We took the one hour train trip south to Visp, then caught the connecting one hour trip up the Alps to Zermatt for a day at altitude. Zermatt is at 1600m. By lunch time we were at 3883m.
We exited the train station, and walked toward the gondola lift at the end of town. Zermatt is a ski resort town, so there are expensive designer shops and tourist hotels everywhere.
As we approached the gondola, we had our first look at the iconic Matterhorn.
We bought tickets to Klein Matterhorn and got onto the first of three chairlifts – Furi, Trockener Steg and finally Klein Matterhorn. In Zermatt, the weather was still quite walm. By the time we reached the top, it was quite chilly, even though the sun was out. There was snow everywhere.
We enjoyed a few hours on the snow, walking around, enjoying the view, tobogganing, and having lunch at the restaurant.
The air was so light that we often ran out of breath. We also went for a walk through the ice palace.
When we had had enough, we caught the chairlift back down and walked long the main road of Zermatt, enjoying the atmosphere.
Sated, we caught the train back to Visp, and then back to Bern.
After freshening up, we headed back to Barenplatz for dinner, this time at an Italian restaurant, Santa Lucia. All up, a very enjoyable day.