St Moritz - Of course I had heard of St Moritz. It’s the place where the international jet set and celebs go for their winter holidays. Remember Peter Sarstedt’s hit song Where Do You Go To, My Lovely?
It’s the glitziest ski town in the world where the streets are lined with designer labels, the alpine chalets are five-star, and glistening snow-covered mountains lean gently towards the impossibly blue picture-perfect lake.
I wasn’t so sure about Zermatt, which has a harsher sound, but I remembered that the most famous mountain in all of Europe – the iconic Matterhorn shaped like an upside-down ice cream cone – was somewhere in the vicinity.
And of course I knew about the Alps, decadent Swiss chocolate, cowbells, cheeses and cuckoo clocks.
Well, I was wrong about the cuckoo clocks. My delightful energetic host from Swiss Tourism and Swiss Air, Axel Simon, gently reminded me that cuckoo clocks come from the Black Forest. But I was right about all the other stuff.
Giddy with the efficiency, luxury and exclusivity of Swiss Air Business Class which I first experienced in their OR Tambo African-themed lounge (the armchairs had backs as high as a small giraffe), followed by sleeping stretched out under a fleecy duvet after a gourmet Swiss meal on board, our small group of travel writers arrived in Zermatt.
Set in the German-speaking south-west, the picture-perfect village (but, hey, everything in Switzerland is picture-perfect), lies at the foot of the Matterhorn amid the highest concentration of mountains and glacial ice in the Alps. The sun shines, hikers stride purposefully about the storybook streets lined with wooden houses, and the air sparkles. It sparkles because this village is a car-free village where horses rule. Although you can ski, go snow-shoeing, heli-skiing and sledging all year round, in Summer Zermatt is a magnet for hikers. Nobody potters around – except the tourists. The Swiss are kitted out in serious boots, serious weatherproof jackets, sensible trousers and shorts, serious backpacks, and everybody – from 2 to 92 – carries very professional-looking walking poles. They stride purposefully towards the mountains, walking trails and foothills. Leisure, it seems, is a serious business in Switzerland.
I’d certainly never heard of Gornergrat – and felt quite bad about not knowing – because first of all, you ride Europe’s highest-altitude cogwheel railway up to 3 089m, and then alight at what is generally regarded as one of the most beautiful panoramic alpine views in Europe with 29 peaks over 4 000m high to gaze upon. We marvel at Kulmhotel Gornergrat, the highest hotel in the Swiss Alps, which looks very Victorian, bulkily important, and boasts two stargazing observatory towers.
“What’s the yellow stuff sprinkled on the glaciers?” I ask Fabienne, our chocolate box-pretty guide from Zermatt Tourism.
“Sand from the Sahara.”
Wow.
Some of the focused hikers have even brought their dogs, which trot obediently on their leads beside their purposeful owners. There’s also a St Bernard with a brandy barrel, but she (Nana) is strictly for the tourists.
We spot climbers ascending the summit, but for every 100 climbers who attempt the peak every day, only 60 percent make it to the top. Not bad when you consider that the first person to summit was an Englishman, Edward Whymper, who climbed the Matterhorn in 1865.
On the way down the rope broke, and four of the seven young men he led plummeted to their death. You can see the broken rope in the Matterhorn Museum in the centre of the village.
Fabienne tells us tourists have been coming to the village since 1820, when a local surgeon built the first guesthouse with three beds (it still operates but now has a lot more beds).
Today there are more than 120 hotels. Our hotel, the Hotel Christiana, is intimate and friendly, with fabulous views.
You can see the Matterhorn from wherever you are in Zermatt.
It’s incredibly beautiful in all its moods: at dawn when the peak glows crimson; at noon, when its snow-covered slopes gleam at their whitest; in the evening as blue shadows begin to fall across its flanks.
On a glorious day full of alpine sunshine and champagne air we swing up the side of the Matterhorn in gondolas.
It’s mid-morning when we reach Europe’s highest-altitude observation platform. Even the most jaded traveller could not but be moved by the magnificence of the view – more than 38 peaks of 4 000m and more, and 14 glaciers.
And if you’ve always wanted to experience snow, well, this is the place. Not only can you ski year-round, you can touch snow 365 days a year. The temperature is -7°C, so we seek sanctuary in the Glacier Palace, which lies 15m under the surface of the ice. It’s cool (very), gleams in shades of icy blue, and ice crystals sparkle all around. Sheepskin rugs are thoughtfully provided on the icy benches so you can sit and admire the ice sculptures.
From Zermatt, we take the famous Glacier Express to St Moritz, an eight-hour journey through Switzerland’s impeccably pretty countryside. Once upon a time, the Romans marched over these alps, then came mule trains and stage coaches. Today our comfortable train with its panoramic windows and roof, snakes its way through tunnels, over viaducts, between forests, past brightly shuttered wooden chalets with window boxes full of impossibly bright flowers, alpine villages, old churches, hilltop castles, deep gorges, snow-covered mountains and towering bare mountains, waterfalls, lush pastures, wooden fences, a few black-faced sheep, cows with heavy cowbells (so the farmer always knows where Fritz or Heidi is), old landslides, and always, hikers striding along purposefully.
The views are also dominated by power lines and pylons – a tribute to Swiss engineering.
My room at the Hotel Schweizerhof in St Moritz has dazzling views over the lake and snow-covered peaks beyond. The next day we tour the village and its main street where you can buy the latest expensive consumer offerings from a Hublot watch to Jimmy Choo shoes. St Mortiz has a population of only 5 000 inhabitants, but in winter, it peaks at 20 000.
Today the shops look deserted. But apparently, according to Mario, our Italian guide, (St Moritz is just over the border from Italy via the Bernina Pass) from December 24 to January 15 – high season – “the Russians come in and buy up everything.”
We stop in a chocolate shop and gobble up samples. There’s no doubt, Swiss chocolate is the best in the world.
Later in the day, we take a funicular ride up to Diavolezza mountain station, and drench our senses in yet another gorgeous panoramic view – this time over the Swiss Eastern Alps.
Then we lunch on traditional hearty Swiss food (mainly meat and potatoes) at the Berghaus Diavolezza where hikers, skiers, alpine fanatics, mountain climbers, day visitors and locals, sit on wooden benches facing the mountains and soak up the sun.
A couple of well built German tourists are dunking themselves in the open-air whirlpool, which is at the highest altitude in Europe.
Sun, snow, magnificent scenery, picture-perfect beauty, fabulous hospitality and legendary efficiency define this small mountain country.
I didn’t get a cuckoo clock but I returned with timeless memories. - Sunday Independent
l Kate Turkington was hosted by award-winning Swiss Air, and Swiss Tourism. To find out more, visit www.MySwitzerland.com, the official website of Swiss Tourism.