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Are you looking to use your Ikon Pass in Zermatt? I was and collected some info you might find helpful in planning your visit!
I love skiing. Being in the mountains and the movements of skiing make stress melt away for me. In winter 2023-2024, we took a trip to Europe that included stays in Chamonix and Zermatt to ski in the Alps. I loved the trip!
Stunning views, lots of ski trails, cozy mid-mountain lodges, delicious food, and a vibrant town were highlights of the trip. Did I mention the views?! The Matterhorn, mountains, and glaciers are jaw-dropping!
As an Ikon Pass holder from the U.S. with no European skiing experience, I had a lot of questions and did a lot of research for this trip. There were some notable differences between Zermatt skiing and skiing in the U.S.
This post is an attempt for me to gather the info I found into one place to hopefully be helpful to others in my position looking to ski with the Ikon Pass in Zermatt. If I get something wrong, miss something, etc. please tell me in the comments. I’ll happily update the post!
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Quick facts for using your Ikon Pass in Zermatt
ikonpass.com had the best summary of Zermatt Ikon Pass access that I found. That and the Matterhorn Paradise site should be your official resources. I’ll repeat some info here for convenience.
Disclaimer I based my info on many secondhand sources. I am by no means an expert in any of this. I am also not a lawyer, insurance professional, etc. The info here is intended to be helpful. I give no guarantees of accuracy and do not provide this as legal or financial advice. Please do your own research, especially when it comes to areas of personal and financial safety.
For 2023-2024, the Zermatt Ikon Pass access is 7 days for the full pass and 5 for the base and base plus passes.
All Zermatt lifts were included along with the Zermatt Gornergrat train! The Ikon pass does not include access to the Italian side Breuil-Cervinia. In 2023-2024, you could buy a 1-day add-on “Supplement 1 day” for CHF 50.00 at ticket sales sites.
The pass gives direct access to Zermatt lifts like at most resorts in the U.S. However, there are reasons you may still want to visit a ticket window like the Italy add-on and insurance.
Like Chamonix, off-piste skiing is different from the U.S. Avalanche gear and training are generally required even at resorts. Guides and tours are frequently recommended. Zermatt has some seemingly patrolled off-piste “itineraries”. More on that below.
Ski patrol rescues also don’t seem to be included with a base lift ticket.
The town of Zermatt, Switzerland is lovely, walkable, lively, and filled with great food and après bars.
There are free ski buses to get you to the lifts in town.
Notable differences between U.S. skiing and Zermatt skiing
There were notable differences between my more than decade of U.S. resort/in-bounds skiing experience and what I learned about Zermatt skiing. Consider these when planning a skiing trip to Zermatt.
Off-piste skiing often requires more gear, knowledge, and likely a guide
What I learned from online sources like this Reddit post, this other post, and from in-person signage is that off-piste skiing is very different from the U.S.
The overwhelming info I saw (again, please verify this for yourself as I’m inexperienced here) suggested that Zermatt off-piste skiing, even within the ski area, requires avalanche gear, knowledge, and often a guide. The info I saw suggested that off-piste areas are not necessarily patrolled or avalanche-controlled and may contain significant hazards beyond avalanches like crevasses.
Zermatt has yellow “itinerary” runs that are apparently avalanche-controlled but not groomed. Those could be a good in-between for you!
If you like skiing off-piste, don’t mess up like I did planning a ski trip to Zermatt! Do your prep work, have the right gear and knowledge, and look into a Zermatt off-piste guide, tour, etc.
My impression was that Zermatt skiing was more focused on groomed runs on-piste than Chamonix.
It should be repeated that I am not an expert at all in this area. If you are and know more, please comment below and tell us more! Also, I tend to be on the more risk-conservative side in decision-making.
Ski patrol rescue did not seem to be included with your ticket
Resources online and talking to someone at the ticket booth led me to conclude that rescue was not included with your ticket. You can add on SkiCare insurance at a ticket window for a small fee (CHF 5/day when I visited) that claims to cover rescue and more. The SkiCare site has more details.
As stated above, I’m not an insurance expert. Please do your own research in this area. I can’t tell you what’s appropriate for your situation.
People generally quickly put the bar down on lifts
If you’re used to the lax culture around putting the lift chair bar down in the U.S. you may be surprised. Be ready for the bar to come down quickly after you sit down so you don’t get bonked on the head! I wasn’t on a single lift ride when there was a chance of the bar staying up. It was automatic on several lifts.
Add-ons to the Ikon Pass in Zermatt to consider
There are some add-ons to the Ikon Pass in Zermatt you might consider purchasing. These include ski patrol rescue insurance and access to ski Breuil-Cervinia in Italy.
