guide
Summer in Gstaad
A guide to the Saanenland’s long, green season — our best tips, made for you by your hosts at Chalet Gruben. For reservations, guides, transfers or anything at all during your stay, just message us. We live here, and we love being asked.
Summer 2026 · Gstaad, Switzerland
Before anything else
Good to know
Your Gstaad Card is included with your stay. From your first night it gives free travel on trains and buses throughout the Saanenland and Simmental — ask us if you haven’t received yours. Note it covers public transport, not the cable cars.
For unlimited cable cars, the Magic Pass covers the region’s mountain railways in summer and winter. Single tickets and summer rates are on the Gstaad Cable Cars site.
The GoldenPass Express stops in Gstaad on its panoramic run between Montreux and Interlaken — one of Switzerland’s great train rides, and an easy half-day outing.
Anything you need — a table, a guide, a babysitter — message us. That’s what we’re here for.
01 · unforgettable moments
The once-a-summer things
A few experiences worth building a day around. We arrange all of these privately for our guests — just tell us the date.
Lift off at dawn from Château-d’Oex — the ballooning capital of the Alps, ten minutes down the valley — and drift in silence over green ridges, chalet villages and the peaks of the Bernese Oberland. Private baskets for 1–3 guests. Allow around 3–3.5 hours — flights run year-round when the winds allow.
A timeless clip-clop through the villages and flower meadows of the Saanenland. Kutscherei Reichenbach runs summer carriage tours into the Lauenen nature reserve towards the Lauenensee, and a storytelling village ride is bookable with your Gstaad Card.
02 · where to eat
From Michelin stars to mountain rösti
Gstaad eats remarkably well for a village of 7,000. Book the fine-dining rooms a few days ahead in high summer — mountain restaurants are walk-in and serve until the lifts close.
Fine dining
Two of the village’s best rooms under one roof: Sommet by Martin Göschel for Michelin-starred alpine cuisine, and MEGU for Japanese fine dining with the largest sake collection in Switzerland.
The Alpina’s summer season runs 12 June – 13 September.
Benoît Carcenat’s two-Michelin-star table, one village down the valley: seasonal French tasting menus built on produce from the Pays-d’Enhaut and Saanenland, with a serious wine programme.
Relaxed-chic Michelin-starred dining built on local Saanenland produce, in one of Gstaad’s prettiest hotels. Lovely for a long dinner that doesn’t feel stiff.
Iconic
The grande dame on the hill, at its best in summer on the terrace: classic dishes without the hocus-pocus — some, like the tartare, still prepared at the table — with the garden and the whole panorama below.
The chalet-fronted institution in the middle of the Promenade — Mediterranean cooking, a deep wine list, and a dining room where the whole world has passed through at some point.
Traditional Swiss
The Olden’s wood-panelled alpine parlour, named for the 1690 inn that stood here first. Cosy, charming, and very Gstaad.
Thirty years among the Bernese Oberland’s best tables: precise, Mediterranean-accented cooking and a sunny terrace with one of the finest views over Gstaad.
A 1919 village inn run by the team from Robert Speth’s legendary Chesery, famous above all for its trout. Warm, rustic, and worth the ten-minute drive towards Gsteig.
Authentic regional cooking from local ingredients in Rougemont’s prettiest street — Michelin-Guide-recognised and refreshingly unfussy.
Mountain tables
A cosy hut at 1,915 m with a 360° view over Gstaad — the gondola leaves from the edge of the village. Pair it with the ridge hike down to the Lauenensee.
On Gstaad’s local mountain, with a spacious panorama terrace. The easy Eggli circular trail before lunch earns you dessert.
Rösti and a glass of local wine on a sun-drenched terrace with the whole Saanenland spread below — the defining Gstaad mountain lunch.
A lakeside inn on the Arnensee doing simple dishes from the finest local produce. Best combined with a swim or a rowing boat.
A mountain-view retreat above Saanenmöser mixing rustic charm with modern hospitality — à la carte at lunch on the sun terrace, and the 1726 Hüttli chalet for fondue evenings. Reached by car in summer.
On the promenade
The Promenade’s easy-going bistro-bar: Italian and Mediterranean classics lifted by seasonal Swiss ingredients, with a terrace made for watching the village go by.
The village institution since 1912. Morning coffee, proper pâtisserie, and the best people-watching on the Promenade.
