Up to now, it has always been true for me that the further a travel destination, the more interesting it was. I only wanted to explore destinations that could be reached in a few driving hours when I was old and gray or as soon as I didn’t want to take such long journeys 😉
The Corona virus has thwarted us globetrotters in terms of long-distance travel, at least for the near future. However, I am overjoyed that the hotel industry was able to reopen and that we could at least go on holiday in the surrounding countries. Suddenly you realize how grateful we can be to live in such wonderful countries as Austria and Switzerland.
The five of us were sitting in the car on our way to Zermatt – Sven, his father and I – with our two four-legged friends Kayla & Tika 😊
The journey to the car-free Zermatt is not that easy with 2 dogs – especially if you arrive with a pampered Rhodesian Ridgeback who is used to sleeping in his own dog bed 🙄 How you best manage this, you will find out in our tips and recommendations below.
Our accommodation, the Europe Hotel & Spa, turned out to be very dog-friendly and provided a dog basket with various utensils (blanket, towel, food bowl and poop bag) for a fee of CHF 20 per night.
Shortly afterwards we explored the charming, albeit touristy mountain resort of Zermatt. Since it is a car-free place, we found strolling through the streets with our dogs as quite pleasant. We had the feeling that Zermatt only consists of boutiques, hotels and restaurants.
We were particularly impressed by the old part of the village of Zermatt, also called Hinterdorf. There you will find the traditional Walliser barns, granaries, stables and old houses. In not many places in the world you can still find such well-preserved old buildings. A tour in this part of the village is therefore a MUST.
The next day our highlight of this trip was on the program. We wanted to get as close as possible to the world-famous Matterhorn.
So we took the Matterhorn mountain railway and drove to the highest mountain station in Europe, the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise at 3883 m. The trip alone was an experience in itself. In the valley it was still relatively cloudy, but when we broke through the cloud cover the sun shone at us with full strength.
view to Zermatt
Arrived at an altitude of 3883 meters, we climbed the last steps up to the viewing platform with a 360 ° panoramic view. This was a bit of a challenge for the dogs because of the grille on the floor, but our loyal friends also mastered it brilliantly. Once at the top I sacrificed my jacket and the two made themselves comfortable on it.
The ticket also includes entry to the highest glacier palace in the world. We plunged into the fascinating world of the eternal ice and discovered many painstakingly designed ice sculptures. Since we were there relatively early, we had the Glacier Palace completely to ourselves.
Now it was definitely time to warm up with a hot drink. At the same time we planned our hike (recommendations can be found below).
When our bodies were back to operating temperatures, we decided to take a trip to the Schwarzsee. From there we hiked along route 29 (the Matterhorn Trail – approx. 3 hours) to Zermatt. We were able to enjoy the view of the Matterhorn all along the way. Plenty of watering points were also available for the dogs.
Overjoyed to have had such a beautiful day and we arrived in Zermatt with a real cabbage steam. Kayla just finished her supper quickly and didn’t even raise her head when we left our hotel room 😂 Well, there were a lot of impressions for her that day.
We chose a very tasty Italian restaurant to replenish the burned calories 😉
We still had a long journey home ahead of us, nevertheless we decided to take a short tour on our day of departure – a tour through the Gorner Gorge (approx. 1 – 1.5 hours walking time from Zermatt).
view of Zermatt
and one last look at the Matterhorn
Our personal opinion about Zermatt:
- absolutely worth seeing, especially the old part of the village
- Highlight: Matterhorn Glacier Paradise
- very expensive travel destination
Best travel time:
Since Zermatt is at 1,600 m, it never gets really hot here. That is why the summer months are the most pleasant for hiking. However, we recommend booking at short notice, as a visit to the glacier only makes sense when the weather is nice.
Hotel recommendations:
Europe Hotel & Spa (dog: 20 CHF per night)
The next time, however, we would book the Hotel Alex Zermatt, as the dogs stay here for free.
Restaurant recommendation:
Restaurant Vieux-Valais da Nico
More tips & recommendations:
Arrival: Zermatt is car-free. There are plenty of parking spaces in Täsch. From there, a shuttle train runs every 20 minutes between Täsch and Zermatt. The train journey ends after 12 minutes at Zermatt Bahnhofplatz – right in the heart of the Matterhorn village. Electric taxis are available there, but you can also arrange a transfer with your booked hotel.
https://www.zermatt.ch/en/arrival/mtt
Tickets for mountain railways:
You can reach the Matterhorn glacier paradise after a 40-minute drive including transfer times from Zermatt. The tickets are very expensive, so you should only go up in good weather.
115 CHF – Zermatt to Matterhorn glacier paradise (Round trip ticket), dogs are free of charge
https://www.matterhornparadise.ch/en
Recommended hiking route (can be easily combined with a glacier tour):
3 hour tour: Matterhorn Trail – Path 29 (Schwarzsee – Stafel – Zmutt – Zermatt)
5 hour tour: Matterhorn Glacier Trail – path 26 (Trockener Steg – Hirli – Schwarzsee) + Matterhorn Trail to Zermatt
Gornerschlucht / Gorner Gorge:
The entrance to the Gornerschlucht can be found near the fun park (about 30 minutes on foot from the center of Zermatt).
Admission: CHF 5 per person (dogs are free)
Opening times: 9.15am – 5.45pm
We recommend the way back to Zermatt via Winkelmatten. This is more in nature and you can let the dogs run. The entire circular route from / to Zermatt takes about 1.5 hours.
Watch our YouTube Video about Zermatt 😊
