Swiss Alps: The Matterhorn and the Villages Beneath It

The Matterhorn rises to 4,478 metres on the border between Switzerland and Italy, its four near-vertical faces aligned with the cardinal directions and its summit a sharp pyramid of rock and ice that has become the most recognisable mountain silhouette in the world. The mountain was first climbed in 1865 by a team led by the English climber Edward Whymper, but the descent was marred by tragedy when four of the seven climbers fell to their deaths — an event that made the Matterhorn famous and established the mountain as the ultimate symbol of alpine adventure and danger.

Zermatt, the village at the foot of the Matterhorn on the Swiss side, has been car-free since 1930 — the only vehicles allowed are electric taxis and horse-drawn carriages — and the absence of traffic gives it a tranquillity that is unusual for one of the most visited places in Switzerland. The village is a collection of traditional wooden chalets and modern hotels clustered around a main street of restaurants, shops, and the Matterhorn Museum, which documents the history of mountaineering in the region. The view of the Matterhorn from the churchyard, with the mountain framed by the wooden chalets and the cemetery crosses, is one of the most iconic in the Alps.

The Gornergrat railway, a rack-and-pinion line that climbs from Zermatt to 3,089 metres, offers the finest panoramic view of the Matterhorn and the surrounding peaks — 29 mountains over 4,000 metres are visible from the summit station, including Monte Rosa, the highest peak in Switzerland. The journey takes 33 minutes and passes through a landscape that changes from pine forest to alpine meadow to bare rock and snow as the altitude increases. The Kulmhotel Gornergrat, at the summit, is the highest hotel in the Alps and offers the extraordinary experience of watching the sunrise turn the Matterhorn from grey to gold to pink.

The Haute Route, a classic alpine traverse from Chamonix in France to Zermatt, is one of the great long-distance mountain routes in the world — a seven-to-ten-day journey through the high Alps that crosses several glaciers and passes through some of the most spectacular mountain scenery in Europe. The route requires a good level of fitness and some experience of mountain walking, but it does not require technical climbing skills, and the network of mountain huts along the way provides accommodation and meals. The best time to walk the Haute Route is in July and August, when the snow has melted from the lower sections and the weather is most stable.

Grindelwald, in the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland, offers a different perspective on the Alps — the north face of the Eiger, one of the most feared walls in mountaineering, rises directly above the village, and the Jungfrau, Mönch, and Eiger form a trio of peaks that dominate the skyline. The Jungfraujoch — the 'Top of Europe' — at 3,454 metres is reached by a rack railway that tunnels through the Eiger and Mönch, and the views from the observation terrace over the Aletsch Glacier, the longest glacier in the Alps, are extraordinary.

Swiss alpine cuisine — rösti, raclette, fondue, and the air-dried beef of the Valais — is perfectly suited to the mountain environment: rich, warming, and designed to be eaten after a day in the cold. The fondue, made from a mixture of Gruyère and Emmental cheese melted with white wine and kirsch, is best eaten in a traditional restaurant in a mountain village, where the combination of the food, the warmth, and the view of the snow outside creates a sense of contentment that is hard to replicate elsewhere. The raclette — a half-wheel of cheese melted under a grill and scraped onto potatoes, pickles, and onions — is equally satisfying.

The Swiss Alps offer exceptional skiing from December to April, with the resorts of Zermatt, Verbier, St. Moritz, and Davos among the finest in the world. Zermatt's ski area, which extends into Italy and offers skiing at altitudes up to 3,883 metres, is one of the few resorts in the Alps that can guarantee snow throughout the season. The summer hiking season, from June to September, offers a completely different experience of the same landscape — the meadows are carpeted with wildflowers, the cable cars and mountain railways provide access to high-altitude terrain without the effort of the ascent, and the mountain huts serve cold beer and hot soup to hikers who have earned both.