A well-kept independent guide to every table in the Saanenland, from fondue huts to fine dining — see also Falstaff’s Gstaad picks.
03 · culinary journeys
Taste the Saanenland properly
Beyond the restaurants: tastings, masterclasses and pilgrimages for people who take food seriously. We can book any of these for you.
Twenty-five metres beneath the village, a candlelit former water reservoir holds up to 3,000 wheels of alpine cheese from 68 local farmers — the oldest dating to 1931. The guided visit (about an hour) ends with a tasting of bread, wine and cheese straight from the cathedral of dairy. Advance booking required.
Classic Swiss conviviality: raclette melted over an open wood fire — the only place in Gstaad that still does it this way — plus fondues from the traditional to champagne-and-truffle.
Learn the craft behind MEGU’s Michelin-starred Japanese kitchen in a private session at the sushi counter. Arranged on request through us.
Cigar masterclass & cognac tasting
A guided pairing evening for aficionados — Davidoff cigars alongside Rémy Martin cognacs. A private experience we arrange for our guests. Ask us for dates.
For a gastronomic excursion, we can arrange dinner (and transfers) at focus ATELIER with two-Michelin-star chef Patrick Mahler in his glass cube on Lake Lucerne, or at The Restaurant at Zurich’s Dolder Grand, where Heiko Nieder cooks with two stars and 19 GaultMillau points.
04 · drinks & bars
Aperitifs & nightcaps
The grand hotels keep the village’s best bars — all welcome outside guests.
An Art-Deco social hub that runs from morning coffee to late cocktails, Bouquet for seasonal, detail-driven mixology, and an intimate cigar lounge with whisky pairings.
Aperitifs and quiet conversation in the timeless Lobby Bar. After midnight, the legendary GreenGo club — the Palace’s famous nightspot since the seventies.
Cocktails and gourmet bites with wide views over the Bernese Oberland — the refined all-rounder for a sunset drink.
A design-forward hideaway within MEGU holding Switzerland’s largest collection of Japanese whiskies — more than forty references, poured with reverence.
Havana-inspired, 1930s-glamorous, with over sixty cigars in the walk-in humidor and panoramic views from deep-buttoned armchairs.
05 · arts & culture
A village with blue-chip walls
Gstaad has quietly become one of the art world’s alpine outposts. We arrange private, after-hours tours of the galleries below — usually ending with a glass of champagne.
In the Saanenland since 2015, when the gallery first hung modern masters in Gunther Sachs’ Vieux Chalet. Today it stages exhibitions and installations around the village, including at Tarmak22, the gallery overlooking the airport runway.
A permanent gallery in the middle of the Promenade since 2021, showing museum-calibre contemporary work in an alpine-meets-refined setting.
Blue-chip, established and emerging contemporary artists at Promenade 7 — an intimate, guided walkthrough is easily arranged.
The international gallery’s alpine outpost, bringing its roster — from minimal and conceptual masters to emerging names — to the Saanenland. Private, behind-the-scenes visits on request.
Part contemporary gallery, part archive of Gstaad photographer Jacques Naegeli (1885–1971), in his historic 1914 chalet studio — recent shows have ranged from Patti Smith collaborations to the Lalannes. A quiet, design-forward art moment.
The Saanenland is the home of Swiss paper-cutting, and Regina Martin — president of the national association — has taught the craft from her Schönried atelier for nearly forty years. Learn the tradition and leave with a hand-cut souvenir.
A candlelit classical performance arranged just for you in the small historic chapel on the Promenade — the most intimate cultural evening Gstaad can offer. Ask us to compose the programme.
06 · hikes
Three hundred kilometres of trails
The Saanenland’s gift is gentle drama: ridge walks and flower meadows rather than scree and rope. These are our favourites, from easy to earning-your-lunch.
The classic. Gondola up from Gstaad, then a broad ridge walk with peaks on every side, descending through forest to the Lauenensee for a swim. Around 3 hours. Bus back from Lauenen with your Gstaad Card.
Just over an hour at a relaxed pace from the top of the Eggli gondola — the biggest view-per-effort ratio in the valley. Ideal first-morning hike.
Cable car from Rougemont into striking limestone scenery, with views from the rolling Saanenland to the rugged Vaud Alps. The official trail finder has this and dozens more, filterable by effort.
The tourism office’s curated collection with GPS tracks you can follow on your phone — see also AllTrails and Swiss Family Fun’s kid-tested ten.
