Arranging a Trip to Zermatt

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My research starts by surfing through most ski and resort websites. This year, I chose Zermatt – we’ve summer- hiked there twice before but never snowshoed in the winter.

Zermatt has a terrific site – information galore – trail maps, hotel listings with prices and direct links to the individual hotels if you prefer. I like to take my time and browse through each hotel’s link before deciding.

Next step? Air and rail – how to get there for the least amount of money. We picked Switzerland because the Swiss Franc isn’t too outrageous again the U.S. Dollar. Even though the $ has gained some ground against the Euro, some hotels in Euros countries are ridiculously expensive.

Air? Orbitz, United, Travelocity, Kayak, etc., (for days) until I came up with a good airfare – Chicago-Frankfurt-Zurich. And yes…we are flying the cheapest Coach class we could find! 10 hours of discomfort is worth a view of the Matterhorn and a charming town.

Rail? Rail Europe is one of my favorite sites and by clicking on Swiss passes and such, I bought Swiss Transfer Tickets. It allows you to transfer once in each direction anywhere in Switzerland (from any airport) and it isn’t necessary to book trains in advance. Booking ahead always makes me a little nervous because what if our plane is delayed (NOT THAT EVERY HAPPENS! RIGHT?)

Warning, if you every take a train on a SATURDAY in Europe, popular trains may be sold out in 2nd Class. We had an incident where every single train on that day was sold out in 2nd Class and we had to pay $100/person extra to go 1st class. Make a seat reservation…you won’t regret it!

I’ve also used other rail sites such as the www.sncf.com for France, www.trenitaliaplus.com for Italy, and www.bahn.de for Germany, just to mention a few.

Hotel? Piece of cake. I picked a three-star that includes buffet breakfast and dinner, but two stars or pensions are also very nice. Every hotel/pension we have ever stayed at in Euope is IMMACULATE!

Food? Swiss buffet breakfasts usually include multiple kinds of breads, cheeses, cold meats, sometimes eggs, juice, coffee/tea/milk and such, fruits, yoghurt and who knows what else may be added. If you want a sandwich for lunch rather than eating it for breakfast, ask them! We were glomming sandwiches a long time ago and were very embarassed when the hotel called us on it…but if you ask first, there is usually no problem. Dinner is a 3-5 course meal with more than ample amounts of food – many times, with a choice of entree.

Have you every had Raclette? They take this huge chunk of Raclette cheese, put it on this sort of burner/melter on your table, and the cheese melts very slowly. You take hunks of the melted cheese and spread it over boiled potatoes, and eat it along with plates of cook meats, and gerkins. It is SO YUMMY! And, then keep replenishing the food until you near explosion. Add a nice bottle of wine and I’m in hog heaven.

On the subject of wine — if you stay more than one day at a hotel, order a bottle of wine and just drink what you want of it. They write your room number on it and, Voila…there it is on your table the next day…and the day after…if your bottle lasts that long!

We prefer eating meals at the hotel rather than going out for dinner – the thought of bundling up and going out into the snow and cold at night isn’t appealing plus there usually a cost savings by staying half-pension at your hotel.

If skiing or snowboarding is your bag, it is still less expensive in Europe. There are great 1 week package tour packages which include air, hotels, transport and lifts. For adventurous sorts, you can ski/snowboard anywhere you want off the trails in Europe at your own risk. It awes us watching these people coming down from all over the mountains. But that’s not for my 65-year old bones. It’s bad enough that our grown children are always saying, “Mom, don’t you think you’re getting a little old for this?”

Happy planning!