Gstaad: the back story

About Gstaad: the back story

By the ULTIMATE Ski Resorts Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Gstaad is the heart of the Saanenland, a valley of wooden chalets on the border of German- and French-speaking Switzerland. Its hotels, its music and its pedestrian Promenade turned a farming village into one of the most famous names in the Alps, without ever losing its chalets or its cows.

A valley of chalets

Gstaad, at 1,050 metres, is the best known of ten chalet villages that make up the holiday region: Saanen, Schönried, Saanenmöser, Zweisimmen, Lauenen, Gsteig, Feutersoey, Turbach, Abländschen and Gstaad itself. Gstaad Saanenland Tourism calls the centre a pedestrianised chalet village, and that is the first thing you notice: wooden houses with deep eaves, a car-free Promenade of shops and cafés, and cows grazing a few minutes from the boutiques.

Saanen, the old market village next door, is listed among Switzerland’s protected sites, and Gsteig, on the road to the Col du Pillon, is heritage-listed too: its church and the Hotel Bären beside it are among the most photographed village scenes in the country.

A world-famous village that still smells of hay and woodsmoke.

The hotels that made the name

Family hotels came first. The Kernen family has welcomed guests in Schönried since 1904, and the Early Beck bakery has baked for the valley since 1910. In 1913 the Gstaad Palace opened on the hill above the village; it is still run by the Scherz family, now in its third generation, and remains a member of The Leading Hotels of the World. The Alpenrose in Schönried has belonged to the von Siebenthal family since 1947.

Newer houses have joined them: Le Grand Bellevue, once a cure house and spa, reopened after a complete renovation in December 2013, and The Alpina Gstaad brought a Six Senses Spa and a Japanese restaurant to the hill opposite the Palace.

A valley of music

Music is the other half of Gstaad’s fame. The violinist Yehudi Menuhin’s festival, which reaches its 71st edition in 2027, fills the churches of Saanen and the valley every summer, and in winter the Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad, led by Renaud Capuçon since its founding in 2001, bring classical concerts to Gstaad, Saanen and Rougemont (29 January – 6 February 2027).

Skiing on many mountains

Gstaad’s skiing is spread over several mountains rather than one big circus: Rinderberg–Saanersloch–Horneggli with 105 km of pistes, Eggli–La Videmanette with the longest run in the region down to Rougemont, the family mountain Wispile right above the village, and Glacier 3000, the only glacier ski area in the Bernese Oberland, where you ski from 3,000 down to 1,300 metres from November to the end of April. Together they add up to some 200 km of slopes on one pass.

Our advice: base yourself by the lifts you will use most (Schönried and Saanenmöser for the big Rinderberg–Saanersloch area, Gstaad for Eggli and Wispile), keep one clear day for Glacier 3000 and the Peak Walk, and book lunch on a sunny terrace: the mountain restaurants are half the pleasure here.

Gstaad through the years

Dates from the official sites of the hotels, Gstaad Saanenland Tourism and Bergbahnen Destination Gstaad, read October 2026.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Gstaad: the back story before you go.