Ski Resort Review of Zermatt

When it comes to winter resorts, Zermatt is one of Switzerland's, and indeed Europe's, great destinations. With a large and varied ski area, extremely high pistes, excellent night-life, an attractive village, a wealth of history, some of the best on-slope food in the world, and, of course, the most stunning scenery, Zermatt undoubtedly ticks many of the boxes that genuine winter-sports enthusiasts want in their resorts.

But it's not just during the winter time when this particular mountain village is popular. Zermatt is a genuine all-year resort, as tourists and visitors from all over the world flock to the area to take the train trip up to its traffic-free village to see Switzerland's most iconic natural wonder - the Matterhorn. It might be a cliché to say that it dominates over the village, but it's pretty hard to describe it as anything else. This is perhaps the most perfectly formed mountain in the world, standing there on its own with its magical snow-coated pyramid shape, so there's no point in trying to hide the fact as to why the majority of people come to the resort. They come here to see the Matterhorn, or to ski the slopes under its shadow, or walk the hiking trails whilst gazing up to it.

The real bonus is that whilst the Matterhorn is obviously magnificent, Zermatt is also surrounded by 4000m plus mountains every direction you gaze. The Monte Rosa massif is a sight to behold, an impressive mass of ice-covered rock and its main summit, the Dufourspitze, is Switzerland's highest mountain at 4634m.