7 Days Zermatt

Ski-In, Ski-Out Family

Winter Vacation

Morning
A private chauffeur, or on request a scenic helicopter, collects you from Zurich or Geneva airport. Zermatt is completely car-free, so ordinarily every visitor must leave their car in Täsch and take the train for the final stretch into the village.

Thanks to our local connections, we are able to drive you directly into Zermatt instead, a rare privilege, and a far smoother, more private arrival with your family and luggage.

Afternoon
From the village, the Gornergrat cog railway and the hotel’s own historic private tram carry you up to the Riffelalp Resort at 2,222 metres. Settle into your Matterhorn-view suite, Europe’s highest five-star address, ski-in and ski-out on the mountainside.

Your guide joins you for a relaxed welcome and a premium boot-and-ski fitting, so tomorrow begins without a single queue. Anyone keen to click in early can take a gentle warm-up run from the door as the light turns golden.

Evening
A welcome dinner at the resort, at the restaurant of your choice, the gourmet Restaurant Alexandre, the Italian Ristorante al Bosco or the cosy Walliser Stube. Your guide maps the week ahead over a glass of Valais wine as the Matterhorn glows pink outside the window.

Overnight
Riffelalp Resort 2222 m, Zermatt

Morning
You ski out from the door and drop toward the village, crossing to the Sunnegga-Rothorn sector by funicular. With your guide you warm up on the immaculate red pistes above Blauherd before taking on the National (Piste 8), one of Zermatt’s most famous descents, with genuinely steep pitches to wake the legs.

Afternoon
Reading the family’s rhythm and the snow, your guide adds the Marmotte and Chamois lines and a first taste of the gentle off-piste that runs alongside the pistes. Lunch is a long, sunlit table at Chez Vrony or Findlerhof in the hamlet of Findeln, the Matterhorn filling the horizon.

Evening
Ski home to the resort for wellness time, the highest open-air spa pool in the Alps, sauna and a signature massage to open the week before dinner at leisure.

Overnight
Riffelalp Resort 2222 m, Zermatt

Morning
Today you are perfectly placed, the Gornergrat cog railway passes your very door. Ride it to the summit for the most storied panorama in the Alps, the Matterhorn, Monte Rosa and a horizon of thirty-eight four-thousand-metre peaks.

From the ridge your guide leads you onto the Kelle (Piste 29), a demanding black, and the long itinerary lines of Triftji and Mittelritz.

Afternoon
When snow allows, this is the gateway to the Stockhorn-Triftji sector, some of the finest lift-served freeride terrain in Europe, including the celebrated Triftji bumps, a three-kilometre mogul field for the strongest in the group.

Those who prefer to cruise ski the endless reds back toward Riffelberg. Lunch high on the ridge at the Kulmhotel Gornergrat (3,100 m) or a sunny table at Alphitta.

Evening
Aperitifs on the resort terrace as the Matterhorn turns to fire, then dinner at leisure at Riffelalp.

Overnight
Riffelalp Resort 2222 m, Zermatt

Morning
Ride the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise cable car to Europe’s highest lift station at 3,883 metres and step out onto the glacier with the Matterhorn close enough to touch. From here you cross the watershed into Italy.

Afternoon
Long, wide, sun-soaked Italian pistes carry you down toward Cervinia. Lunch is leisurely and Italian at Chalet Étoile or the Rifugio Teodulo on the Plateau Rosa: espresso, homemade pasta and a Swiss-Italian view.

Then your guide leads the return over the pass and the great 2,200-metre descent all the way home to Zermatt, one of the longest continuous runs in the Alps. Guests who prefer to make the crossing by cable car rather than on skis can add our Matterhorn Alpine Crossing to Cervinia day tour.

Evening
A relaxed evening, perhaps a private raclette or fondue arranged in a centuries-old mazot.

Overnight
Riffelalp Resort 2222 m, Zermatt

Morning
The centrepiece of the week. With avalanche safety equipment fitted and briefed, your guide chooses the day’s canvas from the snow report, the

Schwarzsee sector’s Hörnli (Piste 54), the steepest marked slope in Zermatt, the sheltered tree-lined itinerary runs down to Furi for flat-light days, or fresh lines off Rothorn.

Afternoon
For the strongest skiers, the ultimate upgrade: a heli-drop on Monte Rosa or the Alphubeljoch and a guided descent of up to 2,500 vertical metres through untracked glacier terrain, the only heli-skiing in this corner of the Alps.

Family members who prefer a quieter day enjoy the spa, a guided snowshoe walk to Zum See, or the Gornergrat sun terrace. Lunch at the hidden hamlet of Zum See or at Stafelalp beneath the North Face.

Evening
Restorative spa and an early, unhurried table.

Overnight
Riffelalp Resort 2222 m, Zermatt

Morning
A final full day on snow, timed to the best conditions of the week. Your guide takes the family to whichever sector is skiing best and links your favourite runs one more time.

Afternoon
The signature flourish: one of our private helicopter flights lifts off from Zermatt for a scenic tour around the Matterhorn, touching down on a high glacier for a Champagne moment on the ice beneath the great peak, an experience reserved for the very few.

Evening
A celebratory farewell dinner at the resort’s gourmet Restaurant Alexandre, or, for those who wish, a Michelin-starred table down in the village such as After Seven, toasting a week of extraordinary skiing.

Overnight
Riffelalp Resort 2222 m, Zermatt

Morning
For the reluctant, a last few turns on the Sunnegga slopes or a quiet coffee with the Matterhorn in view.

Afternoon
A private transfer, by rail and chauffeured car, or directly by helicopter, returns you to Zurich or Geneva in comfort, skis and memories packed, already planning next winter.

Overnight
Journey concludes