Up to the Gornergrat

Wolly, the mascot of Zermatt is greeting us at the tale station of Gornergrat. During our journey of 38 minutes, we will start at about 1'600 meters to go to the Gornergrat at 3'089 meters.

Evelin and Wolly at the valley station.

We tooked the train at 7am so we could choose a place next to the window. To have the best sight to see the Matterhorn you really have to take a window on your right side (to the direction of the travel). 

Our insider tip: it's really worth going early in the morning to appreciate the journey when there are not many people in the train. When we came back at the valley station at 8:15 am, there were a crowd waiting to experience the beautiful panorama that this journey offers!

 Ready to start our journey (take a place on the right side to have the best view on the Matterhorn!)

When the village of Zermatt woke up.

Going up. First you see the village, then you pass the forest until you reach the limit of the trees where you have an amazing panorama.

Crossing another train.

 Perfect view on the Matterhorn.

 Take a look on the amazing landscape!

During the drive you can't avoid to run in every direction to catch the best glimpse over the beautiful landscape. From the train we could see a cute marmot family!

Don't forget to take a lot of nice pictures!

View from the train

Even in summer there is snow in Zermatt. Here you can go skiing on the glacier the whole year.

Arrived at 3'089 meters.

 Sabine at the top.

Some impressions of the view you have from the train:

Did you know that the Hotel Klum (situated at the top of the Gornergrat) is the highest hotel in the Swiss Alps? It has a panoramic views of twenty nine 4000-meter-high peaks.

A walk through Zermatt

We had a very short night, as the alarm clock rang at 5:30 am. At least it was worth waking up so early to catch a glimpse out of our window where we saw the sunrise over the Matterhorn.

Sight from the window of our bedroom in the youth hostel.

Did you know that the Matterhorn is partly African? It happened 100 million years ago, when
rock masses from the African and European continent were pressed together to form the alps. 
This mountain is 4,478 m high and the first ascend was on the 14 July 1865, more than 150 years ago.

Sunrise over the Matterhorn.

On the way to the Gornergrat, we discovered plenty of curios and funny things. For example the little carts called "Elektrowagen". As Zermatt is a car-free town, the inhabitants there doesn't have the normal cars you normally expect. If you want to learn more about these electric buses, click here.

Thats how a post van looks like in Zermatt!

Did you know that you can buy Edelweiss by the florist? These are the typical Swiss flowers, often used as symbol of the alps. They grow between 1'800 and 3'000 meters and are protected (so never pick them up in the wildness).

Evelin admiring the Edelweiss at the florist.

On our way we also saw many typical chalets.

Typical chalet.

Village square in front of the church. On the left side you see the parish hall in white.

On our way we also had a big surprise! We saw some blackneck goats! These are the really typical goats of the Valais. The special thing about them, is that they are like cut in two parts: half black (from the head) and half white (from the bottom). 

In Zermatt, there is the tradition of the "Geissenkehr". A herd of Blackneck goats passes through the Bahnhofstrasse in Zermatt each morning and evening!

Our surprise of the day: