Switzerland, Italy · Mountain Exploration

Zermatt & Mt. Gornergrat Small Group Day Trip from Basel

12 Hours Round trip from Basel Easy pace

The journey

Trip highlights
  • 01 Scenic train journey from Basel to Zermatt
  • 02 Travel past Bern, Lake Thun, and through the Lötschberg Base Tunnel
  • 03 Walk through Zermatt’s old alpine village
  • 04 See Matterhorn views from Kirchbrücke viewpoint
  • 05 Learn about local climbing history at the Mountaineer’s Cemetery
  • 06 Visit the historic Hotel Monte Rosa
  • 07 Ride the Gornergrat cogwheel railway to around 10,000 ft
  • 08 Enjoy panoramic views of the Matterhorn and glaciers

Travel from Basel into the heart of the Swiss Alps on this small-group day trip to Zermatt and Mt. Gornergrat. The journey itself is part of the experience, with scenic rail travel past Bern, along Lake Thun, and through the Lötschberg Base Tunnel before reaching the mountain village of Zermatt.

Once there, explore the old village with its traditional wooden houses and learn about the area’s mountaineering heritage at sites including the Mountaineer’s Cemetery and Hotel Monte Rosa. Then ride the Gornergrat cogwheel railway up to high alpine scenery, where sweeping views of the Matterhorn and surrounding glaciers await.

Then ride the Gornergrat cogwheel railway up to high alpine scenery, where sweeping views of the Matterhorn and surrounding glaciers await.

From the itinerary

At a glance

What this trip includes

Duration 12 Hours
Tour type Shared
Activity level Easy
Accommodation Not included
Transport Included
Wheelchair access No
Cities Basel, Bern, Thun, Zermatt
Languages English

Day by day

The itinerary

1
Day 01

Railway station Basel

Your tour starts with the intercity train ride from Basel to Visp (1h 50min)

Bern (passing by)

Berne is called the "Federal City" and functions as the capital of Switzerland. As the seat of the city and large parts of the cantonal and federal administration, it is the largest center of public administration in the country

Travel along lake Thun

Lake Thun is a fjord lake in the Bernese Oberland on the northern edge of the Alps.

crossing the alps on a tunnel

The Lötschberg Base Tunnel is a 34.6-kilometre-long railway tunnel that crosses under the northern Alpine chain at the Lötschberg between Frutigen in the Bernese Oberland (Canton of Bern, Switzerland) and Raron (Canton of Valais, Switzerland) and was put into operation in 2007. This base tunnel is part of the Lötschberg-Simplon axis of the New Rail Link through the Alps (NRLA), which runs from Basel via Bern-Thun-Spiez to the Lötschberg and on via Brig-Simplon-Domodossola to Milan and Novara-Genoa, and next to the one running parallel Gotthard axis forms a second route for the transalpine rail freight traffic of the European Corridor (Rotterdam-Genoa).

Visp

Visp is a municipality in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It is located at the entrance to the Vispertal at the mouth of the Vispa in the Rotten. The small town is the capital and largest municipality in the district of Visp.

Here you get off the intercity train and change direct onto the Matterhorn-Gotthard-Railway. The cogwheel train takes you within 55 minutes to Zermatt

Zermatt alpine village

Walk through the old part of the alpine village of Zermatt with it's typical wooden houses.

Viewpoint Kirchbrücke

Visit the viewpoint for the typical Zermatt village picture to the Mt. Matterhorn

Mountaineer's Cemetery

The graveyard shows you, how closed the success to climb Mt. Matterhorn and the risks are. It's part of the history of Zermatt, that accidents on high alpine climbing happens.

Hotel Monte Rosa

The hotel Monte Rosa is where the first ascent to Mt. Matterhorn startet. Several information about the first ascent and it's historical tragedy are available here.

Gornergrat Railway

On a 30 minutes cogwheel train ride you get up to 10000ft altitude. In this high alpine area, beautiful views to Mt. Matterhorn and the glaciers await you. Mt. Gornergrat is in all year snow.

Mt. Gornergrat

On a 30 minutes cogwheel train ride you get up to 10000ft altitude. In this high alpine area, beautiful views to Mt. Matterhorn and the glaciers await you. Mt. Gornergrat is in all year snow.

Return travel

After returning from Gornergrat, your travel back to Bern will take place (3 hours). You trave on the same way back as you arrived in the morning.

St. Niklaus (passing by)

The Mattertal is one of the southern side valleys of the Rhone Valley in Valais. It is one of the valleys that have cut deep into the Valais Alps to the south, up to the main Alpine ridge (there is also the border ridge between Switzerland and Italy) and open to the north towards the Rhone, the main geographic axis of Valais. Three of the four highest mountain massifs in the Alps lie in the valley's border.

The route

Where you'll travel

Tour route map
Round trip from Basel 4 cities · 12 Hours

The fine print

Trip details

What's Included

  • all taxes, fees and handling charges
  • local guide operated by Swiss Travel Guide
  • all transportation fees
  • priority boarding pass for Matterhorn railway
  • all entrance fees

What's Not Included

  • travel to starting point in Basel SBB
  • food and drinks during the tour
  • personal expenses during the tour
  • gratuities welcome for the tourguide

Know before you go

  • WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE
  • STROLLER OR PRAM ACCESSIBLE
  • ANIMALS OR PETS ALLOWED
  • PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION NEARBY
  • Infants must not sit on laps
  • Infant seats unavailable
  • Wheelchair accessible
  • Not wheelchair accessible

Logistics

Meeting & route

Meeting point
Basel, CH
Tour start
Basel, CH
Tour ends at the same location as the start point.
End of the journey

Your 12 hours finish where they began, in Basel.

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