Zermatt, Switzerland

Good mountain views on the train ride to Zermatt. 

Zermatt sits near the foot of the famous Matterhorn mountain. The town is a car-free zone, though electric vehicles roam the streets. We stayed at Hotel Alphubel in Zermatt. Our room had a partial view of the mountains where we spotted mountain sheep. Also saw a house sitting on a cliff - I'm sure getting to and from that home would be an adventure.

The Matterhorn Museum shows the history of the mountains and life in Zermatt in the 19th century. The museum has a movie about the first attempts to climb the Matterhorn in 1865 - be prepared to shutter at the sight of the climbers' rope breaking.

Near the Matterhorn Museum is the Mountaineer's Cemetery, which is a memorial to people killed when they attempted to climb the Matterhorn and other mountains near Zermatt.

Matterhorn mountain around sunrise.

Clear day at the Matterhorn - only lasted a few hours before clouds started rolling in.

We rode a cogwheel train to the summit of Mt Gornergrat. Lots of views of the Matterhorn and surrounding region. The angle from Mt Gornergrat is ideal and is what we know from photos of the Matterhorn. 

Close up view of Matterhorn, from the train.

Matterhorn with Zermatt

Partially frozen mountain lake

Matterhorn from the summit of Mt Gornergrat. This is a screenshot from the webcam I took just before we left our hotel to board the train.

Panoramic view from the summit of Mt Gornergrat.

World's biggest chocolate Matterhorn - 4478g or 9.87 pounds

Matterhorn mountain with the train running. The clouds  resemble the shape of the mountain.

Dufourspitze, at 4634m/15,203ft this was the highest elevation mountain we saw from Mt Gornergrat.

Grentz glacier.

Monte Rosa glacier

Beautiful turquoise mountain lake between Monte Rosa and Grentz glaciers.

We rode the train down one station, Rotenboden.  Then walked to the Riffelsee for a view of Matterhorn over a lake. By now, clouds had rolled in so the the Matterhorn was partially covered.

This is the view from Riffelsee on a sunny day. 

Our actual view. We can still see the base of the Matterhorn.