Whatever your politics, we can all agree that a holiday in Zermatt is the perfect destination for relaxation.
So perhaps it’s no surprise to learn that former Prime Minister of Britain, Theresa May, has been visiting the resort for over twenty years. She was recently spotted there in August 2022.
In 2019, the Valais publication ‘Walliser Bote’ interviewed May about her love for the Swiss mountains. You can read some snippets from this interview below.
“Zermatt is a wonderful place”
So why does the Right Honorable member for Maidenhead keep coming back to Zermatt?
“Hiking in front of this scenery is simply great. Add to that the good food, the wine, the Swiss hospitality – all this makes Zermatt a wonderful place to spend holidays.”
May and her husband Philip have been to Switzerland many times, previously visiting Lucerne, Ticino and Davos, but prefer Zermatt as it is higher and with better views.
Britain’s historical links to Zermatt
Naturally as you would expect from a patriot such as May, she is proud of the resort’s historical connections to Britain:
“It makes me proud that the first male climber, Edward Whymper, and the first female climber of the Matterhorn, Lucie Walker, both came from England.”
Walking, not climbing
Not that May has ever been tempted to tackle any of the peaks:
“You should not underestimate it. A climb, for example to the Matterhorn, is dangerous. You need to know exactly what you are doing. And you need to be very, very fit!”
She prefers walking, not climbing, and discovering new parts of Zermatt.
A recent walk took her from Blauherd over the Ritzengrat up to Unter Rothorn, although her favourite is the challenging route from the village to Gornergrat.
Climate Change
Before leaving office, May was responsible for legislation to commit Britain to zero emissions target by 2050.
Part of her motivation for this was because she sees it “every year here in Zermatt, where glaciers are melting and nature is changing.”
“Get away from it all!”
May loves being close to nature:
“Here the worries of everyday life are far away, I can switch off. In England, we say, ‘You get away from it all.’”
Not that she can escape completely. While the Swiss have great respect for privacy, she did admit that some tourists ask for selfies when they see her.
Theresa May has also suggested she might write a ‘mountain whodunnit‘ exploring the story of Whymper’s tragic first ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865.
Accommodation in Zermatt
If you’d like to get away from it all in beautiful Zermatt – in serviced chalets good enough for a Prime Minister – then please contact Ed and Suzanne from Matthorn Chalets on +41 79 247 15 88
