Zermatt
For my 32nd birthday I wanted to go to Zermatt and photograph my favourite mountain, the Matterhorn.
I don't really know how the Matternhorn became my favourite mountain, though.
Details
Visit: March 18th - March 20th 2019
Season: Winter
Transport: Own Car
Definitely not because of its presence on the Toblerone Chocolate bar. And it hasn't been my favourite in 2014 when I took a roadtrip through some European Countries including Switzerland (there is a page for that on my website, too). When I recently looked through these photos from 2014 I saw the Matterhorn from far away on one of them, but we didn't to Zermatt, however I seem to recall a conversation about whether we should go or not.
So I think Instagram might be the reason I came across the Matterhorn more often and somehow its unique shape hooked me up that I wanted to visit Zermatt and see the Matterhorn for myself the first (real) time. Also, there are great opportunities for photos around including some beautiful lakes and great reflections of the Matterhorn in them, especially at sunrise with that glow on the top. That image was added to my bucket list immediately when I saw it the first time. It's still on the list, though, as in March the lakes are still frozen.
So there is still something good about Instagram and I often do get inspiration from the platform.
Having figured out the reason I wanted to visit Zermatt, the reason I went on my birthday was a practical one. First, I tend to not be in the office on that day, and second my girlfriend was in Munich the weekend before and I was in Berlin. So we decided that I would not go back to Frankfurt but rather pick her up in Munich to drive towards Switzerland. We stayed a night in Bern and drove to Zermatt the day after, where we had two nights and a good one and a half days to explore. Here's what we did and saw.
Hike to Zmutt
As soon as we arrived we decided to take a hike to the village Zmutt. There were some nice views on the way, even though it’s not the best hike to take photos of the Matterhorn, but I had the whole next day to do exactly that. Unfortunately, we were also to late to have a drink at one of the restaurants, so we hiked back to Zermatt and had some nice cheese fondue.
Sunrise from Kirchbrücke
The next day - my birthday - I started with getting up before sunrise and go to a kind of famous spot for views of the Matterhorn at sunrise: the Kirchbrücke. I'm not a morning person, so when I get up to take pictures for sunrise that is happening before 6:30 am in the morning, I try to find a place in a short walking distance. The bridge was only five minutes away, so that was perfect for me. I wasn't the only one at the bridge when I arrived and people were coming later on, but it was less than I expected (may 10 or so) and there was no other tripod there, except for one with a phone on it.
Views from and around Blauherd station
After sunrise we had some breakfast and took the Gondola up to Blauherd station. Unfortunately, the operating company charges more to people who go hiking instead of skiing which I really don’t understand because as a hiker I’m not using the lifts nearly as much. Anyway, we didn’t let that effect our day and hiked a little along the way that leads to the Fluhalp hotel to have some different views on the Matterhorn. As we reached the frozen Stellisee we returned to the Blue Lounge and had a well deserved drink accompanied to our lunch.
Gornergrat
We then went back down to Zermatt, had some coffee and chocolate and took the Gornergrat Railway to the summit of Gornergrat. We enjoyed the views, had another drink (it’s still my birthday!) and watched the sun setting behind the Matterhorn before going back down to Zermatt. Great photos!
Goodbye
The last day we only had some breakfast and walked through the village one last time before heading back to Frankfurt which was a 550km drive.
I’m really happy with the photos I took, but I also definitely want to go back later in the year when the lakes aren’t frozen anymore to tick off an image from my bucket list - the sunrise reflection of the Matterhorn at Stellisee.