Switzerland and Germany Day 5

• Start of day: Zermatt, Switzerland
• End of day: Zermatt, Switzerland

It was a big activity day for us in Zermatt! In the morning we hiked through Gorner Gorge¹ along the Gornerschluchtweg (Gorner Gorge Trail). If you’re in town and follow the lefthand side of the river walking towards the Matterhorn, you should run right into the trail. The first part is paved road in town, then it becomes gravel road, then you need to be on your toes to catch the turnoff on the left into the gorge itself. It’s easy to miss it and to just mindlessly continue up the road (ask me how I know). You’ll hike a bit through the gorge, then come to the booth where you pay, then continue on down more into the gorge.

By the way, Zermatt has a stargate you’ll pass along the way:

We hiked through the gorge, then picked up a trail that makes its way up the hill some and ultimately finds its wsy back to Zermatt (conveniently near our hotels). It was periodically spitting rain but we made the best of it and it ended up being a nice hike. We only went the wrong way twice, and were able to correct quickly.

Waiting for a train to cross:

Along the hike:

The afternoon was busy, as well. We took the funicular up to Sunnegga² and then a gondola onward to Blauherd. At Blauherd the four of us rented mountaincarts, which are like Big Wheels you’d have when you were a kid, only made of rigid metal with beefy wheels instead of sun-brittled plastic.

The mountaincart has to be one of the more dangerous things I’ve done in my life. It was a lot of fun, don’t get me wrong, but at no point while I was in motion did I feel like I wasn’t moments away from death. It lasted around 20 minutes and I managed to capture some video (see Mountaincarts and Kickbikes video below).

The carts are turned in at Sunnegga, where we then stopped for a late lunch at Buffet Bar Sunnegga. This is my second time eating here and have been pleased with the Bratwurst mit Rösti und Zwiebelsauce / Fried sausage with Rösti and onion gravy both times, so I can recommend. Even with some clouds obscuring, the views of the Matterhorn are worth the price of the food here.

After lunch we rented kickbikes for the trip back down to Zermatt.

It was more fun than I expected, and I don’t remember any parts of the trail where a lot of effort is involved. You’re mostly just cruising along.

We stopped at Restaurant Chalet Reid nearish the end of the kickbike trail to give our wrists a rest and let the experience last longer.

From there it’s a fairly short ride further to turn in the bikes. One note about the station. Outside, the signs are very good for telling you this is the exit for the kickbikes:

Inside, not so much. And the staff was a little grumpy. For future readers, it seems you’re supposed to wait at the turnstiles where you go back up the funicular and try to make eye contact with a worker? Or just leave them over on the side?

Side note: I thought they’d have some sort of fancy system for getting the bulky mountaincarts or kickbikes back up the mountain. Nope. For the mountaincarts they just jam them into an empty gondola. For the kickbikes they seem to put them in the bottom car of the funicular.

I put together this video of the carts and kickbikes:

Dinner was a block down from our hotel at the North Wall Bar for pizzas:

Footnotes:

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