In June, the Matterhorn is still snow-covered, while it is spring in Zermatt below.

Zermatt view from Klein Matterhorn during descent in a cable car

Bahnhofstrasse, the main street of Zermatt.

Zermatt is a village located (46°1′N 7°45′E) at the northern base of the Matterhorn in the German-speaking and predominantly Roman Catholic section of the Valais canton in southern Switzerland. It is 62 km southeast of Gstaad, and only about 10 km from the border with Italy. The twenty-six cantons of Switzerland are the states of the federal state of Switzerland. ... Geography The canton of Valais is located in the south of Switzerland. ... In contrast to centrally organised states, in the federally constituted Switzerland each Canton is completely free to decide its own internal organisation. ... The Swiss District of Visp (German: Bezirk Visp, French: District de Viège) is a district in the Canton of Valais. ... This article is about longitude and latitude; see also UTM coordinate system Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (vertically) and longitude (horizontally); large version (pdf) The geographic (earth-mapping) coordinate system expresses every horizontal position on Earth by two of the three coordinates of a spherical coordinate system which... Ongoing events • Abramoff-Reed gambling scandal • Atlantic hurricane season • Avian influenza (H5N1) outbreak • Bali bombings investigation • Civil unrest in France • UK Conservative Party leadership election • DeLay political financing scandal • Fuel prices • Irans nuclear program • Kashmir earthquake • London bombings investigation • Malawi food crisis • NaNoWriMo • Niger food crisis • North Koreas... Area is a physical quantity expressing the size of a part of a surface. ... Square kilometre (US spelling: Square kilometer), symbol km², is an SI unit of surface area. ... Basic Definition In geography, the elevation of a geographic location is its height above mean sea level (or some other fixed point). ... The metre, or meter (symbol: m) is the SI base unit of length. ... Here are postal codes of Switzerland and Liechtenstein: Zone 1 1000s are found in Lausanne, Lavaux and parts of Morges, 1100s in parts of Morges, 1200s are in Geneva and parts of La Côte, Vaud, 1300s in La Vallée, 1500s are found in Clavaleyres, the 1700s are found... The Official Munipality Key, formerly also known as the Official Municipality Characteristic Number or Municipality Code Number, is a number sequence for the identification of politically independent municipalities or municipality-free areas. ... A mayor (from the Latin māior, meaning larger,greater) is the politician who serves as chief executive official of some types of municipalities. ... Download high resolution version (600x604, 98 KB)The Matterhorn is located on the border between Switzerland and Italy, towering over the Swiss town of Zermatt and the Italian town of Breuil-Cervinia in the Val Tournanche. ... Download high resolution version (600x604, 98 KB)The Matterhorn is located on the border between Switzerland and Italy, towering over the Swiss town of Zermatt and the Italian town of Breuil-Cervinia in the Val Tournanche. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1024x768, 134 KB) Summary Location: Zermatt, Switzerland. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1024x768, 134 KB) Summary Location: Zermatt, Switzerland. ... The Matterhorn Glacier Paradise (known as the Klein Matterhorn up to fall 2004) is the highest point of the Zermatt-Cervinia skiing area, and the ending point of the highest cable car in Europe. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (900x675, 192 KB)Bahnhofstrasse, the main street of the village of Zermatt, Switzerland. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (900x675, 192 KB)Bahnhofstrasse, the main street of the village of Zermatt, Switzerland. ... Main Street or Main Street America is an almost fanciful, dated reference to the main region of small town/suburban America, since it really no longer exists. ... The Matterhorn (Fr. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... Geography The canton of Valais is located in the south of Switzerland. ... Gstaad Gstaad is a small village in the German-speaking section of western Switzerland. ...

Zermatt has a permanent population of around 5,500 people, although the actual population varies considerably through the seasons as tourists come and go. The village is situated at the end of a south-facing valley, at an altitude of 1620m (5315 ft). The valley is a dead end; although the border with Italy is close, it cannot be crossed by road, as it traverses a glacier at an altitude of over 3000m.

