Zermatt

A rack railway from opposite the main station up to 3,100 metres, looking straight across the Gorner glacier at the Matterhorn. The first train of the day is the one worth catching, before the cloud and the crowds.

Cable cars to the highest cable car station in Europe, with a glacier palace cut into the ice and year-round skiing on the Theodul. Cold and thin-aired at the top; allow time to acclimatise rather than sprinting for the lift back.

The 5-Seenweg from Blauherd past Stellisee, Grindjisee, Grünsee, Moosjisee and Leisee, about two and a half hours mostly downhill, with the Matterhorn reflected in three of the five. Take the Sunnegga funicular up.

The surviving old quarter: sixteenth- and seventeenth-century timber granaries raised on stone discs to keep the mice out, a couple of streets away from the watch shops. Free and takes ten minutes.

Beside the parish church, the graves of climbers killed on the Matterhorn, among them men from the 1865 first ascent, on which four of the seven died coming down.

Zermatt is car-free. Drivers stop at Täsch, five kilometres short, and park at the Matterhorn Terminal, which has 2,100 covered spaces, with over a thousand more at private operators nearby. Parking is charged by the day and adds up over a week.

The shuttle train leaves Täsch every 20 minutes and reaches Zermatt in 12 minutes. Trolleys are provided at both ends and you push your own luggage; there are no porters waiting.

The Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn runs up from Visp on the main SBB line, roughly three and a half hours from Zurich with one change. In the village it is electric taxis, a free e-bus and walking.

Late June to mid-October for hiking, and December to April for snow.

May and November, when most lifts close for maintenance and the village half-empties.

Christmas and New Year, the February half-terms, and the July to August walking peak.

First Gornergrat train, for the Matterhorn in early light and before the day trippers arrive from Täsch.

Walk part of the way back down, Rotenboden to Riffelberg past the Riffelsee, where the mountain reflects if the water is still.

Eat at a mountain restaurant on the descent. Half board in the village costs more than most people budget for.

Sunnegga funicular and the Five Lakes Walk, or the cable cars up to the glacier if the weather is holding.

Walk the Hinterdorf, then fondue on the Bahnhofstrasse. If you are parked at Täsch, note the last shuttle before you order another bottle.

The valley below has the walking without the village prices, and the Europaweg high route runs from Grächen to Zermatt over two days, crossing the Charles Kuonen suspension bridge on the way.

The Matterhorn Alpine Crossing links Zermatt to Breuil-Cervinia in Italy entirely by cable car, from CHF 147.50. Carry your passport; it is a border, and you come back into a different price level.