A Mountainside Paradise

Zermatt, Switzerland: Home to the world famous Matterhorn. Also home to some of the best skiing on earth. Any avid skier or outdoorsman knows Zermatt is one of the hidden jewels of the Alps. I had the incredible opportunity to visit this beautiful town a few years ago, in the summer of 2006.

Zermatt is a very small town located in the west of Switzerland, right on the Italian border. The town is home to approximately 5,800 people and is under 100 square miles.

Something unique about this town is that no cars are allowed. The hotels have "taxis" that take luggage from the bottom of the hill up to where you are staying but other than that, it's all walking.

I went with my ski team, so most of what we were doing was outdoor, physical activity. We skied just about every day and the days we weren't up on the mountain, we were doing things like hiking, ziplining, visiting ice caves, and just hanging out in town. Zermatt is great if you want to experience a real small-town feel of Europe. I highly recommend visiting this town to anyone, even if you don't consider yourself much of an outdoorsy person. It is absolutely beautiful and I would love to go back some day!