The world is changing so fast that I worry that my kids won’t be able to enjoy nature in the same way I have over the years. So I love that Switzerland makes it so easy to visit many of its spectacular glaciers, a disappearing national treasure.
Below are Swiss glaciers that are easy to access with mountain transport and short hikes. With some of these, you can hike right up to the glacier ice and touch it. If you feel adventurous, you can book a glacier walk, with a guide, something we hope to do soon.
Contents
- 1. Glacier 3000
- 2. Zermatt Gornergrat
- 3. Saas Fee – Hohsaas
- 4. Aletsch Arena, Riederalp
- 5. Jungfraujoch
- 7. Trift Glacier & Suspension Bridge
- 8. Mt. Titlis
- 9. Stein Glacier
- 9. Morteratsch – Engadin, Southeast Switzerland
- 10. Diavolezza
- 11. Corvatsch glaciers
- 12. Rhone Glacier
- 13. Crans Montana Plaine Morte
- Bonus
- Map of glaciers
1. Glacier 3000
We had a fun family day at Glacier 3000, including an easy hike across the glacier, which didn’t require special equipment or a guide. We also rode an alpine coaster, crossed the suspension bridge at 3000m, and sled on summer snow. It was a unique and fun experience.
Hike stats: optional 4.2 km (round trip) across glacier, easy
2. Zermatt Gornergrat
At the top of the Gornergrat railway from Zermatt, you get a great view both of the Matterhorn and this beautiful glacier. You can hike along this glacier for a closer look, then head down the valley to the Riffelsee, admiring the Matterhorn as you walk.
Hike stats: Optional 3 km or longer, easy
Read more about the Gornergrat and Riffelsee hike
3. Saas Fee – Hohsaas
Cable cars from Saas Grund valley bring you to the top of Hohsaas where you can admire the gigantic glacier shown below. Mere mortals can easily hike up to the side of the glacier and touch it, while you admire more daring hikers crossing the ice as shown in my pic below. The trail is a only 1 km at the top, very rocky but easy enough for a motivated three year old. It’s a great place for a picnic and rock tower building.
Hike stats: 1.1 km loop, moderate
Read more about the Hohsaas Panorama Trail
4. Aletsch Arena, Riederalp
This is one of the most recognizable glaciers in Switzerland and very easy to visit. You simply ride up a couple cable cars to get this fantastic view. If you feel like hiking, there is an easy, short panorama trail along the ridge here. For more of a challenge, you can hike down the valley to get a bit closer and cross a suspension bridge.
Hike stats: 2 km, easy
Get details for the easy Riederalp panorama hike and for the tougher Suspension bridge hike
5. Jungfraujoch
One of the most famous glaciers viewpoints is from the top of the Jungfraujoch. It is certainly very beautiful, but it’s also very expensive to get here and crowded and touristy at the top. It’s not my favorite way to enjoy nature, but it’s nice to go once and check it off your bucket list.
Read more about visiting the Jungfraujoch.
7. Trift Glacier & Suspension Bridge
Most people know Trift for it’s scary suspension bridge, but the rapidly shrinking glacier should be the main attraction. After a cable car ride, it’s a rocky uphill climb to the viewpoint, but not too long and we saw lots of families on the trail. Before going, check out pictures of the glacier retreat since 2002.
Hike stats: 4 km round trip, moderate
Read more about the hike to the Trift glacier
8. Mt. Titlis
The world’s first revolving aerial cableway carries you up to 3200m with panorama views over dozens of mountain peaks. Mt Titlis is covered with snow year round by a glacier., where you can walk, sled or even ski in summer. There’s also an ice cave inside the glacier. No family hikes at the top, but at the middle station below, there are lots of hiking options, including the easy Trübsee loop trail.
Read more about visiting Mt. Titlis
9. Stein Glacier
You can get a view of this glacier from the road over the Susten Pass. To get a closer look, you can drive into this valley, then hike up to the glacier ice. But the ice is receding quickly so it will probably look different when you visit. Tour companies also lead guided walks on this glacier, which we did a few years ago and really enjoyed.
