Skiing in Zermatt and Chamonix

Hi everybody,

We are a family from Argentina planning to travel for 2 week to Zermatt and Chamonix and I have a couple of questions, if anybody can help us:

We are 5, my wife, myself and 3 boys (15 and twins of 12), all good skiers. We are planning to go to Camonix and Zermatt in January or February.Is there any week that is better to avoid due to school holidays (like President's week in the US)?

When we go to the US we usually rent a condo. It seems that in Europe there are much more hotels than condos. Is that true?

Does anybody has a hotel or condo in Zermatt or Chamonix to recommend? We are thinking in something reasonably priced close to the lifts.

Thanks in advance

Welcome to J2ski :D Two top class destinations on your list, both very different ski experiences.

How will you travel between the two? Rail may be your best option, though you must do price comparisons if you are happy to rent a car. Don't forget to include the cost of car parking in Zermatt, if that's what you decide.

In Europe Condo's are known as Apartments, and both Chamonix and Zermatt have plenty to rent. Decide on your price limit, and contact the Tourist Offices to see what they have to offer.

I've used the T.O in Zermatt several times and they offer a good service.

Chamonix is much more spread out as a resort, compared to Zermatt. A skiers bus service serves all the separate ski hills.

Zermatt is more of a compact village, and has Electric Buses and taxis running between the bases.

A decent 3* Hotel close to the KM lift in Zermatt is the Alpenrose, I've stayed there and found it quite acceptable. They will collect you from the Rail station on your arrival.

http://www.alpenrose-zermatt.ch/welcome.html

January will likely be the quieter month. February will have school holidays (all of Europe, various times) and Carnaval weeks.

Hi HugoB,

I cannot comment on other countries, but the bulk of the UK schools will have their half term holidays on the week starting Saturday 11th Feb.

Enjoy your trip.

That should be some trip, as Bandit says two of the best resorts in Europe.

If I was you I would do the following. Fly to Geneva if possible, rent a car and do Chamonix first, having a car there is definitely worth it. After a week return the car to Geneva airport and hop on the train to Visp where you connect direct into Zermatt. Don't bother with a car, they are not allowed in the village and parking is expensive. All hotels in Zermatt wil pick you up a the station, the range of accommodation is huge. I live in Zermatt, but have used a good number of hotels before I moved here. They range from hostels at 34 CHF a night to 5* hotels at 1000 CHF a night. There is just about everything in between. If you wanna drop me a PM with approx. budget I will be more than happy to give you some recommendations.

I am sure there are folk a little more experienced with Cham than me, so I will limit my advice to Zermatt. A few do's and dont's: don't save 8 CHF a day by getting the Zermatt only ski pass, but the international pass which allows you over the top into Italy. Certainly worth it, and if the sun is out it's where all the locals head for some pasta and red wine. If you decide on the day you would like to extend the Zermatt pass, they will relieve you of 30 CHF for the privilege. Do get up onto the yellow itineraries at the Rote Nase and Stockhorn, they only open in Feb, but it's the best skiing in the resort. Do go to Grampis to see Marco play his piano, it's unique. Don't believe that everything is expensive, with a little inside knowledge there is good value eating and drinking to be done. Do eat at Chez Vrony on the mountain, a little pricey but the best burger in the world. Don't expect skiing to your door, unless you are a local and know which gardens to ski through there isn't any. Do be careful with the off piste, contrary to some opinion there is quite a bit, but it can turn from fun in the powder to glacier or cliffs very quickly. Don't miss the red 7, 7.0 & 7.00 from Plateau Rosa down into Italy, it's an intermediate run and quite wide, but it is continuously graded and about 18km long, a great work out for the legs!!! Don't get stuck on the Italian side, it's about 400CHF in a taxi back.

Let me know if you have any other questions. You'll have a blast.

Thanks to all. Very helpfull information.

Hi everybody. I'm here again with some questions. Finally we have decided to go to St Anton for the last week of February. We still have to decide what to do in our ski second week. Either staying in St Anton and sking in the resorts nearby (lech, etc) or going to another place.
I would like better going to Zermatt or Val d'isere or Tignes, but I cannot find easy railway connections. Does anybody have any suggestions both about which resort to choose and how to get there? We are a family with 3 children (between 15 and 12) and we all like challenging runs

After the second week we are travelling by plane to London from Zurich or Geneva, so the place that we choose should have easy connections to those places.

Thanks in advance

The train journey from St Anton am Arlberg to Zermatt is pretty straightforward, it takes about 6¼ hrs with changes in Zürich and Visp.

Getting to Val d'isere / Tignes is more complicated, train to Bourg-Saint-Maurice which takes at least 10 hrs and involves 3 or 4 changes then bus or taxi up to Val d'isere / Tignes, about 30 min.

You can plan your journey using the Swiss Railways online timetable http://fahrplan.sbb.ch/bin/query.exe/en bear in mind that the winter timetable hasn't been published yet (it comes into force on 12th December) so it won't display any times for the dates you want to travel on.

Can I make a non ski related tip re Zermatt? Take a few minutes to wander around the graveyard to see all the headstones dedicated to those who have died trying to conquer the Matterhorn.