zermatt + matterhorn 4487 m, switzerland, CH

we've been twice to switzerland in 2024 due to the 5 months of internship of our youngest daughter in zurich .... and this time i was visiting matterhorn 4487m with her 😎

our stops this time?

• munich (DE)
• leutkirch im allgäu ~ a small city in baden-württemberg (DE)
• vaduz in the mini state of liechtenstein (LI)
• san bernardino (CH) tunnel at 1620 m (not the pass road which goes up to 2066 m)
• the lake lago maggiore + the city of ascona in the swiss province tessin / ticino
• northern italy, IT ~ the beautiful basilica 'The Santuario della Madonna del Sangue' built in 1494 in the comune of Re.
• simplon pass, CH, 2006m 
• zermatt in the province wallis ~ a city, where you cannot come in by car as a tourist. you've to take the last 5 km from täsch by train. our agenda in zermatt? well, the 1st day we've hiked up the gorner ridge (gornergrat 3135 m) from the middle station riffelberg of the cog railway (zahnradbahn) gornergratbahn. what a crazy idea at that day! we have probably been one month too early for that way as there was snow up to our hips at the ridge and the path way not visible at many places. we've hoped to take the famous picture of the matterhorn 4487 m peak reflected on the surface of the lake riffelsee 2770 m. no chance as the lake was completely frozen and covered up by snow. i'll copy that picture somewhere from the internet and show ya below, promissed! next day we've visited the all-year ski area up to 3883 m (cable car glacier paradise), breithorn 4160 m and the majestic matterhorn, of course. anything else? well, many - especially big - hotels in zermatt were closed due to switch from the winter to the summer season. there were many tourists especially from china  + india anyway. switzerland is really expensive ... food, drinks,  the yearly highway fee ... we didnt need petrol and the hotels were somehow okay.... most expensive compared to germany were the prices for the cable cars. two days were almost 250 CHF per person. and yes, it is crazy but true, they've problems with electric power in zermatt. i would say, 3/4 of the cite had no electric power for 2 hours. no light, no ATMs, no payments by credit cards, no elevators ... of course, very few areas / hotels / buildings have had their own emergency power supply. the absolute winner of this situation was a pizzeria in the main street with a stone oven fired by wood! there was a queue of folks waiting to come in for a candle light dinner + hot pizza 🍕 + lukewarm beer 🍺 (the fridge needs electric power, too 😂). we have been told, last time in april there was no electric power for TWO DAYS!
• the furka pass from inside of the mountain ~ we've taken the ferry train because the pass at 2429 m was still closed due to snow up there
• laax (CH) ~ a village and a lake in the province aka kanton of graubünden
• bregenz (AT) ~ just 2 short stops to tank up. much cheaper than in switzerland or italy 
• munich (DE)

matterhorn 4487m

simplon pass 2006m

matterhorn 4487 m

me at matterhorn, switzerland ~ what a majestic peak 🌋

breithorn 4160m

on the road ~ leutkirch DE

on the road ~ vaduz, liechtenstein LI ~ the castle of the monarch

on the road ~ ascona, the swiss part of the lake lago maggiore CH

ascona

traditional wooden houses, zermatt CH

~~~

let's start, 1st day in switzerland😃

entering switzerland (CH) from vaduz / liechtenstein (LI)

san bernardino tunnel,1620 m (not the pass road, 2066 m)

hate is not nice, if you asked me ...

san bernardino pass road, CH

ascona, lake lago maggiore, province / kanton tessin, CH

a marmaid? arts? both?

it was a little bit too cold in the water and i was not alone 🐋

lunch break in ascona, CH

hotel tamaro in ascona CH ~ i've a blogger buddy called tamaro 😎

street arts, arts, arts ...

hotel castello. the best place to be in ascona?

good-bye, lago maggiore, CH

on the road in tessin / ticino, CH

on the road in northern italy, IT

much nicer picture found at google maps ~ the beautiful basilica 

'The Santuario della Madonna del Sangue' built in 1494 in the comune of Re.

heading to the simplon pass CH coming from italy

how to make a small pond look great? 😂

succeeded. do you agree? 😂 ~ simplon pass, 2006 m

simplon pass, 2006 m

zermatt. both big hotels were closed in may

hotel alphubel, zermatt

gornergrat cog railway

matterhorn + zermatt, CH

riffelberg cog train station

can you see the groundhog / marmot / murmeltier on the right?

next train station rotenboden at (frozen) lake riffelsee

at lake riffelsee

matterhorn as often pictured from lake riffelsee. that was one of the

 most wanted moments for me BEFORE the trip. during and after

 our journey? there were so many nicer moments than to take

 a stupid photo you can download from the internet at any time 😉

matterhorn as seen from lake riffelsee. this wonderful picture was taken 

by jeffrey pang + shared on flickr, later uploaded to wiki commons here

matterhorn as seen from the frozen lake riffelsee (left) by us ⛄

the glacier don in the valley 

glacier lakes ☃⛇⛄

the dangerous part of our hiking tour ~ gornergrat 3135 m

finaly there ~ gornergrat 3135 m

gornergrat 3135 m

outside ...

... inside

our starting point at the way back

timetable of gornergratbahn from 1899 needed?

new meets old in zermatt CH

zermatt, both huge hotels left + right were closed in may

edward whymper, the leader of a mountaineer group

 + 1st man at matterhorn, 14.07.1865

we were happy to move to hotel le petit charme inn for the next 2 days

sun roof in our hotel le petit charme inn, zermatt

hotel le petit charme inn, zermatt

all-year ski area matterhorn glacier paradise, -8°C ~ 3883 m aka 12,740 ft

breithorn 4160m

two of us

ice crevice (gletscherspalte)

in the moments of beauty we believe in god? otherwise not so, isnt it?

we are back down in the valley => the winter season is over 😎

walking down to zermatt

the traditional wooden houses again

zermatt castle

hexenbar is one of the nicest pubs / bars in zermatt, if you asked me

time to go home ...

furka pass

badly needed after the tunnel ...

laax, kanton graubünden

lake laax + laax, kanton graubünden

bregenz AT

munich - leutkirch - vaduz - san bernardino - ascona - re -

 simplon pass - zermatt - furka pass - laax - bregenz - munich

even more pictures in my google album 😄