The Gornergrat, the country’s oldest electrified rack-and-pinion line, runs from Zermatt to the Rotenboden railway station, where you can see Switzerland’s most famous peak, the dagger-like spike of the Matterhorn, mirrored in the transparent waters of the Riffelsee. At the end of the tracks is the country’s highest hotel, 3100 Kulmhotel Gornergrat, surrounded by 29 peaks – a view as spectacular as anything Tolkien himself dreamt up.
Diehard fans can continue their journey through Middle Earth by heading cross-country to the canton of Graubunden – a part of Switzerland that Tolkien never actually visited. There are not many places that have capitalised on the Swiss-Middle Earth connection, but the unlikely village of Jenins is one such place.