Visiting Zermatt? 5 Reasons to Add the Five Lakes Hike to Your Swiss Alps Travel Adventure

Dreaming of panoramic views and sparkling alpine lakes on your Swiss Alps travel adventure? If alpine hiking, charming mountain villages, and unforgettable mountain excursions are on your wishlist, this episode is for you.

In this episode, I’m joined by Claudia Wyss from Zermatt Cableways as we explore one of Switzerland’s most scenic walks, the famous Five Lakes Hike. Starting from Blauherd and making our way to the stunning Stellisee, Claudia shares her best tips for hiking in Switzerland, from choosing the right gear to finding the best photo spots for that perfect Matterhorn reflection.

You’ll hear about other must-do adventures in Zermatt, including riding the Gornergrat railway, taking in the views from Matterhorn Glacier Paradise, and heading up to Rothorn for sweeping mountain panoramas. We also chat about family-friendly adventure activities like mountain carts, kickbikes, and playgrounds by alpine lakes.

Claudia’s insider knowledge is your must-have Switzerland travel guide, with suggestions for timing your hikes, enjoying local cuisine, and making the most of seasonal offers like sunrise tours.

Whether you’re looking for your first taste of alpine hiking or you’ve explored Switzerland before and want to discover more hidden gems, this episode will leave you inspired, informed, and ready to lace up your hiking boots.

Tune in now to discover the five reasons the Five Lakes Hike should be on your Switzerland travel itinerary.

Safe travels,

Carolyn

👉 Show notes - Episode 147

🇨🇭 Take advantage of our exclusive Switzerland trip discounts

📖 Free Switzerland Trip Planning Starter Kit and Guide - Get your copy here

🎙️ Tell us what you love about the podcast by leaving a voice message

Where to get more Swiss travel tips and inspiration:

•On our website

•Subscribe to our newsletter

•Join our private Facebook group

•On our YouTube channel

Transcript

Carolyn Schönafinger: Welcome to the Holidays to Switzerland podcast. If you're planning a trip to Switzerland, this is the podcast for you. I'm your host, Carolyn Schönafinger, the founder of holidays to switzerland.com. In each episode, my expert guests and I share practical tips to help you plan your dream trip to Switzerland. You'll get helpful advice about traveling around Switzerland and hear about the most popular destinations, as well as some hidden gems. We'll introduce you to plenty of wonderful experiences that you can enjoy as part of your Swiss vacation. Each episode is packed with expert tips, itinerary ideas, and inspiration to help make your Swiss vacation planning easy. So, let's dive in. 

Grüezi, hi there. Welcome to this week's episode, which is coming to you from an incredibly spectacular location as part of my live on location series. Today, I'm joined by Claudia from Zermatt Cableways for some epic views of the Matterhorn. Claudia is about to take us on a leisurely walk to Stellisee, a pretty alpine lake above Zermatt, where, with any luck, we'll get to see the iconic Matterhorn reflected in its crystal clear waters. Along the way, we'll hear about the variety of activities that visitors to Zermatt can enjoy. Mountain excursions, hiking, skiing, mountain cart rides, and even meeting the black nose sheep, which are unique to this part of Switzerland, are just some of the many things to do.

Like the previous live on location video podcasts that I've recorded recently, this episode can be watched on YouTube. I'll include images of some of the beautiful scenery that we see today in the show notes for this episode. But if you'd like to watch the actual video footage, head over to the Holidays to Switzerland YouTube channel. Now, let's join Claudia for a picturesque hike. Hello, thank you all for joining me for another of our beautiful live on location Switzerland videos. And look where we are today. We've got the most stunning view there of the amazing Matterhorn, and my guest today, Claudia, is going to take us on a little tour to a beautiful lake, so I'll hand it over to Claudia to tell us more.

Claudia Wyss: Hi, Carolyn. Thank you very much for the introduction. So I'm here in Zermatt, actually, on Blauherd at the wooden hut, which is a photo point that we have, and you can see in the background the Matterhorn. This is actually just above the station. You can see it down there, so it's like a two-minute walk from the station. This is actually the starting point of the Five Lakes hike. Up here we are on 2,600 meters above sea level, which would be about 8,500 feet. So, yeah, I'll take you along on the first step of the Five Lakes hike, which goes to the Stellisee. With me, I do have actually my dog Lily, and she's going to join as well.

