The Gornergrat Bahn

The Gornergrat Bahn is more than just a rail journey; it is an unforgettable experience. With the Matterhorn towering in the distance from start to finish, the line’s little brown trains make their way through deep gorges, tunnels and lush forests of snow-covered Swiss pine and skirt past stunning
bridges and gorgeous mountain lakes.
Run by Gornergrat Bahn SA (GGB) and linking up with the Glacier Express, the line begins at the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn in Zermatt. Every day, its diminutive locomotives tackle the vast landscapes of the Alps at speeds ranging between 20 and 30 km/h. The higher they climb, the further their passengers are taken back in time, right back to 1898, the year the railway began operating. Switzerland’s first electric cog railway and a witness to the history of the pioneers of mountain rail, the Gornergrat Bahn owes its existence to the 2,400 or so workers who took just two years to carve out the route through the Alps. To begin with, the railway operated in the summer months only, but by 1928/29 a winter service was running as far as Riffelalp.
It was extended to Riffelberg within ten years and finally reached the summit of the Gornergrat in 1942. Firmly established as a year-round attraction, the railway now caters for a million and a half passengers every year.

The ultimate in panoramic views
The line ends at the Gornergrat, 3,089m above sea level, where passengers alight after a 33-minute journey and a 9,339m climb. The views awaiting them are very much on a large scale: in the distance lie the Matterhorn and the Monte Rosa massif, over which stands the Dufourspitze, the highest peak in Switzerland (4,634m). The nearby viewing platform provides a vantage point from which can be seen
the small matter of 29 four-thousanders and the Gorner, the third-longest glacier in the Alps. On seeing such sights, the American writer Mark Twain, who scaled the Gornergrat in 1878, wrote: “I had a magnificent view of Monte Rosa, and apparently all the rest of the Alpine world, from that high
place. All the circling horizon was piled high with a mighty tumult of snowy crests… Among other noticeable things, there is a dazzling, intense whiteness about the distant Alpine snow, when the sun is on it, which one recognizes as peculiar, and not familiar to the eye… Authorities agree that there is no such tremendous “layout” of snowy Alpine magnitude, grandeur, and sublimity to be seen from any other accessible point as the tourist may see.” All sense of proportion vanishes in this fairytale landscape and the imagination flits from one peak to another. To make the most of it all and let the dream last a little bit longer, why not check in at the nearby 3100 Kulmhotel Gornergrat, the highest hotel in Switzerland?

www.gornergrat.ch