Many of Europe's highest mountains, including the country's signature peak, attract walkers, hikers, climbers and just plain gawkers to this car-free village whose charm survives all the tourists.
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The Matterhorn
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In the middle of the 19th century, Italians who came over the Alps from Cervinia were amazed to find a modest village of sleepy alleys, sturdy cabins and wooden storage barns on the other side of "their" mountains. The citizens of Zermatt were equally surprised - and promptly closed their doors and shutters in fear.
Today, the welcome is far more cordial - and international. Zermatt's a world center for mountain biking, hiking, paragliding and year-round skiing. To support tourism, the town has 116 hotels and boarding houses with 6,800 beds (plus another 1,500 holiday apartments with 6,500 beds), 38 mountain restaurants, 10 aerial cableways, one underground railway, the highest cable car in Europe, and 80 certified mountain guides. Not bad for a town with only 5,600 residents.
Beyond it's lofty recreation options, Zermatt is just plain scenic. The aquamarine Mattervispa River carries frigid glacial melt through town, gurgling over rocks pulled from the moraine. On all sides, massive mountains loom in full majesty. Indeed, 29 of Switzerland's 35 peaks higher than 4,000-meters (13,120-feet) are in the Zermatt region. Century-old huts stand on stone, mushroom-shaped stilts (they keep the rats out) and promise to outlast the most modern construction.
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Hiking is easily the primary outdoor summer activity. Visitors follow maps and well-marked trails. Some join tours or hire guides. Popular outings include a three-hour expedition along a snowy ridge from the Klein Matterhorn to the Breithorn for CHF 135. A four-hour glacier excursion costs about CHF 110.
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