Swiss Alps - Zermatt Circular via Zmutt and Furi

Date: Sunday 3rd August 2014
Route: Zermatt to Zmutt, then on to Furi and back to Zermatt
Distance: 6 miles

To quote Keanu Reeves in the Matrix: "whoa!"

Whilst I had vague visions of what Switzerland would be like, nothing really prepared me for the juxtaposition of sky-scraping snowy mountains, pretty wooden villages, flower-strewn hillsides teeming with butterflies and arguably the world's cutest rodent, the marmot. Walking in bright sunshine and a T-shirt in the midst of jaw-droppingly beautiful Alpine scenery is definitely a world away from trudging through English mud and rain!

We spent the week based in Zermatt - a well-established resort town packed with chalet-style hotels and restaurants, overflowing window-boxes, cuckoo clock and Swiss army knife shops, horse-drawn carriages and environmentally-friendly electric vehicles that you don't hear coming up behind you.

The town is dominated by the Matterhorn, Switzerland's highest mountain (familar to anyone who has ever eaten a Toblerone!). It's fair to say that our holiday photos are also dominated by the distinctive triangular peak.

Our first walk of the week was a very straightforward wander from the centre of Zermatt (no lift pass needed!) along the river and up - and up, and up - to the village of Zmutt, a picturesque cluster of wooden houses and restaurants on a hillside.

Once through Zmutt, the path heads onwards across the river and on past the cable car station at Furi (which you can of course take back down to Zermatt if you fancy chopping a few miles off the end of the walk). Once you get past Furi you have the option of following the (very quiet) road back to Zermatt or a choice of several winding paths through the wooded lowlands.

We did a bit of both - the photo of Zermatt above is taken from a conveniently situated rock which became the venue for the first of the week's many cheese sandwich picnics - then took a leisurely stroll into the centre of town to unfairly blame the high altitude (1608m) for our general lack of fitness (not the recent weeks of unhealthy eating and lack of exercise!).

A great start to the week's walking - difficult enough to prepare us for the week to come but easy enough to introduce us to walking in the area and get a general idea of the lay of the land.