Zermatt, Switzerland

Sorry for the lack of updates as there was a change in my life for the past few months and I could barely spend any time doing something that I like besides sleeping and resting.

Let's continue with my Europe trip travelogue though it's a throwback but I strongly believe that good things shall be shared.

Zermatt, the home of the Matterhorn is a carless city that offers fresh crisp air and jaw-dropping views. Well, if you have followed my blog for quite some time, then you would have already read about the Matterhorn but if you are a newbie here, you may click HERE for the Matterhorn post.

To enter this carless city, we took a train from Tasch station.

After 25 minutes, we arrived at Zermatt.

I was impressed with the design of the quaint wooden houses when I stepped out from the station. The flowers at the balcony were so lovely and welcoming. Almost all the hotels, restaurants or shops were having the same design, but just came in different colors.

This was the hotel that we stayed. Ambassador Hotel, very strategically located as it's just 100 meters from the train station. We got the chance to stay in this expensive hotel (though it was just a 3 star hotel, but it costed RM1300 a night!) because of some last minute changes in itinerary made by APPLE and as a compensation, they upgraded us to spend one night in Zermatt.

After unloading all the luggage, we headed to the main street, Bahnohostrasse to begin our journey to explore this enchanting village.

The main street was full with shops offering souvenirs, swiss chocolates, watches and sports equipments.

We were given a voucher to redeem a free souvenir from Bucherer, the most famous shop selling Rolex watches. After this, the tour guide did not bother to tour us around as he only focused to serve those who wanted to buy Rolex watches. So we explored this little town by our own for 45 minutes before our lunch.

Behind me was an electric car

Cowbell souvenirs

St. Bernard dogs, which you will find them at the summit of Gornergrat. Photographers will be there to take and sell photos to you.

As you walked up the slope, you would see Saint Mauritius Church on your left. This was a landmark which you would not miss as it came with the picturesque clock tower and stunning mountain backdrop.

And next to the Church was Matterhorn Museum, which was closed during our visit.

We took a left turn after the Museum, and saw some monuments, followed by a cemetery.

We walked further down the road to find the best place to capture this Zermatt village with the mesmerising Matterhorn as backdrop. Lucky that I did enough preparation before visiting and of course many thanks to the bloggers who shared their photos and the details to reach this wonderful place. This is definitely a must-do when you are in Zermatt!

After taking the photos, we walked back to the main street happily as one of the items in my "must-do" lists had been achieved!

Continued to explore the old barns, which were built more than 200 years ago.

Our cute and lovely driver

Truly a sublime setting that made me wanna stay here for longer!

Time to shop after we returned from Gornergrat! Watches are must-buy in Zermatt. I bought a cheap and nice one for myself as souvenir.

We were told by the tour manager that the supermarket “Coop” offered the best deal for Swiss chocolates! And of course I bought kgs of chocolates here until my luggage was full and I had to put them in my hand-carry bag. Pulling a 22kg luggage plus carrying a 10kg bag using my hand made me breathless + exhausted + sweaty when we walked up the slope on the next morning to the train station as we were already super late and rushed like mad lady.

Läderach Chocolatier Store! They offered the best range of hand-made chocolate and truffles.

Don’t forget to have some tasty treats at this Gourmet Chocolatier. They allowed tasting of the chocolate before you purchased. These fresh chocolates bars were called Frischschoggi and they were the best! I loved dark chocolate hazelnut the most!

I bought some of these tempting pieces but neither the praline nor the truffle particularly impressed me.

Back to hotel for our dinner

As usual, soup for starter

This main course looked so non-tempting. The quality was just mediocre.

This lovely cake definitely won my heart away. So much better than the main course!

After dinner, we hung out again though all the shops had closed.

But honestly there was nothing much to see at night as the snow mountain hid themselves in the dark.

I would say the stay in Zermatt and the visit to Gornergrat was the most relaxing one amongst all other places that we visited during the trip as we had ample time for shopping and exploring the place by our own and the stunning and dramatic scenery of Matterhorn at Gornergrat really took our breath away.