Zermatt

A snowHead

Flying and train out to Zermatt on Friday - first visit. Relatively excited.

Are there any frequent visitors / residents who can offer tips on :

Insurance to cover rescue from the mountain ( following a personal experience in Tignes a few weeks ago I am ready to pay upfront for cover! )

And, advice on the sort of money needed for wine and food ( important ski fuel )

Thanks

A snowHead

I mean amount of money vs currency

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Eh, this is wednesday....still contemplating to cancel the trip or....???

You need to Login to know who's really who.

I have never cancelled a trip - the relatively excited reflects this weeks work demands - just trying to get organised!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Lovely resort - town. One of a kind. A cul-de-sac as it were with call it five separate mountains, exclusive of Cervinia. Investigate what appeals to you best as only you know how. Your train connection from (Cointrin I trust) is its own beautiful ride ultimately all the way up to Zermatt.

Assuming included breakfast in the hotel, between lunch and dinner without breaking the bank I'd factor an avaerage of 80 SFR per person per day, service compris plus. At a minimum 70% of that. Have a Rivella in my honor.

You'll need to Register first of course.

Take some euros and have lunch in Italy. 10€ for a great bowl of pasta yesterday. The restaurants on the Italian side do take CHFs but the exchange rate is a bit pants. Great value compared with the Swiss side.
Typing this from my bed in the Hotel Bristol Zermatt! The village is white today and clouds are covering the Matterhorn. Skiing on the glacier and one run (Ventina) down on the Cervinia side. Piste conditions are excellent. They are working hard to make snow and I bet there will more runs this weekend. The cover and open runs are probably the least I've seen in the 7 years or so we've been coming for a short stay at this time of year. But it's still a great place.
If you like steak and lamb...can't beat the Schaeferstube. Pricey but fab.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

I would echo the comment about taking euros and eating on the Italian side. Quite a bit cheaper but some really nice places.

The bars in Zermatt such as Sparky's, Papperla and the Brown Cow all do perfectly good pub food for less money than the restaurants. There are also good cafes that do take away as well - particularly along the Bahnhofstrasse. Finally there are fully stocked supermarkets (e.g. coop on Bahnhofplatz, Migros on Hofmattstrasse).

My favourite place for fondue is the Restaurant du Pont. We generally don't eat much in the restaurants but when we have visitors having a fondue in the Alps is compulsory.

After all it is free

Thanks everyone. So if eating lunch with wine on the mountain on the swiss side in a mid range restaurant is it about 30£ or more like 50£ ? And, can I buy mountain rescue insurance in Zermatt as an extra with my lift pass?

Tricky one to answer as people eat and drink very different amounts.

As a general rule the restaurants at the lift stations are cheaper - not just the self service ones but the other restaurants. The restaurants out on the mountains are more expensive.

To give you an idea here is the menu and wine cart for the "top end" restaurant - the Stafelalp. It is on piste 52 (now served by a new chair lift). On a clear day when you are sitting on the terrace directly under the Matterhorn this place is beyond paradise (but of course boy are you paying for it). However on such days you will need to book.

http://www.julen.ch/en/stafelalp/food-and-wine/

As a comparison here is one of the better lift station restaurant menus. This is on the top of the Rothorn.

http://www.matterhorn-group.ch/fileadmin/redaktion/mgroup/downloads/Speisekarte_Rothorn_Winter_1415.pdf

A more "cheap and cheerful" (cheap in Zermatt is a relative term) compromise is somewhere like the Fluhalp restaurant off piste 19. You get the out on the mountain location at closer to lift station prices. They have bands on at lunchtime which you might think is a good or bad thing.

You have to take my cuisine advice with a note of caution - I tend to have bratwurst mit pommel frites and onion gravy at the Furgg self service almost every day!

On insurance you can buy insurance with your lift pass for CHF5 per day. I'd be surprised if that was good value compared to buying before you leave (I have never used it - I have my own). Bear in mind that as you are going out this Friday you might well be 100% on piste. As Zermatt is very high it is very rocky. So you want a good snow cover before going far off piste. You should certainly still have insurance but you might just need it for on piste?

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Have drinks at Elsie's and eat dinner at Le Gitan (twice served lamb with gratin is my recommendation). Have lunch at Zum See. You're in Zermatt, #yolo.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

snow reports

@Tinwhistle, I'm off there on 6th for first time. Let us know how you get on. I'd be interested to hear hints n tips.

Thanks so much for the advice. Excited now! I will provide an update next week.....

Help!!

Zermatt

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