St. Moritz or Zermatt: which is better? 

St. Moritz and Zermatt: which location in the country is more convenient?

Where St. Moritz and Zermatt are located

St. Moritz is located in the large south-eastern canton of Graubünden, at 3h05 train ride from Zurich and quite close to Italy and Austria. It’s in the beautiful, wide Engadine Valley: one of our favorite regions in Switzerland.

Zermatt can be found at the end of the Matter Valley in the very south of Switzerland, in the canton of Valais. The town is surrounded by spectacular high mountain peaks (including the Matterhorn) that are also the border with Italy. It’s a 3h15 train ride from Zurich, so that’s comparable to the distance between Zurich and St. Moritz.

Train travel times to other Swiss destinations from both towns

This table shows travel times for the quickest possible train connections to popular Swiss destinations from both St. Moritz and Zermatt. Travel times by car aren’t the exact same, but do follow a similar pattern.

Details about Zermatt’s location:

• Zermatt’s location is somewhat isolated: it’s at the very end of the Matter Valley. You’ll first have to exit the valley toward Brig or Visp in the Rhone Valley to travel to other locations.
• But once you’re in the Rhone Valley, you’ll have perfect train connections to other Swiss towns and regions. This partially has to do with the Lötschberg Base Tunnel that allows for quick rides to the northern side of the Alps.
• Because of this, it’s overall easier to incorporate Zermatt in most itineraries than it is to add St. Moritz.

Details about St. Moritz’s location:

• St. Moritz has excellent train connections too. You’ll have no problems adding it to an itinerary that includes Graubünden, the Glacier Express, the Bernina Express, Italy, or Austria.
• But for travel plans that focus on northern or western Swiss regions (such as Basel, Bern, Lake Lucerne, the Bernese Oberland, or Lake Geneva), St. Moritz is quite far off.

Accessibility by car

Zermatt is car-free and can’t be reached by car either. You’ll have to park in Täsch and get to Zermatt by train. St. Moritz is not car-free, but we still recommend just getting there by train. The streets are pretty steep in some places, and parking costs are impressively high.

There’s more than quick transfers

Of course, there’s more to an itinerary than quick trips between towns! If your itinerary allows, just visit the town that attracts you most, or plan scenic detours as you like. To us, spending some extra time on Swiss trains is a bonus, and we hope you’ll have the same experience.

Panoramic train rides that can be made from St. Moritz and Zermatt

St. Moritz, Zermatt and the Glacier Express

One of the reasons that St. Moritz and Zermatt are so famous is that they’re at the ends of the Glacier Express line. This scenic train ride is an excellent way to visit both towns!

If you’ll be making the entire Glacier Express trip, we strongly recommend spending a couple of nights in (or near) both Zermatt and St. Moritz. We don’t think the direction in which you travel, or the order in which you visit the towns, makes any difference. Just plan whatever fits your itinerary best.

Other scenic train rides from St. Moritz and Zermatt

We don’t think there’s a major difference when it comes to scenic train rides that can be combined with a stay in St. Moritz versus Zermatt. Both villages are close to several panoramic rides other than the Glacier Express.

From St. Moritz, the most obvious routes are:

• the Bernina Express train ride to Tirano;
• the Bernina Express bus ride or the Palm Express bus ride to Lugano, where you can board the Gotthard Panorama Express.

From Zermatt, you can travel by:

• the regional Lötschberg trains crossing the mountains toward the Bernese Oberland;
• regional trains to Andermatt, where you can switch to Göschenen and board the Gotthard Panorama Express;
• regional trains to Brig and Domodossola, where you can switch for the Centovalli train to Locarno.

These are just the most famous ones! There are countless of other train and bus trips from both towns that classify as very scenic. Find more tips in our Zermatt and St. Moritz activity overviews.

St. Moritz versus Zermatt: what do these towns themselves have to offer?

Overall impression, atmosphere, and building style

We’d describe St. Moritz and Zermatt as villages with many similarities:

• They’re classy mountain resorts at high altitude with all tourist facilities one can think of: plenty of high-end hotels and mid-range accommodations, restaurants, supermarkets, outdoor sports shops, and so on.
• They’re perfect base towns for snow holidays in winter and other outdoor activities in summer.
• At the same time, both villages are rather small with about 4800 inhabitants (St. Moritz) to 5800 inhabitants (Zermatt).

