No mountain is more instantly recognisable than the Matterhorn: an almost perfect pyramid of rock standing alone above the village of Zermatt, in the Valais canton near the Italian border. Zermatt has been car-free for over a century, which gives the village a rare calm, and the whole region is built around a single view. It is the most iconic single day in the Swiss Alps, and one of the most memorable.
A village with no cars
Zermatt banned combustion engines long ago to protect its air and its quiet, and the only vehicles on its lanes are small electric carts and horse-drawn carriages. The result is a mountain resort that still feels like a village: chalets and old timber granaries stand a few streets away from the boutiques and hotels, and the Matterhorn appears at the end of the main street as if placed there.
Because Zermatt is car-free, the road ends at the town of Täsch, a few kilometres down the valley, where a frequent shuttle train completes the journey. It is a small transfer, and an easy one to arrange, and it is part of what keeps the village the way it is.
Seeing the Matterhorn well
The classic viewpoint is Gornergrat, reached by a cogwheel railway that has run since 1898, ending at an observatory at 3,089 metres with the Matterhorn on one side and a wall of glaciers and four-thousand-metre peaks on the other. On the other side of the valley, the cable car to the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise climbs to the highest viewing platform in Europe, with year-round snow.
For a gentler encounter, a number of small mountain lakes above the village hold the mountain's reflection on a still morning, the Riffelsee and the Grindjisee among the best known. A short walk from a cable-car station is often all it takes to trade the crowds for silence.
The journey is part of it
Zermatt is around three hours by road from the Lake Geneva region, following the Rhône valley deep into the Valais before the final climb. It is a beautiful drive in its own right, through vineyards and orchards with the mountains closing in on either side.
A private chauffeur takes you as far as Täsch and coordinates the short shuttle connection into the village, so your luggage and your day flow through without friction. You step off into a car-free street with the whole of Zermatt, and its mountain, in front of you.
Experience it with a private chauffeur
We can take you there in comfort, on your own schedule.
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