The Best Experience You Could Ever Hear About Journey To Matterhorn!

The Best Experience You Could Ever Hear About Journey To Matterhorn!

During my last trip exploring the Alps, my journey started in Austria and I reached Switzerland which was my third visit but the first time with my family. After exploring a few locations of DDLJ movie which is so nostalgic for all Indians along with gorgeous landscapes of Lucerne, Interlaken, Gstaad, and Geneva, my aim was the Matterhorn. The iconic piece of picture-perfect pyramid-shaped Alpine mountain in the Swiss side of Zermatt valley is the most photographed mountain in the world with over 100 million pictures clicked annually. And on my road trip to Europe, the most pivotal point of exploring the Alps was the Matterhorn only. Despite its towering reputation, the Matterhorn is not the tallest mountain in neither Switzerland nor Europe and its height is 4,478 meters. The highest Swiss mountain is the Dufourspitze with an altitude of 4634 meters but the king of the Alps is Mont Blanc situated in French–Italian border with 4,809 meters. In this blog, I am going to share my experience of exploring this most beautiful mountain. But before that, let’s understand the meaning of “Matterhorn”. It’s a German name where Matter means “Meadow” and Horn means “Peak”. The Matterhorn straddles between two countries; Switzerland and Italy and it have two more common names apart from The Matterhorn. The Italian name is Cervino and French calls it Cervin.

How to Reach the Matterhorn?

Nestled in the Swiss Alps alongside the iconic the Matterhorn, Zermatt is the ultimate winter paradise. The fairy tale village with its breath-taking panoramic views all around is beyond any statements. To explore the Matterhorn, we have to reach Zermatt first which was around 2 and a half hours distance from my last stay in Gstaad. My entire road trip to reach Zermatt was spectacularly beautiful as the road was in parallel to the Alps mountains till reaching Täsch. If you intend to drive to Zermatt, note that the town itself is car-free. Driving is only permitted up to Täsch then either take the shuttle train or a private taxi to Zermatt. Shuttle trains between Täsch and Zermatt run every 20 minutes and journey time between Täsch and Zermatt is 12 minutes.However, I decided to stay in Täsch for 2 reasons:

1) Since a lot of tourists put their base in Zermatt so Täsch is very calm

2) Zermatt is very commercial and expensive in terms of accommodation.

A single room in Zermatt was costing me around USD 800 during the New Year holidays. So I decided to put my base in Täsch and decided to explore Zermatt and the Matterhorn from there. Tourists come to Zermatt for basically skiing and taking pictures of The Matterhorn although there are a lot of other places that are there to be explored. Zermatt’s unique skiing area right at the foot of the world’s most photographed mountain has once again claimed its place as the world’s best ski resort. As per Snow-Online, Zermatt stood out as the best ski area. Skiing is possible on the glacier all year round here.

Must Do and Visit in Zermatt.

As per my experience, 3-4 days are enough to explore all the places nearby Zermatt. Since I was on the road trip of entire Europe, I kept it as 2 days. These are a list of places…

1) The Breithorn: 

The Breithorn with 4,164 meters and its many summits are considered as one of the easiest routes for climbing it so a lot of mountaineers come to Zermatt to climb it. 

2) The Klein Matterhorn:

The Klein Matterhorn is a peak of the Pennine Alps and overlooking Zermatt. Its height is 3,883 meters and is the highest place in Europe that can be reached by gondola lift. It is also marketed as Matterhorn Glacier Paradise; A world of adventures. From here, mountaineers and hikers accompanied by local guides set off to scale the Breithorn. Since November 2018, the new cableway is carrying up to 2,000 passengers per hour to Matterhorn Glacier Paradise.

3) The Matterhorn:

At 4,478 meters, the majestic Matterhorn is certainly the most famous mountain in the world. The summit of the Matterhorn pierces the sky like a “Medieval Spear” which motivated me to explore this mountain from my childhood days. The Matterhorn was one of the last Alpine mountains to be ascended till 1865. On July 14, 1865, Edward Whymper was guided by French mountaineer; Michel Croz along with the duo of father and son; Peter Taugwalder and 4 other British climbers-Charles HudsonLord Francis DouglasDouglas Robert Hadow were the first team to triumph. However, a sad tragedy happened upon descent when Hadow, Croz, Hudson, and Douglas fell to their deaths on the Matterhorn Glacier and are buried in the Zermatt churchyard except for Douglas whose body was never found. A lot of historians have their opinions that these deaths were not accidents but conspiracy… You can get more history of this triumph if you visit Matterhorn Museum-Zermatalantis in Zermatt. 

