Zermatt - Sunnegga
I did this hike on the 13th of November, 2025. I had managed to live in Switzerland for more than four years without visiting Zermatt, and thought it was about time. It was late in the season, but the weather looked nice, and the snow line altitude was still relatively high, so I decided to go and do the below hike.
Full route: Swisstopo
I took the train from Zürich to Visp where I changed to the train to Zermatt. It was a really beautiful train ride through the valley with the still somwhat golden larch trees covering large areas. In Zermatt, I quickly walked out of town and started the ascent.
I have of course seen many pictures of Matterhorn, but I found it to be much more impressive in real life. I stopped every single time I reached a new viewpoint to take photos, as the views and clouds constantly changed.
The first part of the trail ran through forest, which slowly opened up more and more. The trail was generally easy and not too narrow and only at shorter parts steep. As I made my way up, the vegetation changed and the ground got more rocky and baren.
Before reaching Stellisee, I found a perfectly placed bench where I decided to take my lunch break. The views were so great that I decided to stay a bit longer and knit, while enjoying the views to Matterhorn and the surrounding mountains. When I started to get cold, I continued up to Stellisee, which was partly frozen.
From the lake, I continued back on the trail in direction Sunnegga and Zermatt. It was great walking with constant views over the entire area, and I don’t think I ever took so many pictures of the same mountain.
It started to get more cloudy, but the views were still great as I made my way along the trail. The way down to Sunnegga was generally easy, but with a few steeper parts and short snow covered parts, but not in any way problematic.
Down at Sunnegga, I decided to take a different way back to Zermatt, and followed the trail for a few kilometers back into the valley. There was more snow in the area and on the trail here, but luckily no ice, so it did not slow me down.
The extra part I did from Sunnegga was great, as it gave me some views into the valley, I had driven through with the train. I can definitely see myself coming back to this area and valley and do some more hiking over the next years.
As I turned around and started the last stretch back to Zermatt, the trail again went down between the larch trees. It was a really beautiful end to the hike, and the colors down here were just stunning. Back down in Zermatt, I caught the train back to Visp, from where I continued back home to Zürich.
