Swiss Alps — Zermatt & the Matterhorn ⛰️
The Alps at their most iconic: a car-free village beneath the pyramid silhouette of the Matterhorn, reached only by train, with glacier cable cars climbing to the highest viewing platforms in Europe. Hand-picked stays and must-book experiences — every link takes you straight to Trip.com to check live prices and book.
🏨 Where to Stay
- The Omnia ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — a design-led mountain lodge perched on a rock above the village, reached via tunnel and elevator, with uninterrupted Matterhorn views and a spa using Aesop and Farfalla products.
- Mont Cervin Palace ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — smart pick — Zermatt's grand hotel since 1851, right on Bahnhofstrasse, with a one-Michelin-starred restaurant and its own red horse-drawn carriage waiting at the station.
- Hotel Bristol ⭐⭐⭐ — attainable pick — a family-run hotel between the train station and the Klein Matterhorn cable car, with Matterhorn views from most rooms, a small spa and free train-station pickup — genuinely affordable Zermatt, without sacrificing the view.
- Riffelalp Resort 2222m ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — hidden gem — Europe's highest luxury hotel, built in 1884 on a plateau reachable only by cogwheel railway, with eye-level Matterhorn views, Europe's highest spa and its own miniature summer tram — one of the most singular stays in the Alps.
✈️ Getting There
- Flights to Geneva (GVA) — direct flights from Manchester year-round, followed by train via Visp and Täsch to Zermatt (around 3.5–4 hours). Zermatt is entirely car-free.
🎟️ Experiences
- Matterhorn Glacier Paradise — Europe's highest cable car station at 3,883m, with a 360° viewing platform over 38 four-thousand-metre peaks, an underground Glacier Palace and year-round summer skiing.
- Gornergrat Railway — a UNESCO-adjacent cogwheel railway opened in 1898, climbing to 3,089m for the classic postcard view of the Matterhorn and the Gorner Glacier.
- Glacier Express — the "slowest express train in the world," starting right in Zermatt and crossing the Alps to St Moritz in around 8 hours, through 91 tunnels and over 291 bridges, with panoramic windows framing the Oberalp Pass and the Rhine Gorge along the way.
🚗 Car Hire & Transfers