Gstaad
Chalets and a turreted palace in the Saanenland, a glacier at three thousand metres, music in village churches each summer, and an old military airfield at the edge of town.
- Arrival
- Geneva Airport · GVA
- To the resort
- About 2 hours by car from Geneva
- Private jets
- Saanen airfield, minutes from the village
- Best time
- January to March
The city
A village that keeps its voice down.
Gstaad is a village of wooden chalets at about a thousand metres, with the Gstaad Palace on its hill above the rooftops like a castle. It has kept the scale of a mountain village while the Big Four hotels, and now a few younger ones, have grown up around it. Yehudi Menuhin started a summer festival here in 1957, and the concerts still fill the old churches of the Saanenland.
The skiing is spread across several mountains. Saanerslochgrat and the Hornberg open first, in late November; Eggli, Wispile, Rinderberg and Wasserngrat follow before Christmas, and the main areas run until the end of March. Glacier 3000 keeps its lifts turning from November to the end of April.
Arriving
A runway in the valley floor.
Gstaad has no airline service of its own. The airliners stop at Geneva or Zurich, while private aircraft can come right down at Saanen, some three kilometres from the village.
- Munich 55 min
- Frankfurt 55 min
- Istanbul 2 h 40
- Hong Kong 12 h 25 long-range jet
- São Paulo 12 h 30 long-range jet
When to go
January to March.
A green valley at a thousand metres, milder than the high resorts. The valley lifts run together from just before Christmas to the end of March, so January to March is the season. Summers are warm, with highs in the low twenties, and the rain comes mostly then.
- 3° J 108
- 5° F 105
- 9° M 98
- 12° A 89
- 17° M 125
- 21° J 151
- 23° J 143
- 23° A 144
- 19° S 104
- 15° O 98
- 8° N 98
- 4° D 118
What to see and do
Days in and around Gstaad.
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Landmark
Glacier 3000
Lifts to almost three thousand metres and the Peak Walk, a 107-metre bridge from one summit to the next.
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Landmark
Menuhin Festival
Summer concerts in the historic churches of the valley and in the festival tent.
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Landmark
Swiss Open
A professional tennis tournament played in the village.
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Snow
Gstaad ski region
Some 200 km of pistes and around 40 winter lifts spread across the mountains of the Saanenland.
Official site -
Snow
Air-Glaciers heliskiing
Since 1989 Air-Glaciers has kept a helicopter base at Saanen airfield, flying skiers in winter to snowfields on the surrounding peaks.
Official site -
Golf
Golf Club Gstaad-Saanenland
High on a plateau above Saanenmöser, at 1,400 metres, lies an 18-hole, par 70 course.
Official site -
Nature
Lauenensee
From Lauenen village a walking path climbs to the mountain lake and on into the Gelten-Iffigen nature reserve.
Official site -
Opera & music
Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad
Founded in 2001, this winter festival puts young soloists in the Gstaad chapel by afternoon and established artists in the churches of Saanen and Rougemont by night.
Official site -
Racing & sport
Hublot Polo Gold Cup Gstaad
International teams meet for this long-running polo tournament on the grass of Saanen airfield each August.
Official site -
Culture
Festival International de Ballons
Hot air balloons fill the sky over Château-d'Œx for nine days each winter; the 2026 edition was the 46th and logged about 350 flights.
On the calendar
A date to plan around.
Dates as published by the organisers. Runways, hotels and slots fill early around these weeks: the sooner we know, the more choice you have.
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1–14 Feb 2027
Skiing
FIS Alpine World Ski Championships
The biennial world championships of alpine ski racing, with races on the Mont Lachaux and Nationale slopes in Valais.
Mont Lachaux, Crans-Montana, about 24 km away
In 3 months
Where to stay
The Big Four, and a few newcomers.
Shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these hotels.
- The Alpina Gstaad Fifty-six rooms and suites in old wood and antiques, a Six Senses spa, and the only hotel in Gstaad with three MICHELIN Keys.
- Gstaad Palace The turreted landmark on its hill, past its hundred and tenth birthday, open for the winter and the height of summer.
- Le Grand Bellevue One of the original Big Four, more reserved than its neighbours, with a thermal spa and a private cinema.
- Hôtel Fouquet's Gstaad Formerly Ultima Gstaad, reopening under the Barrière Fouquet's name on 4 December 2026 with eleven suites, six apartments and a spa.
- Miiro The Mansard Twenty-nine rooms on the promenade, most with sheltered balconies, and the only rooftop restaurant in town.
Where to dine
The best tables in the village.
No starred restaurant in Gstaad itself in the current MICHELIN Guide Switzerland; these three hotel restaurants are in its selection.
- Gildo’s Ristorante MICHELIN Guide Italian $$$ Gstaad Palace
- MEGU MICHELIN Guide Japanese $$$ The Alpina Gstaad
- La Bagatelle MICHELIN Guide Classic French $$$ Le Grand Chalet
Elsewhere in Switzerland
More reasons to come.
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Geneva
The private banks, the Jet d'Eau, and the shortest drive to the French Alps.
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Zurich
The largest city, its old town on the river, and the country's main airport.
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St. Moritz
The Engadin and its frozen lake, with Samedan, the highest airport in Europe, next door.
- Verbier The Four Valleys, two hours by road from Geneva.
- Zermatt Electric taxis in a street without cars, and the Matterhorn at the end of it.
Flying to Gstaad?
Choose how you arrive.
A Business or First Class seat on a scheduled airline, or an aircraft of your own. Tell us the date and how many are travelling, and we reply with one final price, our margin included.