Gstaad

An upscale mountain village on the GoldenPass line, famous for its chalet-lined pedestrian street and luxury hotels, with the Glacier 3000 Peak Walk offering views of both Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn.

Gstaad lies in the Saanenland region in the southwest corner of the Swiss canton of Bern, at around 1,050 m, on the border between the Bernese Oberland and French-speaking Vaud. It's a discreetly luxurious mountain village favoured by Europe's celebrities and royalty. Most vehicles are banned from the village centre, and the Promenade pedestrian street is lined with chalets in a uniform style housing designer boutiques, galleries and patisseries; the landmark is the castle-like Gstaad Palace hotel, built in 1913. The surrounding Gstaad ski region is made up of the Eggli, Wispile, Wasserngrat, Hornberg and Rinderberg peaks plus Rougemont's Videmanette, well suited to intermediate skiing and winter hiking. To the south, cable cars climb to nearly 3,000 m at Glacier 3000, where you can cross the Peak Walk suspension bridge and, on clear days, see the Matterhorn and Mont Blanc. Summer is mainly about lake hikes, with the Lauenensee, Arnensee and Retaudsee each having their own charm; to the west, Château-d'Œx hosts an international hot-air balloon festival every January. The best seasons are the Dec–Mar ski season and the Jun–Sep hiking season, and the Menuhin Festival runs Jul–Sep. Getting there: take the GoldenPass line from Montreux or from Interlaken via Zweisimmen; Bern is about 2 hours by car. Local hotels often include a regional transport pass, giving free rides on many cable cars in summer. Prices are very high; plan on 2–4 days. Chillon Castle, Gruyères and the Montreux lakefront are covered under the Geneva destination and not repeated here.

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