All said the Matterhorn is not exceptionally difficult to climb if you plan with a local guide but surely you require great endurance, mountaineering skills, and grit. It is estimated that over 500 Alpinists daredevils have been died on the Matterhorn, making it one of the deadliest peaks in the world. 

What I learned recently that Swiss light artist Gerry Hofstetter has been displaying the flags of different countries on the Matterhorn peak. The Indian flag was projected on the Matterhorn mountain in Switzerland, in “hope and strength to all Indians”, in light of the current coronavirus pandemic

4) The Gornergrat:

The Gornergrat with 3,089 meters is one of those places that everyone should visit at least once in a lifetime. The mountain panorama of the Alps and the glorious view of the Matterhorn are unforgettable. It can be reached from Zermatt by the Gornergrat Railway, the highest open-air railway in Europe. The ride takes 33 minutes and requires a vertical climb of 1,469 m. The line leads on 9.4 kilometers over dramatic bridges, galleries, and tunnels across forests of larch and Swiss stone pine and past rocky ravines and mountain lakes throughout the trip. While exiting from the Gornergrat railway station, we reached the Kulm Hotel; Europe’s highest-altitude hotel with two astronomical observatories and a small chapel in the two towers of the Kulm hotel Gornergrat to see the most magical view of the Matterhorn. The observation platform at the Gornergrat has the most incredible view of the iconic Matterhorn and the surrounding mountains and you don’t need to be a skier to go up there. We spent almost 4-5 hours here and captured great moments. Kids playing under the snow and I clicking the time-lapse videos of the entire Alpine mountain range were surely the best feelings of the Alps. If you happen to be staying when there is a full moon, you can even dine under the moonlight at the 3100 Kulm hotel and gaze out to the Matterhorn surrounded by stars.

5) Zermatt Old Town: The village of Zermatt itself is picture-perfect with wooden chalets, churches, and very old traditional buildings constructed of stone and larch. A range of shopping boutiques can be seen there in the old town selling the finest Swiss chocolate, Swiss watches, and Swiss Army knives, and other Swiss themed souvenirs in the main village. And last not the least, please don’t miss The Matterhorn Museum – Zermatlantis which offers insight into the development of Zermatt along with history and conspiracy surrounded the maiden expedition of exploring the Mattheron on July 14, 1865.

I wanted to end my trip to the beautiful Zermatt village with authentic Swiss cuisine. Swiss cuisine is influenced by German, French, and North Italian cuisine and you can get plenty of options and varieties there. However, we were craving for the two most famous items which my wife shortlisted:

1) Cheese Fondue- The bread cubes are picked up on the fork and swiveled in the melted cheese which is served in a traditional ceramic fondue pot called ‘Caquelon’.

2) Raclette-Melted cheese served with “Gschwellti” (jacket potatoes), cocktail gherkins, and onions as well as pickled fruit.

The great stay of two days ended and my next destination was Milan, Italy. But surely Zermatt and the Mattheron will always be as one of the best places in my travel history. And you can have a detailed video here for more information like route, hotels, and costs of the great nostalgic place of me and my favorite; Mark Twain.

 

I am ending my blog with one of the beautiful quotes of Mark Twain which surely would be penned after his visit to Zermatt…

“I sat there with a rock-hard determination, because in spirit I was already wrestling with the dangers of the mountains, and my friend stared at me through his tears in adoring admiration. Finally, he threw himself onto me with a loving hug and called to me in a self-denying voice “Your Harris will never leave you. We will die together!”

I sat there with a rock-hard determination, because in spirit I was already wrestling with the dangers of the mountains, and my friend stared at me through his tears in adoring admiration. Finally, he threw himself onto me with a loving hug and called to me in a self-denying voice “Your Harris will never leave you. We will die together!

Mark Twain
Written by Shiju George

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