So what’s the difference? To us, it’s this:

• Zermatt is the typical Swiss village you may have in mind when picturing Switzerland. Its charming wooden chalets are an important part of the overall atmosphere. Architecture in St. Moritz is quite different: here you’ll see the plastered white and bright-colored buildings that are typical for the Engadine.
• We feel that St. Moritz is more classy, whereas Zermatt is cozier.
• Zermatt is well-visited by tourists year-round. So far, St. Moritz is mainly known as a winter sports resort. As a result, we feel it’s a bit easier to find peace and quiet in St. Moritz outside the winter season. There are nuances though. St. Moritz does attract lots of visitors that travel by the Glacier Express and Bernina Express, in summer too. And shoulder seasons such as March, April, late October, and November are rather relaxed in Zermatt as well.

Nature around St. Moritz versus Zermatt

Here’s where some important differences can be found. St. Moritz is in the gentle wide valley of the Engadine, surrounded by green hills, lakes to its west, and snow-capped mountaintops a bit further south. If you easily feel “closed in” by high mountains, this might be a reason to opt for St. Moritz rather than Zermatt.

Zermatt is directly surrounded by impressive peaks, that include some of the highest in all of Switzerland. Most of all, it’s dominated by the iconic Matterhorn. If the spectacular Alps are your main focus, Zermatt would be the better option.

Day trips to be made right from the towns

You won’t get bored in either town. Details for St. Moritz:

• In St. Moritz, you can enjoy luxury shopping, fine dining, a pleasant walk around the lake, and several mountain visits right from town.
• Mountain rides include the Signalbahn, Corviglia and Piz Nair, with lots of hiking options in summer and ski slopes in winter.
• We’ve listed more info here.

Details for Zermatt:

• Shopping and dining out are very easy in Zermatt as well.
• Plus, you’ll have access to three wonderful mountain tops that can be reached by cogwheel train, funicular, and cable car, with a dense network of hiking and mountain biking trails in summer.
• In winter, you can add lots of ski lifts to this range of cableways.
• A more detailed overview is available here.

Options for day trips near both towns

If you want to make day trips to other towns and regions, it’s good to know that Zermatt is rather secluded. More information:

• It’s at the southern end of the Matter Valley. So if you’re staying here, your day trips will mainly be focused on excursions and hikes in the mountains south of Zermatt.
• Traveling to Brig or Visp in the Rhone Valley is certainly doable from Zermatt. Even a day trip to the Jungfrau Region is an option, thanks to the Lötschberg train connection!
• An excursion to Saas-Fee in the neighboring valley is yet another option, but travel times are not to be underestimated.
• We’ve listed more tips here.

Specifics for St. Moritz:

• St. Moritz, on the other hand, is in a broader valley from which you can travel in several directions: to the lakes of the Upper Engadine and to the Bergell Valley in the west, to the Bernina Pass and Poschiavo Valley in the south, to the Lower Engadine in the east, and to Chur in the north.
• So in our opinion, the day trips we make from St. Moritz (or a nearby town) are more diverse than those from Zermatt.
• Our excursion tips can be found here.

Train travel to/from other countries from St. Moritz and Zermatt

St. Moritz is quite close to the Italian and Austrian border.

• If you’re coming from Milano in Italy, you can easily reach St. Moritz via Tirano and the Bernina Pass. Details are in our Italy-Switzerland travel guide.
• Coming from Austria, you can head for Buchs in north-eastern Switzerland, then to Chur and onto St. Moritz.
• We’ve explained the main routes in our Austria-Switzerland travel guide.

Zermatt is close to the Italian border:

• You can reach the town by train from Milano very well. Travel via Domodossola in that case.
• You may also choose to include a detour by Centovalli train in your ride. In that case, head for Chiasso and Locarno first.
• A full overview is available in our Italy-Switzerland information.

Which town is better if you depart or arrive by plane?

If you want to combine your town visit with a departure or arrival by plane, this might be helpful:

• There’s no significant difference in the trip duration between Zurich Airport and either St. Moritz or Zermatt.
• If you land at or depart from Geneva Airport, a stay in Zermatt makes more sense. A train ride to/from the airport of Geneva takes about 2h30 less from Zermatt than from St. Moritz.