Carolyn Schönafinger: Oh, welcome. So, can we see Zermatt from where you are there?

Claudia Wyss: Zermatt, you can't see it. However, it would be down there. You can't see it from here. It takes about, let's say, half an hour to get up here, as you take a funicular first, and then you take a gondola. So it's very easy to get up here. The first lift runs at 8:30, and then just make sure that you don't miss the last lift, which goes depending on the season, but now, during our summer high season, around six o'clock.

Carolyn Schönafinger: Perfect. And we just saw that magnificent view of the Matterhorn. I guess we're going to see a lot more of it today. What height is the Matterhorn?

Claudia Wyss: The Matterhorn would be 4,478 meters, which would be about 14,800 feet above sea level. So it's one of the 38 peaks that we do have here around Zermatt.

Carolyn Schönafinger: Yeah, wow, amazing. So, are you on a paved path there, or is it a gravel path?

Claudia Wyss: So you can see it's a well-marked path. It's not too difficult. Occasionally, you have these stones that are for the irrigation system. I would say it's an easy hike, the Five Lakes hike, for sure. I mean, you have to be used to walking on uneven ground a bit. I recommend wearing some shoes with good grip. But, I mean, I think, yeah, if you're used to walking a little bit, it's a rather easy hike. It takes about two and a half hours to do the whole loop.

Carolyn Schönafinger: Okay, great. And we're just going to one of the five lakes today, correct?

Claudia Wyss: Right, yes. So we're going to the first stop, which is the Stellisee. From there you could continue over to the Grindjisee, and then the Grünsee, which you can see over there. That's a really pretty lake. You can swim in the Grünsee, and then you continue to the Moosjisee. So it's Stellisee, Moosjisee, Grindjisee, and the last ones are Leisee and the Grünsee. Leisee and Grünsee are the last ones, those are two that you could even swim in if you wish.

Carolyn Schönafinger: Excellent. So you mentioned there obviously having good, sturdy shoes. Is there any other equipment that people should bring, or should they carry any supplies with them when they're doing the Five Lakes hike?

Claudia Wyss: So for sure, these shoes. I can just show you what I'm wearing, just normal kind of like sneakers, running shoes. Look, I'll show you my backpack. It's actually quite small, and I do always recommend people not to bring too much stuff. This is my little backpack. This is all I have with me. Don't bring too much, because you have to carry your bag all by yourself. We see a lot of people often they have big bags, and yeah, it just weighs them down. But there are some essentials for sure. Bring a rain jacket. That's a rule that we have in the mountains. If you're moving around the mountains, you always bring a rain jacket. This can be just a light, windproof, rainproof jacket, because sometimes the weather can switch or turn around, and it can rain a bit.

Also a little bit of water and some sun cream. Although, like this morning, it does feel a bit chilly, but the sun is really strong up here in the mountains because of the altitude as well. If there's a little wind going on, you just don't feel how strong the sun is. So, yeah, definitely sun protection. I think that's about it.

Carolyn Schönafinger: Aside from looking at the beautiful lake that we're going to see soon, what other reasons bring people to Stellisee?

Claudia Wyss: So Stellisee, first of all, for the Five Lakes hike. Then we do have this special offer going from July to September. Every Saturday, we offer the sunrise rides. So you can catch the lifts up to the Stellisee really early in the morning, and you can watch the sunrise and then go to the Fluhalp restaurant, which is about another 20-minute hike, and have breakfast there. We offer this every Saturday during the summertime. And you can see here on my right, there's some sheep.

Carolyn Schönafinger: Yeah, I could hear them there. I was wondering where they're one here, lost?

Claudia Wyss: The flock is over there.

Carolyn Schönafinger: So they're the black nose sheep that are only found around Zermatt and the Valais region?

Claudia Wyss: Yeah, they're from this region. The shepherd rounds them up and fences them in during the night, and then during the day they go and graze along the mountains.

Carolyn Schönafinger: Fantastic. So can visitors to Zermatt go and, you know, get up close to the sheep? I mean, obviously you've seen one, they're quite close to you. Are they normally happy to be close to people?

