Gstaad

Gstaad is a chalet village of quiet, moneyed charm, spread across a beautiful corner of the Bernese Oberland. The skiing is gentle and scattered across several areas, and the appeal is as much the setting and the calm as the slopes.

The Gstaad Promenade. The best free thing in the resort and the reason a non skier stays here rather than somewhere else. The centre of Gstaad is closed to cars: one street of wooden chalets holding cafes, galleries, watchmakers, ski shops and the international luxury houses, with horse drawn carriages working it in the snow. You can walk it end to end, look at all of it and spend nothing, and it starts straight out of the railway station, so it is the first thing anybody arriving by train sees.

Free train and bus with the Gstaad Card. From your first night, in any participating accommodation, second class train and bus travel across the whole holiday region comes free with the Gstaad Card. It is automatic, it is funded out of the resort tax that is on the bill anyway, and since 1 May 2024 it has covered arrival and departure days as well.

A hundred and sixty two kilometres of winter walking. The tourist office's headline is a hundred and sixty two kilometres of prepared winter walking path across the Saanenland, waymarked in pink so they are easy to pick out from the ski signage. The one route published with numbers against it is the Eggli circular from the top of the gondola, three point one kilometres and an hour and a quarter with a hundred and seventy eight metres of climb, graded moderate. Snowshoes can be hired locally for anybody who wants to get off the prepared paths.

A free gondola ride on Thursday evenings. Buried in the listing for the Eggli Night Vibes evenings is one line worth having: the gondola ride is free from half past seven. So on any Thursday between 31 December 2026 and 25 February 2027 somebody who is not skiing can ride the Eggli gondola up and down for nothing after 19:30, eat at the Berghaus or not, and come back. It is the only free lift ride found in either of these two resorts.

The eight toboggan runs. Sledging is the strongest non skiing card this resort holds, and unusually all eight runs are published individually with their length, time, drop and grade. The long one is the Wispile at eight point two kilometres and seven hundred and twenty nine metres of descent, coming down to the edge of Gstaad itself. The Eggli at six point four kilometres is graded easy and is the one described as having the view, which makes it the family choice. Price on request.

Full moon sledging at Saanersloch. The set piece sledging evening, and both 2027 dates are already published. Fondue at the mountain restaurant first, then down the piste from the top station to the mid station under a full moon, with the last descent leaving at half past nine. Twenty nine francs buys the fondue and thirty six buys as much of it as you like. Reserve the sledge along with the table, because hire is by reservation only and there are two nights of demand for it. 20 to 50 euros.

Eggli Night Vibes on Thursdays. Thursday evenings on the Eggli: floodlit skiing on the Schopfen piste, a three course fondue at the Berghaus and a party in the lounge until eleven. It runs every Thursday from New Year's Eve to 25 February. The gondola is free after half past seven, so somebody who only wants the dinner and the lights can go up for nothing and let the skiers pay. 20 to 50 euros.

All 18 picks for Gstaad, dining included, live in the Ski Snug app.

Geneva is about two hours away, and the panoramic Swiss trains make the journey a pleasure.