07 · lakes & water
Cold water, warm afternoons
Two mountain lakes, a river, and a very good pool complex — everything you need when the valley hits 28 degrees.
A blue-green lake at 1,550 m, 25 minutes from Gstaad. Swim from the small bays, rent a rowing boat, pedalo or paddleboard, and grill at the equipped barbecue spots along the shore.
Tip: arrive before 11 on hot weekends — the road up is narrow and parking fills.
A shallow, warm lake in the heart of a nature reserve — quieter and wilder than Arnensee. A pier leads out over the reeds for swimming, and the rowing boat at the jetty rents by card or Twint.
Tip: the circular lake walk passes viewpoints to the Dungelschuss and Geltenschuss waterfalls.
Pools from 28° to 34°, a 25-metre lap pool, an outdoor pool with massage jets, a turbo slide and paddling pool for children, plus a sunbathing lawn in summer. Five minutes’ walk from the village centre.
Guided raft trips down the valley’s own river — a proper adventure that still suits beginners and older children.
08 · with children
The easiest place in the Alps to be six
Every village here has a playground, every gondola leads to an adventure, and nothing is more than half an hour away.
The big family day out: the Peak Walk suspension bridge between two summits, a glacier walk to the Quille du Diable, snow sledding at the Fun Park in midsummer — 20 minutes’ drive to Col du Pillon, then the cable car.
The world’s highest toboggan run, starting at 3,000 m on Glacier 3000 — a kilometre of bumps, curves and a 520° spiral at up to 40 km/h. From age 6 accompanied, age 9 alone.
The local guides run a high-rope park in nearby Zweisimmen plus climbing, zipline and abseiling sessions pitched at any ability level.
The Sportzentrum’s summer side: minigolf, beach volleyball, playground and the kids’ pool with turbo slide — the reliable rainy-day (or tired-legs-day) card.
The tourism office’s family page collects themed trails, alpine dairies you can visit, and events for children throughout the summer.
09 · sports & adventure
Earn your fondue
Eighteen holes at 1,400 m, ringed by a nature reserve — one of the most scenic courses in the Alps. Visitors welcome. Book tee times ahead in summer.
Tandem flights from the Wispile, Rellerli, Hornberg or Videmanette with a team of 15+ professional pilots — from a 15-minute taster to a 45-minute glacier flight over the Diablerets.
The valley’s adventure one-stop: canyoning in mountain-stream gorges, rafting from their Saanen base, via ferrata, guided hikes and e-bike tours. They also rent good bikes — the region has over 500 km of trails.
Indoor and outdoor courts at the Sportzentrum in the village. Every July Gstaad hosts the ATP tour on clay at the Roy Emerson Arena — see the calendar below.
10 · spa & wellness
Rest days, done properly
An award-winning thermal oasis: 3,000 square metres and 17 wellness zones, from steam baths and a salt grotto to an ice fountain, plus bespoke treatments and beauty therapies. A day pass includes the Thermal Oasis and pool. Open daily 8:00–21:00.
Swiss-precision wellness: saunas, hammam, private spa suites and the outdoor panoramic pool. Day entry is included when you book a treatment of 60 minutes or more. Open daily 8:30–20:00.
Holistic wellness blending alpine serenity with Asian-inspired healing — salt room, flotation pool and a Tibetan retreat suite, with the most complete treatment menu in the village. Open to outside guests daily 9:00–21:00.
The unfussy local option: Finnish and soft saunas, steam bath, plunge pool — no day-spa price tag.
11 · the summer calendar
Summer 2026 in Gstaad
The village punches far above its weight — world-class tennis, classical music and polo, weeks apart. The full events calendar on gstaad.ch has everything else.
13 – 19 July
ATP 250 tennis on clay at the Roy Emerson Arena, as it has been since 1915. Tickets via Ticketcorner or the tourist office.
16 July – 5 September
Over 75 classical concerts in the churches of Saanen, Lauenen and Rougemont and the festival tent in Gstaad.
20 – 23 August
International polo beside the Saanen airfield, with the mountains as a backdrop. General access is free. VIP tables via the website.
11 – 12 September
Europe’s leading country-music weekend since 1989 — line dancing, saloons and US headliners, with plenty for children too.
Have a wonderful summer.
This guide was prepared by your hosts at Chalet Gruben for our guests. For reservations, guides, transfers or anything at all during your stay, just message us.
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