Claudia Wyss: Yeah, I mean, usually they're quite friendly, however, they're still wild animals. I think any animals you have to kind of treat with respect and just with care. I mean, if you go up to them and they walk away, I think you have to respect that and just keep your distance to them. But usually they're quite friendly. And don't feed them. They've got sensitive bellies, and they have plenty to eat around here.

Carolyn Schönafinger: Okay, so what about other hikes from Zermatt?

Claudia Wyss: So other hikes like Blauherd is actually a big starting point of a lot of hikes. We have other themed hikes like the Marmot Trail or the Flower Trail that talks about the wild flowers that we have around Zermatt. There is as well, there's a nice hike that is just hiding behind the clouds over there. So you would take the gondola up to the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise. And from there, I mean, you don't have to go up to the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise, but you can go up to Matterhorn Glacier Paradise. And then on your way down, get out at Trockener Steg, and then you hike to Schwarzsee. The hike from Trockener Steg to Schwarzsee is called the Matterhorn Glacier Trail, and it's quite special, because there used to be a glacier there not that long ago. So it's quite rocky, and you can see how the ice has shaped the rock. Also, it's quite nice, because you're literally, like, underneath the east wall of the Matterhorn.

As I mentioned before, from Blauherd, there are actually a lot of hiking trails. I mean, if you look from here, you see loads, you might not see them, but there are plenty of trails. And there's a Marmot Trail where you have signs that talk about marmots. They're like little animals that we have around here. Or the Flower Trail that does talk about the different alpine flowers in Zermatt.

Carolyn Schönafinger: Okay, so you're on the, I know you got off at the Blauherd stop, but you're on the Rothorn? Is that right? Is that the name of the mountain?

Claudia Wyss: So I got off at the Blauherd stop. And the Blauherd is a stop towards Rothorn. So Rothorn would be that gondola up there. From Blauherd, you have to catch another cable car all the way to the peak.

Carolyn Schönafinger: Okay. And what are some of the activities that so if people wanted to come and do the Five Lakes hike, but they wanted to spend the whole day, are there other activities they can do, perhaps up at Rothorn or at Blauherd?

Claudia Wyss: Yeah, so, I mean, Rothorn we have a peak collection. So they've actually collected a rock from every mountain around Zermatt, or every 4000-meter peak, and it talks about the mountains around us. Then on Blauherd, we offer mountain carts. So they're these kind of like mountain go-karts. Kids love them, but adults as well. You can rent them at the station on Blauherd, and then, yeah, ride them down to Sunnegga. And then from Sunnegga, we have another offer, especially for families, but I mean adults as well, it's kind of any age. They're called kickbikes, and they're these big scooters with big wheels, and you can ride them down Bandy Road from Sunnegga to Zermatt. Another fun thing is on Sunnegga, there's the Leisee, which is one of the lakes on the Five Lakes hike where there is actually a playground, a newly built playground. There's like a float on the lake, barbecue places. So this has been great for families with kids.

Carolyn Schönafinger: We've been lucky with the weather today. It's just amazing. I probably should tell everyone watching that we're recording this in July. I know that up on the mountain, it's going to be cooler than it is in Zermatt, but what sort of temperatures can people expect in Zermatt during the summer months?

Claudia Wyss: So during the summer months, it does get quite warm. I would say about 25 degrees Celsius is about maybe the average. So I mean, when the weather is nice, you can walk around in shorts. However, always pack a little jumper with you, especially at night. Even if it's really warm during the day, at night, it will cool down. And so that's definitely something. I know when we are in the mountains, and wherever you are in the mountains, the weather can change a lot. It could be that today would be a cloudy, rainy day, and if it's cloudy and rainy, it does get actually quite cold.

Carolyn Schönafinger: Okay, good to know.

Claudia Wyss: And just bring maybe like layers. That's a bit of the trick to kind of like have different options, different layers.

Carolyn Schönafinger: Yeah, good tip. So what other mountain excursions can people enjoy when they're staying in Zermatt?

Claudia Wyss: So one is the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise. And you can actually see it over there. It's like the pointy peak that just is kind of like pointing out of the clouds. That's the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise, and that's the highest cable car station in Europe. There's Rothorn, which I showed, which is up there. And then over there you might see there's a train station. That's the Gornergrat.

Carolyn Schönafinger: Okay, so they're the three main excursions that people can do?

