Zermatt

Only the doctor is allowed to have a car in Zermatt. Since 1891, everyone else must arrive by train. The only transportation is by horse drawn sleighs or electric taxis—when you hear a ringing bell, get to the side of the street.  Fortunately, Zermatt is a destination resort; that is, the village is difficult enough for weekend skiers to reach to keep most of them away, and the vast terrain—more than 155 miles of marked ski trails (including Breuil-Cervinia) and a resort lift capacity over 38,800 people per hour—easily absorbs this many people. Even in the busiest seasons lift lines are not impossibly long and uncrowded slopes can be found.

Claim to fame: Switzerland’s best-known ski resort was originally famous for the first assaults on the Matterhorn in the 1860s. Edward Whymper, a British climber, was the first to conquer the “Mother Horn” in 1865 but lost four of his party on the descent. Skiing started there in 1933.