Zermatt eSIM
In Zermatt you connect to Swisscom or Salt, whichever is performing better where you are standing. The typical speed across the country is 112 Mbps. Your data starts working the moment you land, before you reach the immigration hall.
- Networks
- Swisscom and Salt
- Typical speed in Switzerland
- 112 Mbps typical, 39 Mbps at busy times
- 5G
- yes, standalone and non standalone
- Throttle
- None on metered plans
- Tethering
- Allowed on every plan
Plans that cover Zermatt
| Data | Validity | Price per GB | Price | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 GB | Never expires | $5.89 | $5.89 | |
| 3 GB | Never expires | $2.63 | $7.89 | |
| 5 GBMost travellers | Never expires | $1.98 | $9.89 | |
| 10 GB | Never expires | $1.49 | $14.89 | |
| 20 GB | Never expires | $1.19 | $23.89 | |
| 50 GB | Never expires | $0.94 | $46.89 |
How Switzerland compares across Europe
- Regional typical speed
- 71 Mbps
- Upstream networks
- 2, Swisscom, Salt
- 5G
- Yes, standalone and non standalone
- Next fastest nearby
- Kosovo, 158.7 Mbps
- Next slowest nearby
- Finland, 102 Mbps
- Cities with their own page
- 4: Zurich, Geneva, Interlaken, Zermatt
Getting into Zermatt
- Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn shuttle from Tasch, about 12 minutes
- Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn from Visp and Brig on the main Swiss network
- Zurich Airport to Zermatt by train (ZRH), about 210 minutes. Runs through tunnels, where a signal drops
- Geneva Airport to Zermatt by train (GVA), about 240 minutes. Runs through tunnels, where a signal drops
- Basel Airport to Zermatt by train (BSL), about 240 minutes. Runs through tunnels, where a signal drops
- Electric or Tasch taxi transfer into car-free Zermatt
Worth knowing about Zermatt
- Zermatt is car-free: combustion-engine vehicles cannot enter, so every arrival ends with the 12-minute rack-assisted shuttle train from Tasch.
- The nearest airports are far away - Sion about 85 km, Milan Malpensa about 180 km, and Zurich and Geneva both around 250 km - so the transfer is a multi-hour rail journey.
- Local transport inside Zermatt is by near-silent battery-electric vehicles, which are the only motor vehicles permitted.
- The Matterhorn Terminal in Taesch provides 2,100 covered parking spaces, with more than 1,000 further spaces from private providers. Shuttle trains to Zermatt leave every 20 minutes.
- Zermatt Tourism gives rail journey times of 3.5 hours from Zurich Airport and 4 hours from both Geneva and Basel airports.
- SBB FreeSurf, the free internet on SBB long distance trains, works only with a Swiss mobile subscription from Galaxus Mobile, Quickline, Salt, Sunrise or Swisscom. SBB tells visitors to get a Swiss SIM or eSIM first.
- The SBB station wifi network is called SBB-FREE. Registration is one time and valid for 12 months, but SBB states it can only be done with a mobile phone number that can receive a text message.
- SBB EasyRide ticketing needs a registered SwissPass account with saved payment data, and the app captures location and activity data throughout the journey to work out the route travelled.
- The Gornergrat cogwheel train climbs from the Zermatt valley station at 1,604 metres to the Gornergrat at 3,089 metres in 33 minutes, among twenty nine peaks over 4,000 metres.
- Zermatt is a terminus of the Glacier Express to St. Moritz, a journey of about 8 hours whose highest point is the Oberalp Pass at 2,033 metres above sea level.
- The Glacier Express carries wifi and digital infotainment, but the operator warns that reception in the Alps may vary depending on the section of the route. A seat reservation is obligatory for all passengers.
- Matterhorn Glacier Paradise, officially Klein Matterhorn, is 3,883 metres above sea level and holds the highest mountain station in Europe, plus Europe's highest and biggest summer ski area with up to 21 km of pistes.
- The Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn ORION multiple units are equipped with WLAN access and run across the whole network between Zermatt and Disentis. All twelve units were due in regular service from the end of 2023.
- Drivers coming from northern Switzerland can shorten the approach to Valais by loading the car onto the BLS Loetschberg car transport train from Kandersteg to Goppenstein.
- Taxis inside Zermatt are electric. Zermatt Tourism lists 13 taxi and transfer services, several running 24 hours all year, and car parks in Tasch sell packages that pair a parking space with a taxi ride into the village.
- Zermatt's electric buses are free and serve 14 stops. Since 20 November 2023 the Matterhorn app has shown each bus live on its route, with the minutes until it reaches your stop.
Sources for this page
Other cities in Switzerland we cover
- Interlaken
- 74 km from Zermatt, nearest airport BRN
- Geneva
- 125 km from Zermatt, nearest airport GVA
- Zurich
- 162 km from Zermatt, nearest airport ZRH