Claudia Wyss: Exactly. But then, I mean, there are different things to do as well for people, you know, let's say bikers. There's a lot of biking trails around here. Then we do actually have a lot of mountaineers that come to Zermatt to climb the peaks with mountain guides, but also just leisure guests that just want to take a lift up to the mountain. So, I mean, I think Zermatt is a fun place because it kind of caters to anyone, to deep-tread mountaineers, but also just people that want to get a feel of what the mountains are in a bit of a leisurely way.

Carolyn Schönafinger: Yeah. And of course, it's such a famous ski resort in the winter months as well, it's fantastic. So, are all those mountains that we just talked about, are they all accessible, all year round?

Claudia Wyss: Yes, they are all accessible year-round. The Matterhorn Glacier Paradise and the Rothorn do close in the spring and the autumn time when we have to do some maintenance work on the cable cars. And then during the wintertime they're all open as well, because that's when our skiing operations start. The Five Lakes hike is something that we only offer during some months, maybe from like June until about October. During the winter, there are plenty of options to go hiking. However, please don't do the Five Lakes hike when it's covered with snow. You can't see them, but it can, however, get a bit dangerous if you do try and walk over them.

Carolyn Schönafinger: Yeah. Okay, so find another trail if you want to do some winter hiking. Now, there's also a pretty special cable car ride that you can do from Zermatt beyond the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise, isn't it? You can actually go all the way to Italy. So, can you tell everyone watching a bit about that?

Claudia Wyss: So we did launch the modern Alpine crossing. And in the clouds from the left ridge of the Matterhorn over there, that's where we have the border to Italy. It's actually quite a natural ridge and natural border. So two years ago, we did open this cable car connection where guests can take a cable car ride all the way down to Cervinia in Italy. So guests can do a day excursion to the other side, go over, have a pizza and then tiramisu, and then come back. Or if you do have travelers, let's say you're traveling around Europe and you want to travel around Switzerland and Italy and connect these countries, you could use this to connect the two countries. Fantastic.

Carolyn Schönafinger: So instead of taking a train all the way around, you can actually just come up over the mountain?

Claudia Wyss: Exactly. I mean, the distance-wise, it's a lot shorter if you go over the mountains, because the drive around would take about between four and five hours. However, the cable car ride is like one and a half to two hours.

Carolyn Schönafinger: Okay. And taking luggage on that cable car, is that easy enough to do?

Claudia Wyss: So at the moment, guests have to carry their own luggage. However, we are testing luggage transport. So we're doing the final test, and we're just waiting for the approval from the Italian customs. And as soon as we have that, we will be offering luggage transport, so guests will be able to drop off their luggage and then pick it up on the other side.

Carolyn Schönafinger: Okay, oh, very, very handy.

Claudia Wyss: And I'm going to show you. I've arrived at the lake here, Stellisee, and we're just going to walk around it.

Carolyn Schönafinger: Look how clear that water is. Yeah, and we've got a bit of a reflection there as well.

Claudia Wyss: You can see the Matterhorn reflecting in the lake a bit here, if you do get lucky. And that's why it is actually fun to book the sunrise tour, because early in the morning the water is still very flat, and that's when, if you do get lucky, you will see the reflection of the Matterhorn in it. So I'm hoping we might see it here as well.

Carolyn Schönafinger: Okay, well, maybe we can talk about tickets and discounts. So of course, anyone coming to Zermatt can just buy a ticket for one of those mountain excursions or for the cable car up to Blauherd to go and do the Five Lakes walk. But if they've got a travel pass like the Swiss Travel Pass, are there any discounts available to people for the cable car rides?

Claudia Wyss: Yes. So we do offer different tickets. If you do the Five Lakes hike, we actually offer a combi ticket, which includes the ride from Zermatt to Blauherd, and then from Sunnegga to Zermatt. On all of our one-way or return tickets, holders of a Swiss Travel Pass, they receive a 50% discount. Then we have another ticket as well. If guests are staying a bit longer and they want to do multiple excursions, they can get a Peak Pass, which gives them access to all three peaks. So Rothorn, Gornergrat, and Matterhorn Glacier Paradise. And holders of a Swiss Travel Pass receive a 25% discount. Well, you can see, I don't know, I'm just going to show you. We can see your reflection of the mountain a little bit.

