us whilst Michael wandered around.
Once at the bottom of the mountain, it was a short walk back into the town. A woman flew over our path on a flying fox and a herd of goats with three young goatherds passed us on a bridge. Back in Zermatt, Astrid was thrilled to be able to buy a new watch at the Swatch store — identical to the one she had lost two days earlier! We only had to wait a couple of minutes for a return shuttle train which took about 10 minutes to return to Tasch. After picking up some supplies from the Co-op Supermarket, we were on our way, arriving back in Erlen at about 7:45pm.
Dinner was left-over noodles from the night before with some salmon fillets and salad — we were able to dine outside on the balcony again. We chatted and laughed (and laughed — Astrid will know why!!!). It was a perfect ending to our wonderful Swiss experience!
Lisa
2018-08-06
Oh my goodness I am even more excited about going to Zermatt now, but it's still 1 year and 1 week away!!! I recognised hat helicopter from Air Zermatt. There is a show on Netflix about the rescue guys there called The Horn. Really interesting rescues. I'm staying in the town for 2 nights and hope to do a bit of hiking there to get me ready for Scotland. Looks like the weather should be perfect :)
Barb
2018-08-06
Wonderful scenery. All those glaciers at the top. Heaven for me!!!
Debbie
2018-08-06
My favourite stop so far, Merrilly. We will be in Zermatt (staying at Sonne Hotel) in around 6 weeks. Can’t wait to go up the Gornergrat, the scenery just looks stunning. I’ll have to remember to take a Toblerone with me! Xx
Ian
2018-08-06
Visiting a viewing spot for breath taking scenery of the Matterhorn in 1983 was for us a not to be forgotten experience. We let our car at Tasch and, like you, went by train to Zermatt. We stayed in a hostel in Zermatt and the next day took the tourist train to a glacier lookout station further up. Looking at your photos of Matterhorn and surrounding glorious mountain views, I cannot recall getting as close to the Matterhorn as you did, nor did we see many of those scenes that you did. Perhaps the railway line has been altered near the top. Unlike you, we did not walk all the way back to Zermatt, but at least walked down from the top station to the next viewing station below. Here we rested on the sloping mountains in warm sunshine. I sunbaked, stripping my shirt and singlet off and whilst we rested, we looked at the glorious rugged moutain ranges and listened to the occasional distant sounds of what we surmised to be falling rocks. We took the train from this level back to Zermatt, where like you, we saw a herd of goats being led through the village. Oh, how your journey to Zermatt has triggered off wonderful memories!
melandmic
2018-08-06
I’m glad you have all enjoyed our hike near Zermatt! And I’m especially glad that it has triggered wonderful memories for you, Dad. :-) xxx