Things to do
4-
Gstaad Palace
Turrets above the village mark the hotel Gstaad is known for, opened in December 1913 and owned by the Scherz family since 1938. A former bank vault in the cellar now serves fondue, and the basement nightclub, GreenGo, dates from the early 1970s. Non-residents can book the restaurants; winter is the busy season.
-
Glacier 3000
A cable car from the Col du Pillon to 2,971 metres at Scex Rouge, with a Mario Botta station and a suspension bridge that is the only one in the world joining two mountain summits. The glacier below it is walked on in summer.
-
Lauenensee
Beyond the village of Lauenen, south of Gstaad, two small lakes at 1381 metres lie in a moor protected since the 1970s, divided by marshland. A bus stops at the water, with a paid car park, and an inn serves food on the smaller lake's east shore. It is the quiet counterweight to the promenade.
-
Saanen Church
In the neighbouring village of Saanen, this late Gothic church rises beside a Romanesque tower with a six-sided spire. Choir paintings of about 1470, uncovered from whitewash in 1927, show the Old Testament, the life of Mary and the legend of Saint Maurice. Each summer it is a main stage of the Menuhin Festival.
