Here is a quick glimpse of the Tips that are posted and soon to come!
- Zermatt Insider Guide Tip: 1 Train or Car?
- Zermatt Insider Guide Tip: 2 Lunch on the Ski Slopes
- Zermatt Insider Guide Tip: 3 Après-ski
- Zermatt Insider Guide Tip: 4 Night Out
- Zermatt Insider Guide Tip: 5 Gorner Gorge
- Zermatt Insider Guide Tip: 6 Sunnegga Hike
- Zermatt Insider Guide Tip: 7 Edelweiss (Höhbalmen) Hike
- Zermatt Insider Guide Tip: 8 Italy Day Trip
EDELWEISS WEG TRAIL
DETAILS
The Edelweissweg Trail in Zermatt can be done in two ways, a full 20kms (12.5 miles) loop that has a lighter inclination throughout the entire hike, and a big variety of landscapes or a shorter 9.5kms (6 miles) loop with a turning point at Höhbalmen with a steeper way down and with less variety of landscape.
Hike Distance: 20kms (12.5 miles)
Hike Duration: Around 7 hours of walking time. Counting with a lunch break or time to take some photos, 8/9 hours.
Hike Difficulty: Moderate-Hard. The hardest part is at the beginning where you have to climb around 650m in 3kms (max. 41% inclination) through a forest until you reach the Trift Guesthouse. You will climb to an elevation of 2710m so expect some height sickness or headaches if you’re not used to hiking at such high places. The path is a hiking path with some dirt and gravel so good shoes with some grip are recommended, especially for the inclined parts.
Hike Incline: 1100 meters
FROM ZERMATT TO THE TRIFT GUESTHOUSE
In order to reach the Trift Berggasthaus (mountain guesthouse) you’ll have to hike through a path full of trees and waterfalls. It’s a pretty nice hike and after 1km if you’re lucky you can already see Edelweiss flowers along the way or at the Edelweiss Guesthouse. However, If you aren’t much of a hiker, you can already go down, but if you enjoy long hour hikes then continue hiking. There aren’t a lot of tourists who hike all the way, so you can count on having the path almost to yourself pretty much the entire time. However, if you do see people they are most likely locals or Swiss who love to hike and be in the nature. Once you start reaching the Trift Berggasthaus you will start seeing at the distance the Zinalrothorn mountain and the Trift Glacier. From the Edelweiss Guesthouse until the Trift Guesthouse you’ve to walk 2.4kms and climb 450 meters.
(Click below to watch a video of my trip!)
FROM THE TRIFT GUESTHOUSE TO HÖHBALMEN
At the Trift Gueshouse you can have lunch or even sleep over. Here it was again possible to see a single Edelweiss flower that the owners tried to protect. There are many hikes you can start from here. I only did the Edelweissweg but there were many others on the direction of the Triftgletscher. Once you reach the Trift Guesthouse you have to go left and climb 300m over 2.3kms. When you reach the top you will have an amazing view and if you look closer at the photo you can see the guest house down below.
FROM HÖHBALMEN TO THE GLACIER VALLEY
Höhblamen is the turning point where you can go back to Zermatt or, if you want, you can continue to the Glacier valley and to the Zmutt village. Right after the turning point we were lucky enough to find the cutest pack of Valais Blacknose sheep. Insider Tip would be to check the Gornergrat Website and see where the sheep are. They have a GPS signal and are accompanied by the shepherdess Deborah that can answer all your questions about them. At that point we had to stop for a while cause i start having some headaches due to the altitude. After recovering we went down the side of the mountain always looking at the valley where the Zmutt Glacier used to go through. Nowadays the valley has a set of lakes and the glacier ends almost where it starts. A sad view of the climate change. On the way to the lakes, Matterhorn is always a presence and you even get a chance to see a Waterfall overlooking the mountain.
FROM THE GLACIER VALLEY TO THE ZMUTT VILLAGE AND BACK TO ZERMATT
From the Glacier Valley, specifically from the waterfall to the Zmutt village it’s around 4.7kms and it’s a very pleasant part of the hike to do cause it’s all in between trees and a river with Matterhorn always behind you. You can spend the night at Zmutt or eat something at the cozy restaurants. When I was there unfortunately things were closed. And that’s it after Zmutt you have around 5kms more to do to reach Zermatt’s center and finish the hike.
What about you, have you already done the Edelweissweg Trail in Zermatt? Leave me a comment down below if you have. Thanks for reading through and have fun hiking!
That looks amazing! Has to go on my To-Do list when I‘ll go in Summer!
Hopefully you’ll see more Edelweiss flowers than I did??
Omg I would love to see mountain sheep with the Matterhorn in the background, it looks amazing. Thanks for sharing these tips, this hike is a must!
Make sure to check the link that shows you were the sheep will be when you go ?
Amazing. Thank you so much for sharing!!
Of course ?
It looks beautiful here! I would definitely have to do some physical training before taking on such a long hike! I’m sure my partner would absolutely love to go on a hike like this.
It’s definitely a top hike for in the books. Nothing is more rewarding after a long hike than to be at the top, let alone have an obstructed panoramic view of the Matterhorn with mountain sheep! ?
Thank you for the tips! This looks so fun!
Of course! ?
Its the only place to go in Zermatt without any cable cars running, you will be alone nearly all the way and will see best view possible.