So even though the Ikon Pass is direct to lift access, consider stopping by the ticket offices if any of those are appealing.
Getting to the slopes to ski Zermatt
I was a bit confused at first in this regard. Zermatt is generally not ski-in/ski-out unless you’re staying in on-mountain hotels like the Riffelhaus, Kulmhotel Gornergrat, or Iglu-Dorf igloos.
There are 3 main ways up to the ski slopes from the town
- The Sunnegga-Rothorn funicular
- The Matterhorn Glacier Paradise gondola
- The Zermatt Gornergrat train near the Zermatt train station. More info here.
The Zermatt bus (eBus) is free and has 2 lines, red and green. You’ll see stops around town and can get on a bus heading to the base area you want to leave from for the day! More info on getting around here.
Zermatt is car-free so be prepared to walk!
I read multiple times that Zermatt was car-free. Between walking and the e-bus, I was set getting to the slopes and around town. Walking around town is gorgeous and reasonably easy. They kept streets and sidewalks reasonably clean from snow during our visit.
I was disappointed at the number of vehicles still speeding around town. In my head car-free meant mostly pedestrian with an occasional Zermatt bus. In reality, all of the hotels, resorts, spas, etc. have vehicles that look like large covered golf carts. Those were zooming around the streets and made walking in some areas unpleasant. So much for my imagined idyllic pedestrian paradise 😁
Some other tips for your Zermatt ski vacation
Plan to explore the expansive Zermatt ski resort
There is a ton of ski terrain at the Zermatt ski resort! So plan to explore as much as you can. I took most of a day to work across the mountain hitting as many lifts as possible to get a feel for the areas.
Definitely give yourself time to ride the cable car to Rothorn and to Zermatt Matterhorn Glacier Paradise. The mountain and glacier views are incredible! The Hirli lift gets you very close to the Matterhorn for stunning views from the Zermatt resort!
I also recommend a ride on the Zermatt Gornergrat train. It’s a gorgeous view on a fun ride!
Take hundreds of pictures of the Matterhorn!
I have so many Matterhorn pictures, it’s hilarious! While skiing on the first day, I felt like a tourist stopping every 100 feet to gawk at something else gorgeous and take a picture.
You’ll have so many amazing views to soak in during your time on the slopes in Zermatt!
Try to avoid visiting during holidays
Just like in the U.S., it sounded like Zermatt can get overrun during school and other holidays in Europe. A few people on the lifts mentioned this. It also came up in various Reddit posts. If you have flexibility, trying to avoid those times seems helpful.
Snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, sledding, and hiking in Zermatt are other great activities
You’ll find more info about these on the Zermatt site along with a list of trails and a PDF map. You can also get a paper hiking map at the tourism office in town. We loved our Zermatt winter hikes!
The trails are numbered. You can Google the trail number like “Zermatt trail 111” and get details. The Zermatt site has all of them listed. We did several of the Zermatt winter walking trails and found them gorgeous!
Getting to Zermatt
How to get to Zermatt? Because Zermatt is car-free, you’re looking at public transit to get there. We took the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn train. It leaves from Visp regularly and takes you right into the Zermatt train station.
The ride had absolutely stunning views and was very enjoyable!
If you’re taking a lot of Swiss trains, consider if the half-fare card is a worthwhile investment.
Another option is to take the Zermatt shuttle train from the nearby town of Täsch or a taxi from Täsch.
Finding a place to stay in Zermatt
There are many accommodation options, spanning many price points, and offering a variety of amenities throughout the town! If you’re lucky you’ll have a Matterhorn view from your accommodation like we did!
From our experience, there were multiple reasonably affordable residences available on Vrbo. Having a kitchen and more space was excellent for our stay. Cooking our meals saved us significant money!
For a truly unique hotel, you could stay at the Riffelalp Resort right on the ski slopes! Take the Gornergrat train to your rooms!
For more typical hotels check out some options on Hotels.com for your trip. Many include breakfast, pools, hot tubs, or spas!
Agoda is another great resource for places to stay in Zermatt. It lists our accommodation, Malteserhaus. The unit was clean with comfortable beds, a kitchen with all the appliances and tools, a fondue set, a ski room with boot dryers, and Matterhorn views! What a breathtaking thing to wake up to.
Some recommendations for food in Zermatt
Food and coffee were pricey in Zermatt. So we frequently grabbed pre-made sandwiches from the grocery stores in town, Coop and Migros, to take for lunch on the go. If you can cook and make coffee in your hotel, you’ll save some bucks.
Give yourself time to stop at the mid-mountain restaurants for delicious food with incredible views too!
