Sunrise on the Matterhorn above Zermatt, Switzerland.
Note: This is part 2 of a 3-part spotlight on our Grindelwald, Zermatt and Chamonix Hiking Tour. To read part 1 please click here.
In our previous post we introduced our new Grindelwald, Zermatt & Chamonix hiking tour, a hike that we also refer to as the Eiger, Matterhorn & Mont Blanc.
After a bit of inn-to-inn hiking below the Eiger, we hop on a Swiss train and transfer to the internationally renowned destination of Zermatt, a vibrant alpine village nestled at the base of one of the most identifiable mountains in the Swiss Alps—the Matterhorn.
The Matterhorn region in Switzerland is a paradise for hikers. Hiking trails lead everywhere, connected by a sophisticated network of cog railways and aerial lifts.
Like the Eiger, the Matterhorn is a mountain that everyone should see at least once in their lives. The perfect pyramid shape of the peak makes the Matterhorn an absolute joy to behold and photograph. Also like the Eiger, the Matterhorn has a formidable north face—one of the six great north faces of the Alps. As we mentioned in our previous post, north faces are special because they’re typically the coldest, darkest, iciest and most difficult routes to climb. It was this climbing challenge that originally brought the first adventure seekers to the Matterhorn. As luck would have it, however, the very characteristics that make north faces challenging to climb also give them a dramatic and beautiful appearance. The climbing community may have put the Matterhorn on the map, but artists, writers and aesthetes have been flocking to the Matterhorn to view its stunning north face ever since. Mark Twain, for example, enjoyed a very agreeable stay beneath the Matterhorn in August of 1878 and wrote about his experience in “A Tramp Abroad” in 1881.
If not for the Matterhorn’s distinctive shape, the mountain would probably get lost amongst the surrounding peaks and glaciers. The Matterhorn is part of a mountain range called the Pennine Alps, which is the highest mountain range in Western Europe. From the Gornergrat, a scenic rocky ridge above Zermatt, a person can see nearly 30 peaks above 4,000 meters (13,000 feet) high including the Matterhorn and the Dufourspitze. The Dufourspitze at 4,534 meters/15,203 feet above sea level, is the highest summit in Switzerland, and it’s one of the ten main summits of the Monte Rosa Massif, the second highest mountain in the Alps. (Mont Blanc in France is the highest and the final stop on our Grindelwald, Zermatt, Chamonix hike.) The mountain complex adjacent to the Matterhorn is also home to the Gorner Glacier, the second largest glacier system in the Alps. (The Aletsch is the largest in Europe. See our previous post.)
With all of these mountains and glaciers, it’s only natural that the Matterhorn region would become a paradise for hikers and outdoor adventurers. Hiking trails lead everywhere, connected by a sophisticated network of cog railways and aerial lifts including the Klein Matterhorn, the highest ski lift in Europe 12,830 feet.
The old town of Zermatt with its blackened timber chalets, slate rooftops and cobblestone streets is a joy to explore.
The history of the Mattertal, the valley that Zermatt occupies, goes back centuries, so there’s plenty for history lovers to take in too. A contemporary underground museum in town covers the region’s history from its agricultural past to the tourism-driven present, and the cobblestone streets and ancient sunbaked chalets are a joy to roam. For train lovers, the Brig-Visp-Zermatt Railway (BVZ) is the gateway into town. The BVZ is a metre gauge rack railway which first brought rail service to Zermatt in 1891. Also featured in our Grindelwald, Zermatt & Chamonix hike is the Gornergrat cog railway, the world’s first fully electrified cog railway which opened in 1898. The views from the Gornergrat will knock you off your feet!
The next stop on our Grindelwald, Zermatt & Chamonix hike is Mont Blanc, which we explore in Part 3.
