22 July 2018
Zermatt is famed as a mountaineering and ski resort of the Swiss Alps. We were at Zermatt for a week to do some summer hiking. And for me, to shoot some photos of the legendary Matterhorn especially those with the mountain reflecting on the alpine lakes.
On our first day in Zermatt, we could see low clouds hanging over the mountains surrounding the village. This is not ideal weather for high altitude mountain hikes. Hence, we decided to do an easy hike originating from Furi, a hamlet located on the side of a mountain slope above Zermatt.
View from our apartment on our first morning in Zermatt. The Matterhorn was behind thick clouds and the hamlet of Furi is somewhere on the mountain slope in the background.
Typical chalet-style apartment blocks in the residential area of Zermatt.
Zermatt is shaped like a baguette, with a river running lengthwise through the village. The stores, cafes, pubs, restaurants, hotels, banks and supermarkets are mostly located in the village center. The main SBB trains station plus mountain railway and cable car stations bringing visitors and locals to the surrounding mountains for winter skiing and summer hiking are also mostly found within the central area, with the exception of the cable car station going to Matterhorn Glacier Paradise which is located at the southern end.
The residential area with apartments and chalets are mostly located at the northern and southern ends of the town. Our home in Zermatt for one week is the Residence A apartment, located on the northern end, about 600m from the centre of Zermatt. To get to Furi and the starting point of the hike, we had to walk about 1.6 km across town to the Matterhorn Express Cable Car Station.
Outside our apartment on the left and heading towards Zermatt town center and the Matterhorn Express Cable Car Station.
The walk should take about 25 minutes but we took much longer than that. Zermatt was just too beautiful and interesting for us to just walk through.
We stopped often to snap pictures of photos of the beautiful wooden chalets, decorated with colourful summer flowers and also to browse at the storefronts along the Bahnhofstrasse, the main shopping street.
The plaza outside the main train station with some waiting electric vehicles.
Zermatt is a car-free village but there are still electric powered vehicles serving as buses and taxis running on the streets, from the stations to the hotels.
On occasions, horse-drawn carriages could be seen on the streets bringing guests to the Grand Hotel Zermatterhof, one of the most posh hotels.
Zermatt in the early morning was much quieter than when we arrived the previous day. Day-trippers typically swarm the village later in the day and they would likely miss seeing the oldest part of the village located along Hinterdorfstrasse.
A walk through this part of the town is worth doing. The Hinterdorfstrasse is perpendicular to the Bahnhofstrasse shopping street and runs from there to the river.
The junction of Hinterdorfstrasse to the Bahnhofstrasse.
Interesting stairs on a building at the start of the Hinterdorfstrasse.
As we proceed down this street, we could see more old buildings made of darken or black coloured wood. It is good to see that these buildings are conserved to reflect how life was like in the mountains villages, back in the old days. In many other countries, especially mine, old buildings would have been torn down and redeveloped into fancy hotels, stores and apartments to generate money for the owners or town.
Oldest part of Zermatt village located along Hinterdorfstrasse.
Hinterdorfstrasse’s buildings are generally well preserved old chalets, although some broken wooden ladders and windows were spotted. Some of these chalets date back to the 15th century.
The colourful flowers on the terrace are signs that people are still living here. A few of these buildings had been repurposed into guesthouse or pubs, while others had been used as storage for firewood and other stuff.
It was interesting to see the design of these buildings, built of wood and stones. The interlocking beams and walls of the wooden houses actually sits on flat stone slabs balanced on stilts to keep out mice.
I had seen what Zermatt looked like in winter, under a few feet of snow. It is amazing that these buildings are still standing after almost 300 years of weathering.
I learnt later that the buildings are made of larch, the tree that we would see on our hikes around Zermatt. These trees are rich in resin and hence the timber is particularly resistant to pests.
There was almost nobody else except us, strolling down the cobbled street. I surprised a cat who was not too pleased to see me. It was basically protective of the breakfast that some resident had left for it and I knew I had to keep my distance.
The other end of the Hinterdorfstrasse that is nearer to the river.
Located at the other end of the street is a small fountain honouring Ulrich Inderbinen.
Ulrich Inderbinen Fountain at the Hinterdorfstrasse.
We could not understand the language on the information plaque on the fountain, except for the numbers. A friendly elderly couple who was passing by told us the fountain was to honour this extraordinary Zermatt mountain guide who climbed up the Matterhorn 370 times. That was an amazing feat on its own. What was even more amazing is that his last climb was when he was at the age of 90 years! Salute this man.
I told myself that I must check out what it is like to climb to the top of the Matterhorn. Go see the videos on Youtube and they will give you the chills.
After seeing the old part of Zermatt, we continued down Bahnhofstrasse and came to a large square with a prominent church tower and several posh hotels.
Grand Hotel Zermatterhof at the church square.
Marmot Fountain at the church square.
There are much more to see around the church square but we would defer that for another day since we had a whole week in Zermatt.
Restaurants and Cafes along the street of Zermatt.
We made a stop at an interesting bakery shop called the Bäckerei Fuchs. We bought a unique and original “Mountain-Guide Bread” that is made using sultanas, cinnamon, cocoa and a highly-secret flour mixture. Samples are available to us to taste before buying. It reminded me of a Christmas fruit cake but more delicious. This bread would be an excellent energy-giving snack to bring for our next few hikes.
Unique Mountain-guide’s sweet gourmet bread.
More chalets, decorated with colourful summer blooms, tempted us to stop for photos as we continued our walk to the Matterhorn Express Cable Car Station.
Typical chalet with flowers in Zermatt.
Zermatt is an extremely beautiful town to explore on foot. Even a walk from our apartment to the cable car station across the village was so interesting.