Soupi Street Food Kitchen has awesome soups!
Restaurant Pinte was a great spot for fondue and sausages.
Metzgerei Bayard sells sausages and meat and often has someone grilling sausages out front for a yummy street meal!
Fuchs Bäckerei has multiple locations and yummy pretzels. Their famous mountain guide bread was also an interesting try. They have small ones to buy if you just want a sample.
Petit Royal is a cafe with delicious pastries! We stopped there multiple times.
I didn’t personally eat there, but the view and ambiance at the mid-mountain Iglu-Dorf Zermatt were incredible! They had drinks and food with a sweeping view of the Matterhorn. I did use their chairs to enjoy my pocket sandwich with a view 😁
Some collected resources
Here are a few collected resources I found helpful in doing my research
- Reddit – What should an American know before skiing in Europe?
- Using the IKON pass in Zermatt — any experiences?
- Reddit – (PSA) European resort don’t have ‘in-bounds’ off-piste!
- SkiCare insurance and details
- Getting around Zermatt
Wrapping up
So that’s what I learned during our outing to Zermatt! Overall, it was an amazing trip. I loved the town, the absolutely stunning views, and the food!
Are you ready to go skiing in Zermatt? Are you ski trip planning? Let us know below!
⛷️Looking for ski gear? Check out my favorite ski gear and ski accessories to find something you might love!
Disclaimer: I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you when you make purchases via links on this site. Thanks for supporting me in creating content like this! See the privacy policy.
As I said in the comments on the Chamonix post, this was excellent! Thank you!
I was in Zermatt from March 30 til April 5.
Can confirm:
– all the routes up are great and varied!
– buses are pretty good, but be prepared to do some walking! Try to strategize so you’re not caught walking up too many hills (the town is incredibly hilly!)
– it’s not a cheap town
– resort is MASSIVE – I did 10km of vertical the one day I about 7 hours of skiing!
– the Matterhorn is a dramatic peak, very beautiful, awe-inspiring and you will take a thousand photos of it!
Some additional notes:
– while on-piste is more common, there is some beautiful looking off-piste to be had! Same rules as the rest of Europe here: have an avi pack, transceiver, and good knowledge of backcountry. While I was there the Rote Nase cable car to some itinerary runs was only available to people who had hired guides! And all of this is NO JOKE. Long story short, I was up-mountain from an avalanche on April 1. Was in the gondola down watching rescue crews dig for bodies and helicopters transporting search and rescue staff to the site afterwards. Met somebody who managed to out-ski it, but saw the group of four behind him, who all got caught (and most perished), he was the first responder on site, well-prepared, but still traumatized. This avalanche was visible from nearby restaurants. If the comments section allows links: https://www.skimag.com/news/zermatt-avalanche-kills-three/
– the Italian add-on pass is well worth it if the crossing is open! While in Italy, note the signs at each chair for the “last chair back to Zermatt”. Best to heed them. Adding the Italian side add on pass is fun, worth it for the cheap meal, and just absolutely stunning! I could’ve used a second day to explore all of the Italian side! And only do the Italian pass upgrade on a day when you’re going to spend most of your time in Italy. As the cable cars were under construction, the only way across was two long gondola rides (about 30-35 minutes or so?) so you’re gonna want to pick a day to just do Italy when the crossing is open and if that feels important to you!
– the IKON will get you on the gornergrat train, funicular and gondola. This is good, because it’s expensive otherwise! A return ticket on the gornergrat train is 70CHF without an IKON pass…
– there’s a small Matterhorn museum in downtown. It’s quick, worth popping in and (while I was there) only open from 3-7pm
– cheapest accommodation in town seemed to be the Swiss youth hostel. It was very much an all ages and creeds situation. Decent accommodations for a hostel, but you get what you pay for. If you do stay here, bring a smaller bag (if you have a larger luggage), as you can store large bags in lockers on the main floor. No elevator and it’s 5 stories! They serve a decent dinner for 25CHF and supposedly will do fondue for 35CHF, all ordered in the mornings. Did the dinner once, but not the fondue.
– there are two Zermatt apps! Skiguide Zermatt and Matterhorn – both are useful for lift and trail status in different ways!
Also note that Switzerland is not in the EU, so if you get an EU data SIM, confirm it works in Switzerland. My Holafly SIM worked great for data, but not at all for calls!
All in, a fairytale town! Hard to describe the wonderment I experienced.
Thanks for adding all of this epic info, Eric!
Crazy that you were there on the day of the avalanche and so close to it. Glad you’re safe too. I read about that when it happened and saw some videos. Scary stuff indeed and a tragedy for those who got caught in it.