9. Morteratsch – Engadin, Southeast Switzerland
There is an easy flat trail in the valley (suitable for strollers), that leads directly the base of this huge glacier. Along the trail, there are signs marking how far the glacier has shrunk over the past 100 years. You can also above and along the glacier about 5k to the Boval mountain hut, where we slept overnight. We met many hikers that walked on the glacier itself, but that requires a guide and safety equipment.
Hike stats: 6 km, easy to glacier or 10 km, moderate to mountain hut (round trip)
Read more about our hike along the Moteratsch glacier
10. Diavolezza
Near Morteratsch, you ride a cable car to Diavolezza for a view of the Pers glacier and birds eye view of the Morteratsch glacier lower down. You can wander around the rocky top viewpoint admiring the famous Piz Pal and Piz Bernina peaks. From there, it’s a short scramble up a rocky hillside to the “Highest Fire Pit in Europe” where our boys were endlessly entertained stacking rocks in various formations. We loved this magical place!
Hike stats: 1.5 km, moderate
Read more visiting Diavolezza
11. Corvatsch glaciers
Near St Moritz, you can ride a cable car up to Corvatsch, with a viewpoint over two glaciers: Vadret dal Murtèl and Vadret dal Corvatsch. From the middle station, you can hike over a pass to the Roseg valley for another view of the glacier. If you have a lot of time, you can hike up to the valley to the glacier ice and stay overnight in the hut.
See info for Val da Roseg hike
12. Rhone Glacier
You can drive to the Furkapass and walk to a viewpoint over the Rhone glacier and visit the ice grotto.
13. Crans Montana Plaine Morte
From the mountain village Crans Montana, you can ride a cable car up to the Plaine Morte to admire the glacier. In summer, you can walk on the ice and in winter, you can cross-country ski on it. Learn more.
Photo by Johnw [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons
Bonus
Argentiere, Mont Blanc Region
While technically not in Switzerland, it’s close to the border and we loved it so much that I think it’s worth including. After riding a lift partway up the mountain, you hike up to this glacier overlook. You can walk right up to the ice walls of the glacier and touch the ice. We saw lots of people walking on it without a guide, but I think that is quite reckless with all the crevasses. We simply walked along the side and stopped for a picnic.
Get details for the Argentiere Glacier hike
Map of glaciers
Here’s a map of the Swiss glaciers below. Click through on any of these to get hiking details.
10 responses
Other relatively easy ones are on the grimselpass where with a little effort you can hike to the upper or lower glaciers.
A glacier you can actually go inside exists in Zinal (Valais from Sierre), it’s a bit of a winter hike (from mid-Dec to mid-March) and is 6-7 Km each way (+/-400m) but you can go inside the tongue of the glacier & take photos. Note that the path is unofficial so a guided tour might be better & that snowshoes are usually required.
I would love to visit that one, since I see so many pics of it on social media. But it feels out of my comfort zone. I would definitely need to visit with a guide.
Another easy one, to see at least, (although expensive) is the cable car ride up to Klein Matterhorn from Zermatt. The new cars pause briefly over the glacier for photos through the glass floor.
Good point! I do love that glacier view during the cable car ride. And the glass floor really makes that ride spectacular.
Thank you for sharing this beautiful content! Love and light to you!
Thank you very much!
Wow!!! what an amazing photos and info!!!!. I will definitely try to visit one them in May next year. Thanks for sharing your pics and info with us
Hey there 🙂
Love this post! Could you please suggest the best way to see these and were to stay for someone who doesn’t drive? So ideally I would need a base in a beautiful area with good transport links to be able to see these beautiful sites? I have spent time around and hiked on glaciers in Iceland and would love to see these.
Thank you so much 🙂
Thanks. Most of the individual posts for these glacier hikes includes instructions on how to use public transport to access them. The ones on my list are scattered all over Switzerland, so you’d have to pick one area to focus on. For example, you could stay in the Valais (maybe Brig or Visp) visit Gornergrat, Saas Grund, and Aletsch pretty easily with trains and buses from this base. Hope this helps.