Gstaad Is Where Old European Money Has Skied Since the 1950s, Away From the Cameras

Gstaad, a village of fewer than 3,000 permanent residents in the Bernese Oberland, has been a winter fixture for European royalty and old-money families since the 1950s, when its combination of skiing, chalet architecture and deliberate distance from the press first drew a wealthy crowd. Unlike louder Alpine resorts, Gstaad's reputation was built on privacy rather than visibility, and much of that still holds.

A village kept deliberately small

Local building rules have long restricted new chalet construction and limited large-scale hotel development, keeping Gstaad's centre close to its historic scale even as demand for property there has climbed. The result is a village where old wooden chalets, some passed through the same families for generations, sit alongside a short, low-key high street rather than a purpose-built resort strip.

The Palace and the polo

The Gstaad Palace, a turreted hotel open since 1913 above the village, has been the traditional social hub for its winter visitors, alongside events such as the Swiss Open tennis tournament and Gstaad's snow polo tournament, both long-running fixtures on the wider European social calendar. The village's ski area, shared across the Saanenland region, draws a quieter crowd than Verbier or St Moritz, in keeping with the town's preference for understatement.

Why it has stayed this way

Switzerland's strict privacy culture and Gstaad's own limited media presence have made it a long-standing choice for guests who want proximity to good skiing without the visibility of a resort like Aspen or Courchevel. That combination, rather than any single event, is what has kept the village's old-money reputation consistent for more than half a century.

Traveller tips

• Gstaad is reachable by train from Geneva or Zurich via Montreux, with the final approach through the Saanenland valley.
• The village centre is largely car-free; most hotels arrange transfers from the station.
• Book well ahead for the Christmas and New Year period and for the Swiss Open in July.
• Summer offers hiking and the same chalet scenery at a noticeably lower cost than the winter season.