Zermatt is famed as a ski resort and as a general tourist destination. Until the mid-19th century, it was predominantly an agricultural community — its name, as well as that of the Matterhorn itself, derives from the alpine meadows or matten in the valley. In the German language, the town is "Zur Matte", or "in the meadow", hence the name. A ski resort is a ski area with a village and/or high-end accommodations and other amenities at the base of the mountain. ... Tourist redirects here; for the album by Athlete, see Tourist (album) Tourism is the act of travel for the purpose of recreation and business, and the provision of services for this act. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... German (called Deutsch in German; in German the term germanisch is equivalent to English Germanic), is a member of the western group of Germanic languages and is one of the worlds major languages. ...

It was "discovered" mid-century by British mountaineers, most notably Edward Whymper, whose conquest of the Matterhorn made the village famous worldwide. Edward Whymper (April 27, 1840 – September 16, 1911), was a British climber and explorer best known for the first ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865. ...

To prevent air pollution which could disfigure the town's lovely view of the Matterhorn, the entire town is a car-free zone. A few motor vehicles are permitted with permission from the cantonal police (generally granted only to some permanent residents). This power plant in New Mexico releases sulfur dioxide and particulate matter into the air. ... It has been suggested that Pedestrian street be merged into this article or section. ...

Most visitors reach Zermatt by cog railway train or taxi from the nearby town of Täsch. Trains also depart for Zermatt from farther down the valley at Visp and Brig, which are on the main Swiss rail network. The rack rail on a cog railway. ... Visp (French: Viège) is a municipality in the Canton of Valais in Switzerland. ... Brig (in French Brigue) is a city in the canton of Valais, Switzerland at 46°19′ N 7°58′ E. The historic town with 5000 inhabitants is part of the municipality Brig-Glis with a 11600 inhabitants. ...

There are various passenger vehicles operating within Zermatt, from tiny electric shuttles provided by hotels to carry visitors from the main train station (or the taxi transfer point just outside town) to the hotel properties, to "electro" taxis operated by four major Zermatt families, and "electro" buses, which serve two routes: one between the major hotel areas and the stations of the various ski-lifts, and the other following a similar route but also serving the more rural "suburb" of Winkelmatten. Horse-drawn carriages can also be found; some are operated by hotels and others are available for hire.

Zermatt is a starting point for many hikes into the surrounding mountains, including the Haute Route that ultimately leads to Chamonix in France. A complex of cable cars and chair lifts carry skiers in the winter and hikers in the summer; the highest of them leads to the Klein Matterhorn, a small outcropping on the ridge between Breithorn and Matterhorn that offers spectacular views in all directions. It is possible to cross into Italy via the Cervinia cable car station. A spectacular rack and pinion railway line, the highest open-air railway in Europe, runs up to the summit of the Gornergrat at 3089m (10134 ft). Zermatt is also the western terminus for the Glacier Express rail service connecting to St. Moritz. Part of the Haute Route; two alpenists can be seen following the trail in the snow. ... Panorama of Chamonix valley Aiguille du Midi and Mont Blanc seen from Le Brévent, a paraglider is in the foreground Chamonix Valley seen from the south Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, or more commonly, Chamonix is a town and commune in eastern France, in the Haute-Savoie département, at the... Cable car at Zell am See in the Austrian Alps. ... A chairlift A chairlift is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a constantly moving loop of steel cable strung between two end terminals and generally over intermediate towers. ... The Matterhorn Glacier Paradise (known as the Klein Matterhorn up to fall 2004) is the highest point of the Zermatt-Cervinia skiing area, and the ending point of the highest cable car in Europe. ... The Breithorn is a mountain in the Alps, considered the easiest 4,000 m peak to climb in the Alps. ... The rack rail on a cog railway. ... The Glacier Express from Zermatt to St. ... St. ...

External links

• Travel guide to Zermatt from Wikitravel
• Zermatt official website
• Zermatt photo gallery
• Zermatt's most popular independant website
• Direct to hotels commission free