Zermatt, Gornergrat, Matterhorn, Furka Pass

Travelled : 93km
Stay: Belvedere - Rhone Glacier on Furka Pass. Free parking with amazing views, no service point but a cafe etc incl Chf 7 pp visit to glacier.N46.5771 E8.38805
Visited: Zermatt and Gornergrat with views of the Matterhorn.

Today was an absolute WOW day!!! We caught the 8:15am train from Tasch to Zermatt (chf16 each return) as you cannot drive there. 

There are a few ways to travel from here to get a closer view of the Matterhorn. Apparently the views from Rothorn are the best but closed at this time of year. Then there was the option of going by gondolas to the Matterhorn Glacier paradise 3883m @chf 100 each. We decided on taking the cog railway to Gornergrat 3089m alt. We took the 8:48 @ chf90 return each. 

Zermatt

We made our way to the top not descending at any of the stations on the way. We had some great views of the Matterhorn and surrounding mountains and spent a couple of hours admiring what nature had to offer. Unfortunately the weather was not perfect and clouds came in obscuring the main attraction. We felt fortunate enough to have seen what we did in this terrible start to the summer season all throughout Europe. 

Here comes our train 

On the way back down we stopped at Rotenboden 2815m.  

The Matterhorn is behind that cloud 

We then took the following train to Riffelberg 2582m. 

A marmot 

At Riffelalp 2211m we decided to walk back to Zermatt and enjoy the forest, a few villages and the views. Although the clouds  continued to hang on the Matterhorn. We walked along the main street of Zermatt back to the station and took the 3:35pm back to Bluey in Tasch.  

We then made our way back down the Valley through Visp and Brig.

We continued our way to the Rhone Glacier along the Furka Pass Road. 

We made it too late to visit the Glacier @ Chf 7 each (hopefully tomorrow) and asked if it was okay to stay the night in the parking area. The answer was 'yes, no problem'. So here we are parked with the most amazing views and for free! Just the way we like it! Our only concern is if we get snow like the 20cm they got last night...better put the heater on so the boiler doesn't dump the water. Even so it is a better start than 3 years ago on Grimsel pass.