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Stopover sightseeing between Zurich and Zermatt?

Posted by (Oregon) on

Hey all -

Taking my 80 year old dad on his bucket list trip to Switzerland and we will be setting up our base of operations in Zermatt (he must see the Matterhorn!). Anyway, we land in Zurich and spend the night there the first day before heading out to Zermatt the next day. I was pondering (since it's a 4 hour-ish train ride) of maybe breaking up that ride with some sightseeing on the way...you know, jump off for a couple hours and explore a village, or take a walk in a gorge, or something like that. Heck, even thought...maybe a train to a lake, then ride a boat, then get back on a train!

Any recommendations out there for something that might meet the bill? We are going to be in Zermatt for 5 days/4 nights and as long as we see the Matterhorn ONE DAY, we do plan to go out and explore other areas....or just even to ride the train since dad loves that.

So, any little side trips pop to mind between Zurich and Zermatt? We can easily take the whole day traveling as check in isn't till like 1600 - so, no rush to get there, from Zurich.

Posted by
11988 posts

My immediate thought is to travel Zürich to Kandersteg, a very cute village where you can spend a few hours before heading to Zermatt. It will involve several trains, though. Are you up for that with luggage? You can, of course, put your bags in a locker at the train station. Look up Kandersteg online and see if it appeals. You can simply walk around the village, take an easy walk https://schweizmobil.ch/en/hiking-in-switzerland/route-441, or ride the cable way to Oeschinensee https://www.oeschinensee.ch/en/sommer/, assuming you are going after the snows are gone. Note the walk to the lake itself is a 90 minute roundtrip with some descent/ascent so it depends on how active you want to be.

Use www.sbb.ch/en to explore train schedules.

Posted by
22252 posts

It is not 4ish hours, it is 3 1/4 hours. You can get a direct train from Zurich HB to Visp that takes 2 hours, Trains at 7, 8, and 10 for starters. At Visp, it is just over 1 hour to Zermatt. So IMHO, just go to Zermatt.

Posted by
947 posts

If you’re interested in a boat ride, you could take the train to Thun, ride the boat around for a few hours stopping at Oberhofen and Spiez, then take the bus back up to the train station in Spiez and continue on your journey. You’d have to be okay with taking your luggage on that plan though, so hopefully you’re packing light.

You could also store luggage at Thun and just boat to Oberhofen and back and then retrieve your luggage to continue. The boat dock is right across the street from the train station.

Alternatively, you could take the direct train from the Zurich Airport to Thun for your first night and enjoy Thun plus a boat ride and then you’d only have 1 hour and 50 minutes on your second day to get to Zermatt.

Alternatively you could go to Luzern your first night instead of Zurich, take a boat ride and explore the historic center the next day and then continue to Zermatt from there.

Personally I’d rather spend the night/first morning in Thun or Luzern than in Zurich. The most efficient plan would be the direct train to Thun from the airport - spend your first night and much of your second day there and then get to Zermatt before dinner.

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