Zermatt

Zermatt is defined by one silhouette. The Matterhorn dominates every terrace and window, while a car-free village, high glacier skiing and Swiss precision create a destination where the mountain, rather than the resort, remains the subject.

Zermatt lies at the head of the Matter valley in the Valais, at 1,600 metres, surrounded by thirty-eight summits above four thousand metres. The village has been closed to private cars for decades; visitors arrive by train from Täsch or Visp, and electric taxis and horse-drawn sleighs carry luggage. The first ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865 made it the centre of Alpine mountaineering.

The ski area is divided into Sunnegga–Rothorn, Gornergrat and the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise, which links over the Theodul Pass to Breuil-Cervinia and Valtournenche in Italy. The old quarter of dark larch barns and granaries survives beside the Hinterdorf, and the Gornergrat railway, opened in 1898, climbs to a viewpoint above the Gorner glacier.

Zermatt has one of the longest seasons in the Alps. The main winter season runs from late November to late April or early May, and the glacier above Trockener Steg allows skiing through the summer. January and February offer the coldest, most reliable snow; March and April bring sunshine, longer days and lunches on the terraces of Findeln.

In April the Zermatt Unplugged festival brings acoustic concerts to the village, and in alternate springs the Patrouille des Glaciers ski-mountaineering race sets off for Verbier. Summer belongs to climbers and hikers, from July to September, when the Zermatt Music Festival & Academy fills the churches. Many hotels pause in May and in November.

Zermatt’s grand houses are independent. The Mont Cervin Palace and the Grand Hotel Zermatterhof, founded in 1879, stand on the Bahnhofstrasse; The Omnia, reached by a lift through the rock, looks over the village from its terrace; CERVO Mountain Resort sits on the slope near the Sunnegga railway; and the Riffelalp Resort 2222m stands alone above the village on the Gornergrat railway.

LVXVRY advises on and arranges each of these stays directly with the hotel, including the choice between village life on the Bahnhofstrasse and the stillness of the mountain. Riffelalp opens only for the winter and summer seasons, and the village houses fill quickly for Christmas, New Year and Easter, when Zermatt’s long season draws skiers from across Europe.