Zermatt sits at about 1,620 metres at the head of a Valais valley, a car-free village of dark timber chalets with the Matterhorn closing off every street. Electric taxis hum along Bahnhofstrasse, and three lift systems climb straight out of the village to some of the highest skiing in the Alps.
The pass links Matterhorn Glacier Paradise, Gornergrat and Rothorn with Cervinia and Valtournenche in Italy, around 360 kilometres of piste in all. It is unapologetically expensive, but a shared apartment, a Coop run and a long lunch in a Findeln hut make it work for a group of friends.
Drop the bags, sort passes and gear in the village and ride the Sunnegga funicular for an easy first afternoon on the sunny side, where beginners find their legs on the gentler slopes. Ski or ride down, wander Hinterdorf at dusk and share a raclette back at the apartment.
Take the Matterhorn Express up to Matterhorn Glacier Paradise for the view from 3,883 metres, then the strong skiers cross the Theodul pass to Cervinia for lunch while the rest ski the glacier runs down to Furi. Everyone regroups at Hennu Stall for après-ski and the last run into the village.
Ride the cog railway to the Gornergrat for the classic Matterhorn view over the glacier, non-skiers included, then ski the long descents back down towards Riffelberg and the village. Meet for a hut lunch in Findeln, finish the day on the Rothorn side and spend the last evening at Papperla Pub.
A cable car climbs to 3,883 metres on the Klein Matterhorn, the highest cable-car station in Europe, with a viewing platform over the Alps and a glacier palace carved into the ice. Pick a clear morning — up here the air is thin and the cold bites even in April.
A cog railway has been grinding up from the village to 3,089 metres since 1898, and the terrace at the top gives the classic Matterhorn view over the Gorner glacier. Non-skiers can make a day of it; skiers drop straight back down the long pistes towards the village.
With the international pass you can ski over the Theodul pass into Italy and have lunch in Cervinia with the south face of the Matterhorn behind you. Check the lift closing times before you cross — miss the last one back and you face a very long taxi ride around the mountain.
A huddle of sun-blackened 16th-century barns and granaries standing on flat stone 'mushroom' discs that kept the mice out, a few steps from the bustle of Bahnhofstrasse. Come at dusk, when the lamps are lit and the snow sits thick on the roofs.
A hamlet of sun-baked wooden huts turned restaurants on the slopes above Sunnegga, Chez Vrony the best known of them. Ski in for a Rösti or a Walliser Teller on the terrace facing the Matterhorn, then carry on down the piste to the village.
A wooden shack on the piste down from Furi where the music starts mid-afternoon and nobody takes their ski boots off. Grab a mulled wine or a beer on the terrace, finish the run into the village and, if the night is young, carry on at Papperla Pub.
The main street runs from the station towards the Matterhorn, lined with shops, bars and hotels, with the Gornergrat and Sunnegga lifts a few minutes' walk away. The handiest base for a group that wants everything on foot and the nightlife at the door.
The old quarter just off the main street, where 16th-century barns on stone stilts stand among chalets and small guesthouses. Characterful and still central, for a group that wants the village feel without the hotel strip.
The quieter, sunnier side of the village up towards the Matterhorn Express at Furi, mostly chalets and apartments with an e-bus into the centre. Good for a group that is serious about first lifts and happy to cook in.
The village down the valley where the cars stop, with its own hotels and apartments and a shuttle train into Zermatt every twenty minutes or so. Noticeably cheaper, and worth it for a group that drove and does not mind the twelve-minute commute.
A half wheel of Valais cheese melted at the fire and scraped onto boiled potatoes, with pickled onions and gherkins on the side. The Walliser way is one scrape at a time, so keep your plate ready and your glass of Fendant full.
A thick cake of grated potato fried golden and crisp, often topped with cheese, bacon or a fried egg. The mountain-hut lunch that carries a whole table through the afternoon runs.
A board of air-dried Valais beef, mountain cheese, raw ham, dried sausage and dark rye bread. Order one for the table with a bottle of Heida or Dôle and call it dinner on a night in.
A rustic Goms pie that packs potato, leek, apple, onion and cheese under a pastry lid, said to date from a time when villagers ate whatever was in the cellar. Filling, modest by local standards and perfect on a snowy evening.
The lifts run from late November to late April or early May, and the Theodul glacier keeps a handful of runs open through the summer. Christmas–New Year, mid-February and Easter are the busiest and priciest weeks, when Swiss, German and UK half-term holidays hit the village at once, while the French zone holidays and the Italian settimana bianca fill the Cervinia side in February. Early December, January after Epiphany and late March into April are quieter and noticeably easier on the wallet, and with most pistes above 2,500 metres the snow holds to the end of the season. In summer the same lifts carry hikers to the 5 lakes walk and the Gornergrat, with glacier skiing before lunch for the keen.
Zermatt is car-free and reached by train: change at Visp or Brig on the main line for the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn up the valley, about 3 h 30 from Zürich and around 4 hours from Geneva, or drive to Täsch, park and take the twelve-minute shuttle train. In the village you walk, hop on an e-bus or hail an electric taxi, and the Gornergrat, Sunnegga and Matterhorn Express lifts all leave from the village itself. The Glacier Express starts here too, if someone fancies the slow way out to St. Moritz.
Get an eSIM for Switzerland
No roaming bill, no queue at a kiosk. Install a data plan before you leave and Zermatt has mobile data the second you switch off airplane mode.
10% off with code WEPLANIFY
Travel with a VPN
Hotel, café and airport Wi-Fi is shared with strangers. A VPN encrypts your connection — your banking, your inbox and the streaming you already pay for keep working in Zermatt just like at home.
A realistic daily budget per person, in three styles.
Zermatt is an expensive destination overall, with prices that are high compared with many other Alpine towns.
