Zermatt is Our Happy Place

Can you tell me a bit about yourselves?

We’re Matt and Hillary, and we like to tell stories about the world. We’re constantly on the hunt for the beautiful, the unexpected, the forgotten and the unknown, and love to share our favourite stories with people like you. We’re never in one place for very long, so we decided to start blogging about our adventures at There They Go.

So, where is your happy place?

Zermatt, Switzerland

When did you spend time in Zermatt?

We travelled to Switzerland in March 2013 and immediately started talking about how we could afford to purchase our own ski chalet when we retire (Keep in mind we’re in our late twenties, so retirement is a long, long, way away…). Needless to say, we’ve dreamed about going back ever since.

Considering all of the places you’ve been, why did Zermatt stand out so much?

Besides the absurd beauty of this little town nestled at the foot of the Matterhorn, something that made Zermatt especially significant is the ban on cars there. Switzerland takes environmental issues very seriously and, as a result, strictly regulates how cars are operated and where. In Zermatt, there are some electric buses that will run skiers back and forth from their hostels to the slopes, but mostly, visitors just use their own two feet to get around.

It sounds beautiful! What did you get up to while you were there?

We only had a few days in Zermatt before we had to catch the train for Lauterbrunnen, so we tried to get in as much adventuring as we could. We visited Glacier Palace (and had the whole place to ourselves!), took a few runs down some ski slopes (but not before pausing for lunch in a tiny panelled restaurant, and on a crowded deck overlooking some of Europe’s most stunning mountains), and revelled in the streets of this tiny, Christmassy town, which is thick with mountaineering history and delicious German food. But perhaps the most exciting part about our stay was bedding down in an igloo for the night, without a soul in sight. 

To sum up, could you describe Zermatt in one sentence for us?

Infused with a sense of magic, with the fin of the Matterhorn rising in the distance, Zermatt is a winter fairy-tale brought to life.

N.B All photos in this post belong to Matt and Hillary

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