Zermatt: getting there, getting around, and what Gornergrat costs

Prices last checked: 27 October 2026 · Fares from SBB, Gornergrat Railway and Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn

Short answer: Zermatt is car-free; the train runs right into the village. From Zürich HB it costs CHF 130 one way in 2nd class (CHF 65 with the Half Fare Card; included with the Swiss Travel Pass). A Gornergrat return costs CHF 132 in summer 2026 and CHF 102 from November 2026 to April 2027, and both the Swiss Travel Pass and the Half Fare Card give 50% off. For a classic 3-day trip from Zurich with Gornergrat, the 3-day Swiss Travel Pass came out cheapest in our example.

Train fares to Zermatt (one way, adult)

Flexible point-to-point fares from the SBB ticket shop, sample date 10 Nov 2026. Supersaver tickets on specific trains can be cheaper. The last leg from Visp is the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn, where all Swiss Travel Pass types are valid (a Flex day must be activated before boarding).
From	2nd class	2nd, Half Fare	1st class	Swiss Travel Pass
Zürich HB	CHF 130	CHF 65	CHF 222	included
Zurich Airport	CHF 134	CHF 67	CHF 229	included
Genève (Geneva) station	CHF 102	CHF 51	CHF 174	included
Interlaken Ost	CHF 86	CHF 43	CHF 147	included
Visp	CHF 38	CHF 19	CHF 65	included
Täsch (car park)	CHF 8.60	CHF 4.30	CHF 14.80	included

Journey times: from Zurich about 3 h 25 min – 3 h 40 min with a change in Visp (details in Zurich Airport to Zermatt). Coming from St. Moritz or Andermatt, the Glacier Express ends in Zermatt (seat reservation extra, even with a pass).

Car-free: what that means for you

Private cars stop at Täsch, about 5 km before Zermatt. Driving on without authorisation risks large fines.
The Matterhorn Terminal Täsch has 2,100 covered parking spaces. The Zermatt Shuttle train takes 12 minutes and runs every 20 minutes from 05:55 to 21:55, then hourly in the evening and all night at weekends.
Shuttle fare: CHF 8.60 one way or CHF 17.20 return (the return is valid for 30 days). The Swiss Travel Pass covers it, Half Fare Card holders pay half, and children under 6 or with a Junior Card ride free.
Free luggage trolleys at Täsch (CHF 5 deposit) can be taken onto the shuttle train.
If you send suitcases ahead with SBB, Zermatt station has a luggage counter, and door delivery to the car-free village carries a CHF 30 surcharge. See SBB luggage forwarding.

Gornergrat cost with each card

Gornergrat Railway price list 2026-2027 (summer / winter). One way costs half the return: CHF 66 in summer, CHF 51 in winter. A Swiss Travel Pass Flex gives the discount only on an activated day.
Zermatt – Gornergrat, return, adult	No card	Half Fare Card	Swiss Travel Pass
May – October 2026	CHF 132	CHF 66	CHF 66
November 2026 – April 2027	CHF 102	CHF 51	CHF 51
Zermatt – Rotenboden return (walk down to the Riffelsee from there)	CHF 114 / CHF 96	CHF 57 / CHF 48	CHF 57 / CHF 48

Closed 2 – 14 November 2026 for construction work, with no replacement transport.
Priority boarding (a separate waiting area and first choice of seat) costs CHF 7 extra.
Children: in summer, ages 6 to 15 pay half; in winter, children under 9 travel free and ages 9 to 15 pay half. With a Junior Travelcard, children aged 6 to 15 travel free.
Buying single sections can cost more than the return ticket, so compare before you split the trip.

Which pass for a 3-day Zermatt trip from Zurich?

Example: Zürich HB → Zermatt on day 1, Gornergrat return on day 2, Zermatt → Zürich HB on day 3, adult, 2nd class. Our arithmetic from the official prices above (we assume the same fare back, as SBB showed for the airport in both directions):

Supersaver tickets for the long train rides can change the result; check them on sbb.ch for your dates.
Option	Summer 2026	Winter 2026/27
No card	CHF 392	CHF 362
Half Fare Card (CHF 150) + half-price tickets	CHF 346	CHF 331
Swiss Travel Pass 3 days (CHF 254) + Gornergrat at 50%	CHF 320	CHF 305

The pass wins here because two long train rides plus a 50% mountain discount fit into three consecutive days. Stay longer, say five days with the same three travel days, and a consecutive pass no longer fits: a 3-day Flex (CHF 289) plus Gornergrat comes to CHF 355 in summer, more than the Half Fare Card route (CHF 346). Then the Half Fare Card is the better buy. Test your own dates in the calculator: choose "Other" for the Zermatt fares and add Gornergrat as an extra excursion at 50%.

Sources

Every price and rule above was checked against these official pages on 2026-10-27. If something has changed, the operator's page is right and we are wrong. Please tell us.