[RESORT INSIDER] Zermatt

This month Edward Mannix gives us his insider tips on Zermatt, where his company Matterhorn Chalets provides wide-ranging holiday accommodation options.

Lunch – eliminate the last-lift panic of dining in Italy

One of the features of Zermatt’s skiing area is that it links with the Italian resort of Cervinia, which has brilliant skiing and even better lunch opportunities. Whilst going over there is a wonderful morning’s excursion, getting back up and over to Zermatt after lunch can be fraught, especially earlier in the season when the lifts close early. Avoid this and lunch at the quaint restaurant in the refuge at Testa Grigia, right on the Swiss–Italian border. The service is chaotically Italian, but the staff are very friendly and the food is excellent. And when you want to get back to Zermatt after lunch, there are no lifts to worry about – just an uninterrupted ski from 3,400m all the way down to the village.

Credit – Zermatt Tourist Office

Equipment – rent, but don’t carry it about

Unless your accommodation is right next to one of the three ski departure points around the village, the chances are that getting to and from the lifts will require either a walk, a taxi ride or the bus – fine in the morning when your energy levels are high, but not great at the end of the day.

There is however a solution: at the Matterhorn Express, Sunnegga and Gornergrat, there are very good hire shops which also provide overnight storage. You may find a marginally cheaper rental deal elsewhere online, but it’s worth paying a little extra just so you can leave your gear next to the lifts and make the journey home in comfortable shoes.

Kids up to 16 can ski for free

Even though Zermatt is high-end in most respects, the lift company is very generous with its discounts on ski passes for younger people. Children under nine ski for free, under-16s get half-price passes and young adults under 20 get a discount of 25%. What is less widely known, however, is that on Saturdays, under-16s can ski for free in the Zermatt area. This means that if your week’s holiday is in accommodation with a Sunday changeover, you could save at least 25 francs on the price of the kids’ passes by only buying a five-day pass for Monday to Friday.

Credit – Zermatt Tourist Office

Getting there – if you have a lot of luggage, a taxi is more convenient

Access to Zermatt from the valley is by train, with cars banned, but there is in fact a road linking Zermatt to Täsch, and some of the local taxi firms offer a package combining parking with a return taxi transfer up to Zermatt.

Whilst the price of a return ticket on the Zermatt shuttle train is currently 16.40 francs, a week’s parking in the main Matterhorn Terminal public car park will cost over 100 francs. For just 5 francs more, a group of four can leave their car for the week with the taxi company, who’ll drive them and all their kit up to Zermatt