Zermatt: the 07:00 Gornergrat train, then the Five Lakes down to Sunnegga
14 playbooks shared · added to 45 trips
- 7 am1Gornergrat Bahn, the 07:00 — sit on the rightZermatt
The 07:00 is the whole trick. From 08:00 trains go every 24 minutes and every one of them is full, and the Matterhorn reliably grows a cloud cap by 10:00. CHF 132 return in summer, CHF 66 with a Swiss Travel Pass or Half Fare Card. Sit on the right going up — the Matterhorn appears above Riffelberg and stays there.
9 min by train or taxi · 5.3 km - 7:50 am2Gornergrat summit terrace and the Gorner glacierZermatt
Twenty-nine four-thousanders from one platform, and the Gorner glacier below is the second largest in the Alps. Walk five minutes past the hotel to the far viewpoint and the tripods thin out completely. It is 3089 m and about ten degrees colder than the village — the fleece you left in the hotel is the thing you will regret.
21 min walk · 1.6 km - 8:45 am3Walk down: Gornergrat → Rotenboden → Riffelsee → RiffelbergZermatt
Ride up, walk down — the reflection in the Riffelsee only works before the wind picks up, so this has to be the morning half of the day. It is fifteen minutes down from Rotenboden station to the lake and about an hour more to Riffelberg on an easy graded path. Your Gornergrat ticket lets you rejoin the train at any station, so there is no penalty for stopping early.
8 min by train or taxi · 4.4 km - 10:45 am4Train down to Zermatt and a pause at Bäckerei FuchsZermatt
Included in the return ticket. Fuchs does the Walliser rye bread and an apricot tart worth twenty minutes; it is also two minutes from the Sunnegga funicular entrance, which is a tunnel mouth on the river side of the village and easy to walk past.
- 11:40 am5Sunnegga funicular and the Blauherd gondolaZermatt
Buy to Blauherd, not to Rothorn: the Five Lakes walk starts at Blauherd and the extra stage to Rothorn is a viewpoint you have already had from Gornergrat. About CHF 44 return, and you only need the up half — the walk finishes at Sunnegga where the funicular takes you back down.
- 12:20 pm6Stellisee first, then rösti on the Fluhalp terraceZermatt
Stellisee is fifteen minutes from Blauherd and is the reflection everyone has seen; Fluhalp is another ten beyond it. Do the lake before lunch — the water goes choppy after about 13:00 most days. Fluhalp's rösti and their own Fluhalp beer, on a terrace pointed straight at the Matterhorn; they do not take reservations for the terrace.
8 min by train or taxi · 4.7 km - 1:40 pm75-Seenweg: Grindjisee, Grünsee, Moosjisee, LeiseeZermatt
About 9.8 km and mostly downhill from Blauherd to Sunnegga; walking it the other way is a 700 m climb for the same lakes. Only two of the five actually reflect the Matterhorn — Stellisee and Grindjisee — so do not wait for the others to perform. Grünsee is the swim: it warms up more than the rest and has flat rock to get out onto. Leisee at the end is shallow, roped and full of children, which is charming or not depending.
7 min walk · 550 m - 7 pm8Dinner at the WhymperstubeZermatt
In the hotel Whymper left from for the first Matterhorn ascent in 1865, and it is a fondue and raclette room rather than a shrine. Book it — twelve tables, and it fills by 18:00 in July and August. Two people can share one cheese fondue and add a salad; the portions are aimed at people who have been on a glacier.