Carolyn Schönafinger: Yeah, we've got the cloud across it as well, but we can see the point there, beautiful. So what would your top tips be for anyone who's interested in doing the Five Lakes hike?

Claudia Wyss: My tip is definitely start early in the morning, when it doesn't get too warm yet. As I already mentioned, pack light and then do stop at one of the restaurants. I'll show you up there. I don't know you can see it. There's the Fluhalp restaurant. I mentioned it before our sunrise after you have breakfast there, however, I mean, you could have lunch up there. And at the final stop, the Leisee around. It's really not a big detour to go to Findeln. And Findeln, we call a bit of the gourmet corner of Zermatt so you have brilliant restaurants around, for example, Paradise, or there's restaurant Adler, the Findlerhof and do stop for lunch there. They're really good, and you don't have to pack your own lunch.

Carolyn Schönafinger: Yeah, definitely makes your backpack a bit lighter. So what is it about Stellisee that you love most?

Claudia Wyss: I love it because you can see your reflections occasionally. It's really easy to get to. I mean, I took you along the hike. I mean, I even could talk to you while hiking there. So it's very easy, accessible. And my dog Lily, she does actually love to swim in it. Yeah, so, yeah, no, it's a special place. I did actually bring extra luggage. I did even bring her stick, because we do not have any trees up here, so I did bring her a stick so she can go fetch it afterwards.

Carolyn Schönafinger: That's definitely planning ahead. Well done. Well, maybe you can just show us that view of the lake again.

Claudia Wyss: So here neither mountain is coming out. Unfortunately, it is a little bit windy, so, yeah, it's breaking the surface of the lake.

Carolyn Schönafinger: No, it just looks magnificent. Yeah.

Claudia Wyss: And I mean, you can see loads of people here, all ages, all nationalities. It's kind of like easy to get to, anyone can come here.

Carolyn Schönafinger: It's definitely suitable for everyone, all ages. So that's a great excursion idea to have.

Claudia Wyss: Exactly. And also, I mean, don't have to be worried about getting lost. I mean, it is very well signposted. When you buy your tickets, you can get a map. So yeah, there's plenty, I mean, and they always keep online, so just ask if you get lost.

Carolyn Schönafinger: Great. Okay, so if anyone watching is interested in doing that Five Lakes hike or finding out anything more about Zermatt or any of those other mountain excursions, where can they get that information?

Claudia Wyss: So you can get more information on our website, which is matterhornparadise.ch, or on your website of the Tourism Board, which is zermatt.swiss.

Carolyn Schönafinger: Okay, fantastic. Well, do you have anything else that you want to share with us before we let you go and throw the stick to Lily?

Claudia Wyss: Yeah, I think that's it from my side. I mean, thank you very much Carolyn for doing this podcast. And, you know, I hope I got to show you guys how pretty Zermatt is and a bit of the variety that we have around here.

Carolyn Schönafinger: Yeah, absolutely you certainly have. So thank you again, Claudia, for the tour and for everyone watching, don't forget to subscribe to the Holidays to Switzerland YouTube channel. We've got lots more of these live on location videos. So go back and take a look at the ones that you might have missed, and stay tuned for some more coming up. So until then, I look forward to seeing you next time and take care. Thanks, Claudia.

Claudia Wyss: Thank you, bye.

Carolyn Schönafinger: Many visitors to Zermatt go for the incredible Matterhorn views, and honestly, I don't think you could ever get tired of them. It's such an imposing and iconically shaped mountain that your eyes just can't help being drawn to it. But as Claudia highlighted today, there is a lot more to Zermatt than just the Matterhorn. As well as the many mountain excursions on offer, there's a fantastic array of hiking and skiing opportunities, lots of fun adventure activities, and the culinary delights are second to none. You can hear more about Zermatt in some of our previous episodes, and I'll include a link to those and all my Zermatt travel guides in the show notes. The links to the Zermatt Cableways and Zermatt Tourism websites will be there too, and you can also grab a copy of my brand new Switzerland travel planning starter kit and guide. So head on over to the show notes at holidaystoswitzerland.com/episode147, for all those free resources and more. Thanks very much for joining me today. I hope you enjoyed our walk to Stellisee, and it's got you excited for a visit to Zermatt until next week. Tschüss!