Mountain trips Zermatt: buy tickets online or at the ticket office?
Manon, a traveler, is planning a summer trip to Zermatt with her family, staying for 4 nights in Täsch. They want advice on ticket purchases for mountain excursions, particularly regarding the Swiss Half Fare Card and convenience during peak season.
- You can buy tickets for mountain trips online on the same day, but purchase them when the weather looks good, even just the day before.
- Consider getting a Priority Boarding ticket for the Gornergrat to skip long lines during peak season.
- Check accommodation options in Täsch before you arrive for convenience.
- Encourage applying for the Swiss Family Card so your children can travel for free with the Swiss Half Fare Card.
AI-generated summary-
Hi,
After our holidays in the Berner Oberland last year we fell in love with Switzerland and this summer we will visit Zermatt. We are a family of 2 adults and two children (13 and 14 yo) and will be staying 4 nights in Täsch (so three days to spend).
Our plans are:
- visit Matterhorn Glacier Paradise and hike the trail to Schwarzsee
- Hike 5 Seenweg
- visit Gornergrat and hike to Riffelsee.
I did a lot of calculations with/without halffare card, Peak Pass etc.
I think the cheapest option in our case is to buy two half fare cards for my husband and I, so the children travel for free with the Swiss family Card. The downside is that my husband and I have to buy separate tickets all the time for the cable cars. Can I buy them in July on the same day in the morning online or do we have to wait in line all the time at the counter? Or do I have to buy the tickets much more in advance because it’s peak season? I hope not, because we will decide where to go based on the weather.
I hope somebody has advice! Thank you, Manon
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Hi Manon,
That’s great to hear you had a great trip here last summer 🙂 The Berner Oberland region is stunning.
Zermatt will be special too. You’ll find all details for a visit to Gornergrat and the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise in our handy Zermatt guide:
Via the table of contents, you’ll see the activities section, use the drop down menu and find ‘hiking’, here you can find your hike information.
That’s great you have carried out the maths and the Swiss Half Fare Card is your best option :-). Online purchase options for the Swiss Half Fare Card can be found here, super easy, all emailed conveniently to you:
As for the ticket purchases for your mountain trips. Yes, you can buy these online as and when. No need to buy too far in advance, just purchase when you know the weather will be favourable. A day before is fine or on the morning of your visit.
If you want to avoid the queues, there are priority boarding options that you can buy for the Gornergrat trip. You can research in the below link:
- Gornergrat tickets & priority boarding: https://www.myswissalps.com/activity/gornergrat/#tickets
That’s right, for your children, as you will have the Swiss Half Fare Card, you can apply for the Swiss Family Card which will allow them to travel for free whilst with you. All Swiss Family Card information in the below link, scroll to “Discounts for children: the Swiss Family Card”:https://www.myswissalps.com/travel/tickets/discount/
In case you need some accommodation suggestions for Täsch, some are listed in our accommodation section in the link below, just filter and search accordingly:
Have a great trip!
Kind regards,
Yolanda
That is so helpful Yolanda, thanks for your extensive reply!
Hi again,
One more question. On the Zermatt Bergbahnen website it says:
“You can buy the reduced tickets online if you have a SwissPass with a valid half-fare/GA travelcard. The ticket will be charged directly to your card. Please remember to carry the SwissPass card with you (mobile SwissPass is not possible). Otherwise, we ask you to buy your reduced tickets at one of our sales points upon presentation of your reduction card.”
What do they mean with ‘mobile SwissPass is not possible’? Last year in Switzerland I had our half fare cards loaded into the SBB-app on my phone. Does this mean that if I have the halffare card in the app on my phone, I have to buy reduced tickets at the cablecar stations? I hope not, because I assume the lines are long. Otherwise I would like to know what I should do to be able to buy reduced tickets online with the half fare cards. Thank you again!
Hi Manon,
Am afraid you can only load the tickets if you have the Swiss Pass. It’s not enough to just have the Half Fare Card.
Don’t worry you can purchase the tickets anytime from the ticket counter and various point of sales in Zermatt.
Regards,
Anna
Thank you Anna, that is good to know. I hope the lines are not too long in July!
Hi Manon,
The lines might well be long in July unfortunately!
Consider getting your tickets late in the day on the day beforehand (after checking that the weather forecast looks good). Find out what time the ticket office closes though. You might find it worthwhile to invest in a Priority Boarding ticket for the Gornergrat train.
You can check the weather forecast for the Gornergrat and Glacier Paradise via the following links:
https://www.gornergrat.ch/en/journey/weather/group/weather
https://www.matterhornparadise.ch/en/information/weather-and-wind
Hope this helps!
Alpenrose
That is a great recommendation, thank you!
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