Zermatt

Free, and worth knowing

The Tasch beginners' ski lift. A ski lift that costs nothing, twelve minutes down the valley on the train. Zermatt Tourism puts it in its own words: the lift is operated by local people and available free of charge, perfect for family outings. It sits behind the old part of Tasch a few minutes' walk from the railway station, on open, sunny and gently sloping ground. In a resort where a day on the mountain runs into three figures, a free lift is worth knowing about.

Ice skating at Obere Matten. A natural rink and an artificial one in the middle of the village, and neither charges anything to skate on. The artificial rink at the Obere Matten sports facility runs from November to the middle of March, and you can skate, sit and watch EHC Zermatt train, or hire ice time by the hour. Look at the rink schedule on the way past, because the ice is given over to training, matches and events at times.

The two natural rinks down the valley. Tasch and Randa each keep a natural rink and each opens it to the public for nothing in good weather. The Tasch one is beside the campsite and is looked after by the coach of the local hockey club, and in summer the same patch becomes two tennis courts and a beach volleyball court, also free. Randa's is 27.5 metres by 17.5 in the middle of the village and is maintained by the municipality. Skates for Tasch come from Alpini Sport.

The free electric buses. Zermatt Tourism says it in one line at the top of the bus stop page: use of the electric bus service is free of charge. Two lines and fourteen stops, from the railway station out to Winkelmatten, Spiss, Wiesti and the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise valley station, and several of the stops are marked as completely wheelchair accessible. No card and no pass, and it is free to everybody rather than to pass holders only.

The Wolli Card, for children under nine. This is Zermatt's guest card and for a family with small children it is worth a great deal. A child of guests staying at least one night gets it free up to the ninth birthday, provided the accompanying adult or young person buys a two day lift pass or longer. It carries free travel on every cable car all year round including the Gornergrat railway, free entry to the Glacier Palace and the Matterhorn Museum, exemption from the visitor's tax, and a welcome kit.

Wolli's beginners' park at Sunnegga. Zermatt Bergbahnen's sheltered and sunny beginners' area at 2,288 m, with five magic carpets and play equipment on child friendly slopes, and the park itself is listed as free. Getting up there is the part to budget for, at twenty six francs for a pedestrian return, and a child under nine with a Wolli Card rides up for nothing. The self service Leisee shuttle runs across from the Sunnegga station.

The winter walking and snowshoe network. Twenty six numbered routes are published individually with distance, time, climb and descent, nineteen winter hiking trails and seven snowshoe routes, and roughly half of them start in a village and need no lift at all. Purple signposts mark the winter hiking trails, and the tourist office hands out RECCO reflectors to anybody who wants one.

Zermatt Community Library. On Bahnhofstrasse in the middle of the village, and locals and guests borrow books, magazines, films and audiobooks free of charge. There is a PC, a printer and free wifi, a reading corner where you are allowed to take a coffee or a tea in with you, and a programme of storytelling sessions and readings. In a resort where everything else costs, a warm hour indoors for nothing is worth having on the list.

Tuba-Christmas. Tuba players gather on the church square and play Christmas music together, an idea that started on the Rockefeller Plaza rink in New York in 1974 and travelled. Zermatt's edition is organised by the conductor and euphonium soloist Ueli Kipfer, and if the cold wins the second half moves inside the church of St. Mauritius.

What the paid attractions let in for nothing. Three worth knowing before anybody buys a ticket. The Matterhorn Museum is free to a child up to nine accompanied by an adult, and free again to anybody holding a Swiss Museum Pass, a Swiss Travel Pass, a Swiss Flexi Pass, a Swiss Youth Pass or a Raiffeisen card carrying a Maestro, VISA or Mastercard logo. The Glacier Palace is free to Wolli Card holders and is included in the Peak Pass and most excursion tickets. ZOOOM the Matterhorn up on the Gornergrat is included in most train tickets, and Gornergrat Bahn's own line is that admission is already included in most train tickets.

A few of the rest

The Gornergrat railway. The biggest single thing here for somebody who is not skiing. A rack and pinion railway climbing from a station directly opposite Zermatt's main station up to 3,089 m, over fifteen hundred metres of ascent in thirty three minutes, and you can get on and off as often as you like on the ticket at Findelbach, Riffelalp, Riffelberg and Rotenboden. Over CHF 50.

The Rotenboden toboggan run. The highest toboggan run in the Alps, and the reason a good many non skiers buy a Gornergrat ticket at all. Two kilometres from Rotenboden at 2,815 m down to Riffelberg at 2,582 m, about ten minutes of it, groomed daily, with the Matterhorn in front of you the whole way, and the train picks you up at the bottom about every ten minutes. It is rated moderate and written up as suitable for families with children. Over CHF 50.

The Peak Pass. The proper answer for somebody spending a week here and not skiing. Unlimited travel on Zermatt to Matterhorn Glacier Paradise, Zermatt to Furi and Schwarzsee, Zermatt to Gornergrat, Zermatt up to Sunnegga, Blauherd and Rothorn, and Furi to Riffelberg, plus the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn between Randa, Tasch and Zermatt, the local bus, the Glacier Palace and ZOOOM the Matterhorn. Six days is CHF 314.00, which is less than three separate returns to the top. Over CHF 50.