Friday, June 7, 2024
This was another one of those early days, as we were in the car by 5 am and on our way to Stressa train station, which was a 2-hour drive. Stressa is located West of Lake Como, on Lake Maggiore.
The station is very small and we saw several kids that seemed to be on their way to school that morning. The train system in Italy and Switzerland are very easy to navigate and run like clockwork (most of the time). Once on the train, everyone was able to take a good nap on the way to Zermatt. Myself however, stared out the window the entire time admiring the view.
When we transferred trains at Visp, we were placed on a cog-wheel train, that actually uses a gear system underneath that locks into the track to help pull the train up the steep climb, very cool.
Zermatt is a beautiful mountain town, similar to the others in Switzerland. There is a main road that goes through the city with restaurants and shopping, surrounded by the alps on all sides. The kids were starving and I’m embarrassed to say that we gave in and grabbed a quick plate of fries at McDonalds before heading to the Sunnegga lift.
The Matterhorn can be seen from the valley, but we wanted a better view up the mountain. The original plan was to take two lifts up to Blauherd, then hike around the lake. However, we were one week too early, as the Blauherd lift (and Mountaincarts) wouldn’t be open for season until a week later. So instead, we settled on the single lift up to Sunnegga.
This lift was a funicular up to Sunnegga. We weren’t sure how cold it was going to be, so we all came prepared with long sleeves and jackets, but probably would have been OK without it. The views of the Matterhorn and surrounding alps from here were worth the trip up. It also seemed to be a popular location to mountain bike.
At Sunnegga, there is also a small lake with a childrens play area. Would be a great spot to have a picnic, if we had come prepared. Instead, we just let the kids play around with the water features and the tiny fish in the lake. I believe during the peak summer, kids will also get into the lake and swim, but it was not quite warm enough for us that day.
Once we had soaked in enough of Sunnegga, it was time to head back toward the valley. A few of us chose to take the kickbikes down the mountain, while the rest took the funicular back down. Kickbiking was amazing and highly suggested. At the top we were worried it may be too steep, but Cohen (10 yr old) had no issues and had never rode on a kickbike before. Most of the way down, you could cruise easily, just riding the handle brake, but there were a couple areas we had to kick the bike to get it going. Of course, the views were amazing all the way down.
Once back in the valley, we shopped around a bit and went to grab our train. During the connection in Brig, we grabbed a quick dinner and ate on the train ride back to Stressa. We did run into a little trouble at one of the connecting stops. The local police stopped the train and checked the passports of everyone on board. I don’t always carry my passport 100% of the time, but today we did. Not sure what would have happened if we didn’t have them. After about 30 mins, the police exited the train, not finding whomever they were looking for, and we went on our way.
Once back in Stressa, it was late and we still had a 2 hour drive ahead of us, so we didn’t stop to see the town and instead drove back to the place.
Logistics
- 8:11a – Train from Stressa to Brig to Visp to Zermatt – arrive at 11:14a
- Sunnegga lift
- Blauherd lift – was still closed for season
- Blauherd Mountaincarts – still closed for season
- Sunnegga kickbiking
- 7:37p – Train from Zermatt to Brig to Stressa – arrive at 9:39p
Restaurants
Gleitz Well Traveled 