Switzerland brings to mind many things for different people. For myself, I think of beautiful mountains (of course with hiking and skiing), chocolates, neutrality, and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (Unitar). Didn’t expect that last one, did you?

On an earlier visit to Switzerland many years ago with a friend from Germany, we stayed two nights in Zermatt. Back then Zermatt was fairly small and one had to take the train into town. The few vehicles in Zermatt were small electric cars or trucks, often with small trailers.

Zermatt these days has grown to be quite a busy ‘town’ surrounded by the beautiful Alps with the famous Matterhorn overlooking everything. During winter it is the center of a huge snow skiing/boarding region. During the summer it is also packed with regular tourists, hikers, and all the people who are needed to support so much activity.

Zermatt is still considered car-free. If one must drive, there is a huge parking garage in Täsch just one town down from Zermatt. From there people take a shuttle train into Zermatt. I came in from Germany by train, connecting at the Visp station. There I changed to a train that came directly into Zermatt. The Zermatt train station was only a few blocks from our hotel so it was very easy (be thankful for wheeled luggage!)

As for train travel in Switzerland, easy and, if planned ahead, not too expensive. First class will get you larger seats and on ‘some’ trains, internet, food options, and/or AC power (read the small print - I went very hungry on my routes). A great feature is that if you miss a connection due to your train being late or something out of your control, you can simply catch the next available train and still use your original ticket when the conductor stops by - no worries, especially if not traveling during a peak time.

Trains in Switzerland tend to be on time (small exception, leaving Zermatt there was a rockslide on the tracks so we were bused around the slide and then finished on the train down to Visp. Our luggage was put on another bus - I came to understand that this was normal as they really pack the people into the busses and avoid the luggage with passenger delays - it all just works).

However, all is not the same throughout Europe. Leaving Stuttgart, Germany to head to Zermatt, I got to the train station to find out my train had been canceled. Thanks to my good friend whom I stayed with while in Germany, he helped me figure out what was happening and made sure I got onto the next train out and knew what to do. It was explained that, since Germany is in the middle of the European train systems, it is very busy and therefore often has construction or track issues. Delayed or canceled trains are not that uncommon. Switzerland though is still the pinnacle of on-time and efficient train service.

An interesting aspect, my train that crossed from Germany to Switzerland had a crew change just past the border. The German crew wasn’t bad or anything. But the Swiss crew - night and day difference. Hard to explain it but they were very friendly and attentive.

Zermatt has a few grocery stores of which one has a decent selection (remember this is a ‘small’ town). Eating out is a very different story. There are options from McDonalds to the most extravagant restaurants you can imagine. The hotels also range from modest to almost royal palace-like accommodations. Just be prepared to pay!

One more item, during the summer the way to get around is to buy a Peak Pass. If you were to pay for the train each time you used it or for any of the lifts and other transport options (you will use many), it would cost you a fortune. The Peak Pass is great and is good for whatever number of days you buy it for, covering all the major transport that we used. With the pass, we never had to buy tickets. wait in lines or spend extra money to get around. For skiers, you will need to check into additional options.