[Anonymous]

10 October 2022 at 14:43:57 #828498

I’m wanting to go on a family ski holiday with my non-skiing parents in March ’23. Particularly keen on Zermatt as it appears to have enough interest away from the slopes.

One of the main activities for my parents would be winter hiking. I suppose the main question is how accessible will these be? Obviously my parents aren’t going to be able to do anything too difficult.

I was having a look at the Zermatt website (http://www.zermatt.ch/en/winter-hiking-snowshoeing/Winter-hiking-trails) and it seems like most of the trails are closed. Also some of the pictures don’t show the paths to be particularly groomed, rather the participants are seen sporting snowshoes.

Just be grateful if someone can shed some more light on the hiking in these places.

Thanks!

[Anna]

Reply 1 of 8 • 10 October 2022 at 18:20:28 #947705

Hi rss91,

Welcome to MySwissAlps.

There are plenty of easy winter hiking trails in Zermatt. These are usually groomed and accessible in the winter months between late December and April. Some trails are specifically for trekking with snowshoes, which require additional winter gears. You can find the difference between winter hiking and snowshoeing here: http://www.myswissalps.com/hiking/winter

Hope this gets you started.

Regards,

Anna

[User]

Reply 2 of 8 • 10 October 2022 at 22:33:58 #947706

This question takes me down memory lane. Over a period of years between 2000 and 2012 we went as an extended family to Zermatt either pre Christmas or around Easter. In total there were three or four non skiers including my (now dearly departed) parents who had given up skiing but (having adopted Cross country in the 1970s) but were very fit into their 80s (early 90s in my Dad’s case). There are lots of walking options in and around Zermatt in winter (such as Zermatt – Zmutt walk and all the other official ‘Winterwanderweg’. They thoroughly enjoyed just walking around the town or sitting in the mountain restaurants while others ski.

The two best mountain restaurants where non skiers can sit soaking up the sun and skiers can join them (either after every run or after a 1 – 2 hour stint away on the piste ‘network’) are the restaurant at Riffelberg and the restaurant at Schwarzsee. They would often walk around the village or towards Zmutt in the morning or afternoon, before or after a lunch rendezvous up the mountain.

[User]

Reply 3 of 8 • 11 October 2022 at 11:01:34 #947707

Glad to have rekindled your memories!

How about walks to Sunnegga too? That looks like a good link up place as well and there seems to be a few trails from Zermatt village.

Is it also easy for pedestrians to catch the gondola’s so they’re not having to walk everywhere? e.g hike up in the morning, have lunch and take the gondola down

[Anna]

Reply 4 of 8 • 11 October 2022 at 15:58:27 #947708

Hi rss91,

Yes, you can find numerous easy winter walks around Sunnegga. For instance you can take the funicular up to the middle station, have brunch on the terrace overlooking the Matterhorn then walk down to Zermatt if you like. The path is groomed and signposted. Alternatively just take a walk around the area or take the gondola further up or return to base with the same funicular. If you have a day ticket, you can use the gondola and funicular all day as many times as you wish.

You can find more info about how to get around in Zermatt here: http://www.myswissalps.com/zermatt/travel

Regards,

Anna

[User]

Reply 5 of 8 • 12 October 2022 at 0:26:16 #947709

In our party the non skiers would take the cable cars or train both ways if meeting up with us at altitude, and perhaps walk around a bit on the snowyest areas up there, but most of the time they would do the walking in the valley and the ‘sitting enjoying the view’ up at the restaurants I mentioned.

My mum was not a huge fan of ‘dangling in mid air’ so she always preferred the Gornergrat train (it’s the best of the three main ways up from Zermatt)

[User]

Reply 6 of 8 • 12 October 2022 at 10:07:12 #947710

I’ve heard that the valley can be in shade for most of the day. Would that also be the case in March?

I know my parents would want to maximise their time in the sun so I would have thought higher up might be better?

[User]

Reply 7 of 8 • 13 October 2022 at 19:59:37 #947711

Hi rss91,

Zermatt (http://www.myswissalps.com/zermatt) should be OK. There is a bigger difference in the Jungfrau region (http://www.myswissalps.com/jungfrauregion), like Lauterbrunnen gets less sunshine than Mürren.

But Zermatt is already at a high altitude (1600 m) so it is not in the valley. Also as it lies at 1600 m, make sure to bring warm clothes, and prepare yourself for some snow.

Take care,
Ildiko

Learn more: Winter weather in Switzerland: http://www.myswissalps.com/weather/winter

[User]

Reply 8 of 8 • 13 October 2022 at 21:39:18 #947712

No, Zermatt village gets sun most of the day in March.

Remember that in central Europe, the days are already quite long by March (12 hours of daylight in Zermatt) and the sun is already high in the sky in the middle part of the day. Ildiko sayas ‘Zermatt is not in a valley , but is in a valley just not a deep one like Lauterbrunnen

Here’s a link to a sun calculator tool http://www.sunearthtools.com/dp/tools/pos_sun.php?lang=en