Zermatt in Easter with pre-teen - how is it?

[Redandblue11]

Hi there,
We have been lucky enough and managed to move my cancelled ski holiday and all being good we will be going to Zermatt in a couple of weeks.
We are a couple and a pre-teen. We are all intermediate skiers, we normally go to a very small resort in Italy but with an amazing hotel, this time as is Switzerland the hotel is not as plush and we do not have dinner included.
Anyone has been? Do you recommend book ahead of time places for dinner or is it easy enough to find places on an evening, we would be happy with fairly easy dinners nothing too fancy.
Also, do you recommend a ski school? My son can ski and as we are going on our own I am debating if we just ski together as a family or I send him to ski school which might be more fun for him.
Any recommendations welcome.

Hi op I haven’t been to Zermatt but I would always book ahead for a few restaurants. Zermatt is well known for a good late season break and it is also peak school holidays in various places. So while it may not be as busy as Feb I would get some things lined up so you know you have some options.

Thank you@abricotine, I will book a few restaurants as you say.

@abricotine properly tagged now

Are you actually going to ski? There hasn’t been any fresh snow anywhere mid February, and I think there is no snow actually in Zermatt any more. There might be some high up to use, but it’s really the end of the season. So do check conditions before you leave, as it might be more a spring cycling/ hiking type holiday with Spa

Our local ski resort closes this weekend for the end of the season. And it’s been 20 odd degrees last week. My 2 year old has been outside in garden in t shirt playing daily. It’s gone colder again this week, but not ski cold. Local area has had several fires in woodlands due to severe lack of rain and Snow. ( I think our last snow was mid January)

Don’t know about Zermatt but think other high up resorts in same area are open until Easter Sunday. Maybe would need to ski in morning then Plan other activities - spa, walking in pm??

I'm in Zermatt now and there is plenty of snow on the pistes. As I type it is snowing a little outside my window too. Not really settling in the village of course.

This week it hasn't been necessary to book for dinner, but then the main school hols haven't yet started, and we tend to not need much food in the evening. If you are staying in a hotel I'd think they might be able to sort restaurants for you when you arrive.

@Polly99, thank you! just what I needed to hear I was worried about lack of snow.
How easy/convenient is to take the buses between the lifts? Eg Matterhorn express to say the one that goes to Furi? Are there plenty? Comfortable? Thanks!

I can't report on the buses as we've been using taxis. There seem to be lots of people using the bus though so they can't be bad, and I've seen a fair few of them.

Zermatt is beautiful and there has been fresh snow last weekend and more due in the coming days. Quite cold and windy though! It will be bloody cold at the top, make sure you leave nothing exposed! www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Zermatt/6day/top

There are two main departure points from the town and one lesser one, the matterhorn express and the furi leave from the same place and the gonnergrat leaves from opposite the train station. The buses between the two are frequent but to be honest, you would ski in one area on one day and the other on another. It makes the logistics easier. Getting up onto the mountain takes a long time and if your accommodation is up the hill away from the river, the logistics of getting your skis back can be a challenge. You can get electric taxis around the town and you can also hire lockers at the bottom of the lifts to leave your skis and boots in overnight if you are starting from the same place the next day. As for food.. we self cater... restaurants are not cheap... when we have eaten out, we did book.

Re ski school, the Swiss one is Zermatters and the English one Summit. The latter I think may have finished groups for the season. I think most of the Zermatters instructors speak good English plus the Swiss kids tend to go in February with parents. So this time of year might be more international anyway.

If you really want him to improve and finance permitting, you can probably get 3 hours private lessons in the morning on certain days. Apparently there is lots of snow and we are going for a few days too. There is plenty of snow and right at the top you can even ski in the summer anyway so if you all can ski you don’t need to worry about that!

Forgot to say that as far as I can remember the Coop and Migros in Zermatt are pretty good so you can pick up nice breads, cheeses and dried meats etc that way to save some money. Personally if you can afford it I would splash out on one fondue dinner and maybe a Chateubriand type thing, if you like meat.
I would book if you want a certain restaurant close to where you are staying. We tend to do either sandwich/soup lunch plus dinner or vice versa if we had a proper mountain restaurant lunch.
Zermatt is very expensive and the Swiss franc is very strong against the pound and it is very high end these days. But I also think if you go to a place like that you may as well enjoy some of the luxuries it offers.

Thank you all! We are here now and yes this place is glorious . My son started yesterday in a group lesson with Zermatters, yes I want him to improve but he prefers to be able to hang out with other children , as pp said it is international children at this time so he is happy with other ones who speak English.
We had one plush dinner and last night take away , we found the coop . So maybe another nice dinner and the rest will be takeaways pizzas etc.
Yes I didn’t needed to worry plenty of snow here