Zermatt

 

February 2020 

In my quest to see all of Switzerland, Zermatt was on the top of the list. Our wedding anniversary was in February and we thought about taking a big trip to some far away destination but seeing Switzerland is a priority so we decided to go to Zermatt. We booked everything through the Basel SBB website www.baselsbb.ch which was so easy. I want to take all of the scenic trains in Switzerland too. The Glacier Express was the first one and it was a wonderful trip. 

​

Day 1- Sunday

We took an early morning train from Basel to Chur. Whenever we book a train which is longer than 2 hours we always book First Class. I love train travel and l especially love the dining car. We had coffee and breakfast in the dining car which is so glamorous to me. Before we knew it we were in Chur. 

​

The Glacier Express travels from St. Moritz to Zermatt but we decided to get on at Chur. I wasn't sure if being on a train for the entire 8 hour journey would be too much so we opted for the 5 hour trip from Chur. I will say the entire journey would have been fine. The scenery is just magical and the experience is so grand. We boarded the train around 11am and had a small table for 2 in First Class. There was a wait staff available to bring anything you needed. We started with a bottle of champagne followed by lunch and coffee while enjoying the majestic scenery. The car was full and most of the passengers were from the USA which was fun for us. We sat next to a group of 6 American travellers and spent much of the time chatting with them. Before we knew it we were in Zermatt. 

​

There are no cars in Zermatt...only little electric vans that the hotels have to transport guests and luggage from the train station, restaurants, shops, etc. It is a typical ski village with lots of folks in ski gear walking around. We checked in and hit the pavement to explore the village. There are lots of restaurants, hotels and shops. We found a pizza place for dinner. We are not great with making reservations so of course when we walked in and asked if we had one we said 'no'. The look of disappointment was there but they had a table available. After dinner we went to a the fancy hotel and had our token martini at the bar.

​

Day 2 - skiing

When we lived in Colorado I used to ski quite a bit. I wasn't the best skier but certainly not the worst. I have not skied in over 10 years so I had mixed feelings. We went to the ski shop across from the hotel, rented skis, boots, poles and headed toward the gondola. There wasn't a ton of snow and it was a bit icy but the weather was perfect (not a cloud in the sky). I didn't break any bones and only fell once so it made for a good day of skiing. Plus, Zermatt has several outdoor restaurants and bars on the slopes which was so fun. I think we spent more time there than skiing. We had reservations at ???? which has the best fondu I have ever had. I loved skiing in Colorado but Zermatt is quite a wonderful place to ski.

​

Dinner

It was our actual anniversary and we had dinner reservations at ?????. I was really looking forward to a fancy dinner out but after a day of skiing and a late lunch we just weren't hungry so we canceled it. Now you know why I don't do well with reservations. We went back to the pizza place for pizza and a beer....no reservations required. 

​

Day 3 - hiking & home

From the hotel we walked to the hiking trail that took us up the mountain. It was quite steep but the view of the Matterhorn was stunning. Very little snow too. We made it to a little village with a restaurant ????? where (again with no reservation) we only had the option to sit outside on a community table and had wine and a cheese plate. It couldn't have been more perfect. I noticed we could see skiers and it was the same slope were were on the day before. We finished our wine and hiked back down the mountain just in time to make the afternoon train back to Basel. 

​

Zermatt is beautiful and I will definitely be back. I love that there are no cars and you can walk eveywhere you need to go. 

​

Train:

Basel SBB to Chur: Swiss Rail

Chur to Zermatt: Glacier Express

Zermatt to Basel: Swiss Rail

Hotel: Swissflair Hotel Aristella

Restaurants: Chez Verony (on the slopes - fondu), Grampi's (casual, pizza and Italian), Findlerhof (along the Findeln Trail)