Matterhorn Viewpoints in Zermatt
Every angle on the Horu — Gornergrat, Riffelsee, Glacier Paradise, Rothorn and Stellisee — read by altitude and reached by the cog.
Photo: Ilia Bronskiy / Unsplash
- ✓The Matterhorn — the Horu in the old Walliser tongue — stands 4,478 m above a car-free village at 1,608 m.
- ✓Gornergrat (3,089 m) is the highest open-air railway station in Europe, level with 29 four-thousanders.
- ✓Riffelsee and Stellisee both mirror the peak on a still morning; sit on the right of the cog going up.
- ✓Read the mountain by altitude, not address — every viewpoint is a station height on the Höhenleiter.
Start with Gornergrat, then read the rest by altitude
Zermatt is a village read by height. The Gornergrat Bahn — Switzerland's first fully-electric rack railway, running since 1898 — climbs from the village floor to an open-air station at 3,089 m, level with the Horu, the Dufourspitze and the Breithorn. It is the single clearest introduction to the geography of the valley, and the place every other viewpoint orients against.
From there the lens fans out: Riffelsee a few minutes below the summit, the Glacier Paradise cable-car at 3,883 m on the far side, Rothorn and Stellisee above Sunnegga to the east. This hub gathers them so you can choose by weather, effort and the time you have.