After enjoying Chamonix for a few days we stocked up on groceries and drove on to Switzerland. We found a campsite in Täsch (in the dark) within walking distance of the train station. You can’t drive into Zermatt, it is a car free town so you take the train into town.
It’s a pretty short ride before you reach Zermatt.
Emmy was very excited to get a pretzel at the train station. It was very good!
We checked in at the welcome center talked about the best hikes and got a map of the mountains. Zermatt is very walkable and I wished we had way more time in town! We thought we wanted to do the 5 lakes hike from our research and it was confirmed that it was a good hike for the kids.
At over 6 miles it was a bit of a stretch for Emmy who is only four but the trail is mostly down hill, we were stocked with snacks and planned to stop for lunch along the trail. The trail starts at Blauherd. To get here, take the funicular to Sunnegga and the gondola to Blauherd.
In the town of Zermatt, the Sunnegga funicular station is located next to the Vispa River. On Google Maps, it is called Sunnegga Blauherd Rothorn Funicular. Ride the funicular to the Sunnegga station.
The Funicular is really fun to ride and inside a tunnel blasted out of the mountain.
When we got to the top we got the iconic view of the Matterhorn.
We were hoping we would get a glimpse of the peak without clouds but we never did, still stunning.
Then we took and the gondola to Blauherd.
We decided to do the 5 Lakes Hike, following the 5 – Seenweg signs.
There are many hikes here and we wished we could do them all!
It really was a dream come true to get to visit this area.
The trail was single track but nice and easy.
The kids were having a great time being out running through the mountains.
The alpine lakes are gorgeous. We went a little off our plan to eat lunch on the side of the mountain. We really need these mountainside restaurants here in Colorado.
Lunch with a view!
After lunch it was time to hike back down to Sunnegga.
The 5 lakes hike was very beautiful and we enjoyed it so much.
When we got back down to Sunnegga there is the best playground for the kids to play. There was a raft they could take across the lake, a water feature to play in and a traditional playground. We spent some time here playing before taking the funicular back down to Zermatt.
In town we grabbed dinner and (of corse) stopped at another playground. I love the playgrounds in Europe!
This one had world class views and mini trampolines! These play breaks are critical for the kids. They get plenty of exercise hiking and walking to see sights but they also need unstructured time to play and move their bodies in the way they want. Making time to play keeps us happy.
Then we took the train back to our campsite ready for some rest then head on to our next stop.
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