Gornergrat

Rocky ridge above Zermatt, Valais, Switzerland, at the top of the Gornergrat rack railway.

At a glance

Source	Author	Role	In one line
The Best 30-Minute Train Ride in Switzerland	Simply Railway	journey waypoint	The end of the line at 3,089 metres: 29 four-thousanders, an observatory hotel and a gold-plated locomotive.
The Alpine Hotel You Can’t Get to by Car	Not Just Bikes	setting	A night in Switzerland’s highest hotel, reachable only by train.

Welcome to Gornergrat — 3,089 meters, the end of the line.

Role: journey waypoint
In the video: The ride up from Zermatt on the Gornergrat Bahn, past Riffelberg and Rotenboden (for the Riffelsee), ends here. From the top you can see 29 peaks over 4,000 metres. The Kulmhotel Gornergrat, first built in 1896, had two observatory domes added to its towers in 1996; there is also what the narrator calls Europe’s second-highest post office, a museum with a virtual paragliding ride, and the “Golden Spot”, a restored, gold-plated first-generation steam locomotive posed in front of the Matterhorn.
Why it matters: The summit is the ride’s destination and the video’s payoff.

This is Gornergrat, and it has the highest hotel in Switzerland. The only way to get here is by train, and that’s my kind of destination.

Role: setting
In the video: The narrator books a last-minute stay at the summit hotel, at about 3,100 m the highest in Switzerland, which can only be reached by the rack railway. His room faces the Matterhorn, the hotel also houses an observatory used by school groups, and he hikes the trails around the summit.
Why it matters: The hotel is the destination and the argument: a place made special because you can’t drive to it.