5 Famous Cable Car Rides In Switzerland

From snow-capped mountain peaks, gigantic glaciers, and vast ski slopes to deep green valleys filled with azure lakes, the best views of Switzerland are from the top. One of the easiest ways to get a bird's-eye view of the Swiss landscape is comfortable rides in cable cars. Here are five you must take a ride in.

Matterhorn Glacier Paradise

The Zermatt Bergbahnen AG will take you to Europe's highest mountain station at 3,883 metres. Offering panoramic views of the largest glaciers of the Alps, the cable car ride will also show you about 38 peaks of the Swiss, French and Italian Alps and Europe's most extensive ski region, which operates all year round. You will find that Mont Blanc, the highest mountain of the Alps, will appear close enough to touch. In Zermatt, you are close to the mountain Matterhorn and Switzerland's border with Italy. The other attractions waiting for you at the base are Cinema Lounge, Europe's highest viewing platform, the glacier palace with sculptures and ice chutes, a restaurant, and Europe's highest storage summit wine.

Schilthorn: Piz Gloria

For some spectacular 360-degree panoramic views of the Ei ger, Mönch and Jungfrau (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) and many more peaks, get to the cable car ride in Schilthorn, set at an altitude of 2,970 metres. In a typical example of Swiss efficiency, the cable car departs every half an hour from Stechelberg in the Lauterbrunnen valley, taking you to the summit in four stages.

Fame became Schilthorn when it was seen in the 1969 James Bond film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service. If you are a Bond film fan, you will recognise the revolving restaurant here, which rotates on its axis once every 45 minutes. You can follow in the footsteps of James Bond at the interactive Bond World exhibition or on the 007 Walk of Fame.

Titlis

Take a trip on the world's first revolving cable car, the TITLIS Rotair. Before you can hop on to it, there is another short but scenic journey on the TITLIS Xpress gondola, which will then lead you to your final destination, the Rotair cable car to the summit of mount Titlis. Here, at 3,062 metres, a 360-degree panoramic view of the expansive Engelberg valley waits for you.

Cardada Cimetta

Orselina is where the funicular railway from Locarno will take you so you can take the cable car to Cardada. The chairlift will take you to an altitude of 1,671 metres above Lake Maggiore, the lowest point in Switzerland. While inside, you can view the highest point of Switzerland, Dufourspitze. And, from beautiful Locarno, all of this only in less than an hour.

Säntis Cable Car

The journey in a cable car to Säntis, the highest mountain in the Alpstein massif of northeastern Switzerland, is extraordinary. The cable car to the summit of Säntis began operating in 1935. Once on top, you will have exhilarating views of six countries: France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland. Also known as the 'weather mountain', Santis has a weather station which first started in 1882.

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