You will probably hear about Matterhorn if you ever talk to anyone about Switzerland's landscape. The Matterhorn is one of the most iconic representations of the Alps if not the most iconic one already. That's being said, the mountain attracts numerous tourists to visit Zermatt, which is a town that lies right under the Matterhorn peak, each year.
Zermatt
There are three places I would highly recommend to visit in Zermatt: Gornergrat, Rothorn, and Glacier Paradise, which is also known as Klein Matterhorn. I booked the first night at the 3100 Kulmhotel Gornergrat, which was at the top of Gornergrat and required taking a train up to the mountain. I wanted to go to Glacier Paradise first, so I had to find luggage storage when I first arrived Zermatt in the morning. Don't Panic! There were lockers for storage, one floor down under platform 5, in the train station, but they only accepted coins.
Zermatt train station, locker storage is on the left
In order to get to Glacier Paradise, I walked about 15 to 20 minutes to the end of the town to take a gondola then change few cable cars along the way before reaching the top. I stopped at Trockener Steg station for an hour because I was able to see the Matterhorn with a lake from the East direction.
Outside of Trockener Steg station
Once I reached Glacier Paradise, I immediately understood why this site was named after Glacier Paradise. The area was such a perfect place for people who loved winter activity, predominately skiing. I was very glad that there was a restaurant selling food and drinks. However, the price tag quickly shattered my happiness unsurprisingly, and then I even saw that there was a sign of "2 CHF" if people wanted to use the restroom. Luckily one of the staff came to tell me that the cost of using the restroom was waived because I purchased something to eat. Note that the ticket for Glacier Paradise was 55 CHF with Travel Half Fare Card.
Viewpoint at Glacier Paradise
Later afternoon, I grabbed some snacks and juices from a popular chain supermarket COOP in Switzerland before I headed up to Gornergrat. The train station for Gornergrat is right across the street from the Zermatt station, and the ticket was 57 CHF with Half Fare Card.
Gornergrat Bahn station in Zermatt
There was another very popular site right before reaching Gornergrat, and it was the Riffelsee Lake. The lake was about 10 to 15 minutes walk downhill from the Rotenboden station, which was one stop before the final destination, Gornergrat. I felt the hill was somewhat steep, so it could be very dangerous for people who considered to come here late at night. This spot is very famous to see a perfect reflection of Matterhorn on the lake, and the best time would be early in the morning.
Riffelsee Lake, near Rotenboden station
Staying at 3100 Kulmhotel Gornergrat came with a premium price, but I absolutely thought every dollar I paid for was bang for my buck. Not only the price included a nice 3-course dinner and a buffet-style breakfast, but each room also had a direct view of the Matterhorn. I was also able to enjoy the sunrise shined its light on the top of the Matterhorn known as the golden Matterhorn without full of tourists early in the morning.
Golden Matterhorn
Dawn at Gornergrat
My personal highlight in Zermatt was definitely the night I spent up here in Gornergrat because I was able to shoot the Milky Way along with Matterhorn. In hindsight, it was all worth it even though I barely even slept that day because I had to shoot Milky Way and sunrise, which they were only 3 to 4 hours apart.
Nighttime at Gornergrat
Unfortunately, Rothorn was not opened, so I decided to hike at the 5-Seenweg known as the Five Lakes Walk on the second day. In order to get there, I took the train from Zermatt to Sunnegga and then changed the cable car to Blauherd. The beginning of the hike started shortly right outside of Blauherd. The hike would take approximately 2 to 3 hours depending on one's speed. Honestly, I was not impressed with this hike because the view along the hike was somewhat lacking the WOW factor to me. Also, the road had full of little rocks everywhere, so it added a lot of pressure on my knee, especially walking downward. I even encountered some rain toward the end, which was not very pleasant to a certain degree.
Right outside of Sunnegga station
My hotel for the second night was just nearly as good as the first night because I had a balcony and it had a great view of the Matterhorn. The location was however slightly on the edge of the town, but there wasn't really any night activity in the town.
My hotel for the second day: Alpen resort hotel Zermatt
View from the balcony outside of my room
Overall, I loved Zermatt so much because it gave me a nice resort feeling throughout the entire town, and the surrounding landscape was just mind-boggling. From almost any angle in the town, I was able to enjoy the Matterhorn too!
Zermatt
Top of hill near Zermatt Matterhorn Viewpoint
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