Gstaad is about 3 hours by train from Geneva Airport, with one change at Montreux onto the GoldenPass line, and just over 3 hours from Zurich Airport with two changes. Bern is under 2 hours by train. By car allow around 2 hours 15 from Geneva Airport and close to 3 hours from Zurich Airport in clear conditions; once you arrive, the Gstaad Card from your hotel makes local trains and buses free.
By train, Geneva Airport to Gstaad takes about 3 hours with one change at Montreux, where you join the GoldenPass line; on the January 2027 timetable it is 3 hours 1 minute when you connect into the GoldenPass Express. Rougemont is about the same, Château-d'Oex 2 hours 40, and Les Diablerets 2 hours 24 via Aigle.
By car it is about 150 km and 2 hours 15 in free-flowing traffic. The usual routes are the motorway to Bulle and then via Château-d'Oex and Saanen, or the motorway to Aigle and over the Col du Pillon via Les Diablerets and Gsteig.
By train, Zurich Airport to Gstaad takes about 3 hours 10 to 3 hours 25 with two changes, either at Bern and Spiez onto the GoldenPass Express, or at Bern and Zweisimmen. Saanenmöser and Schönried, on the Zweisimmen side, are slightly quicker, at about 3 hours. By car it is about 210 km, from 2 hours 45 to 3 hours.
Bern to Gstaad is about 1 hour 55 by train with one change, at Spiez onto the GoldenPass Express or at Zweisimmen. By car it is about 87 km and 1 hour 30, by motorway to Spiez and then up the Simmental via Zweisimmen. Bern Airport is about 1 hour 20 from Gstaad by car. From Basel, the train takes about 3 hours, with a direct InterCity to Spiez and the Express from there.
On winter weekends and other busy days, snow trains run without a change from Palézieux and Bulle, from Bern, and from Solothurn and the Emmental into the Gstaad region; they appear in the normal SBB timetable.
Gstaad, Saanen, Schönried, Saanenmöser, Rougemont and Château-d'Oex each have a station on the Montreux to Zweisimmen line, and trains run mostly every half hour on the stretch from Zweisimmen through Gstaad and Saanen to Rougemont. The GoldenPass Express stops at Gstaad.
Lauenen and Gsteig have no railway. PostBus 181 runs from Gstaad station to Lauenen in about 13 minutes, and PostBus 180 to Gsteig in about 15 minutes, continuing over the Col du Pillon to Les Diablerets. Les Diablerets has its own station at the end of the line from Aigle, about 50 minutes up the valley.
Where to stay for this
Gstaad · 4-star superior · 46 rooms
Beside Gstaad station
A 4-star superior beside Gstaad station with an indoor pool and four places to eat, for families and travellers arriving by train.
From €432 a night
Gstaad · 4-star · 29 rooms
One minute's walk from Gstaad station
A 29-room lifestyle hotel by Gstaad station with an open-air rooftop bar, for couples and friends who like a buzz.
Winter season from 23 November
From €473 a night
Saanen · 3-star · 22 rooms
Two minutes' walk from Saanen station
A simple, traditional three-star in Saanen's old village centre, two minutes from the station, with a Swiss restaurant open daily.
Saanenmöser · 4-star superior · 57 rooms
Directly at Saanenmöser station
A year-round four-star superior at Saanenmöser station, three minutes from the lifts, with a 1,000 m² spa and half board.
From €418 a night
Rougemont · 3-star · 11 rooms
Two minutes' walk from Rougemont station
A historic village inn in Rougemont with a chef-owner kitchen, for food-minded guests who want a simple room near the station.
From €238 a night
Gstaad's main street, the Promenade, is pedestrianised, so the shops, cafés and several hotels are on foot from the station. The tourism office advises leaving the car at your hotel: the village centres are compact, and parking is scarce in high season.
Public car parks are run by the municipality of Saanen and some by the lift companies and Glacier 3000. In Gstaad, the Märetplatz car park has 72 spaces with a 5-hour limit. At the Gstaad lifts, day parking is CHF 7 and a winter parking card for 2026/27 costs CHF 180. Payment is by cash, app or TWINT depending on the car park, and sleeping in vehicles is not allowed.
Where to stay for this
Gstaad · 4-star
On the Promenade, with parking behind the house and in a garage
Eight chalet-style suites in a historic inn on Gstaad's Promenade, for couples who want the village at the door.
Winter season from 3 December
From €2,472 a night
Gstaad · 5-star superior · 57 rooms
At the entrance to the Promenade, with valet parking
A 1912 cure house turned five-star at the Promenade, with a 3,000 m² spa, for spa lovers and young families.
Winter season from 18 December
From €1,189 a night
Gstaad · 3-star · 21 rooms
On the Promenade; cars use a public car park nearby
A historic inn on Gstaad's Promenade, run by the Widmer family since 1922, for travellers wanting simple rooms and Swiss cooking.
From €236 a night
Every guest staying overnight in the Saanenland gets a Gstaad Card from the host from the first night (children aged 6 to 12 get a Saani Card; under-6s ride free anyway). It gives free 2nd-class travel all year, including arrival and departure days, on the MOB trains between Lenk, Zweisimmen, Gstaad and Rougemont, and on the PostBus lines from Gstaad to Saanenmöser, Lauenen (the Lauenensee in summer), Turbach and Col du Pillon for Glacier 3000. It does not cover the train to Château-d'Oex or Montreux, bikes or dogs, and it does not reserve a seat on the GoldenPass Express. From mid-December to mid-March, ski buses between the lift stations in Gstaad and Saanen are free for everyone.
Rougemont, Château-d'Oex and Rossinière are outside the Gstaad Card area; hotels there give the Pass d'Enhaut, which covers the train between La Tine and Zweisimmen, through Château-d'Oex and Gstaad. In Les Diablerets, the Carte Bienvenue gives the free bus to Col du Pillon and on to Col de la Croix and Villars.
Gstaad Airport at Saanen takes private aircraft and helicopters, with prior permission needed for every landing and take-off. It handles passport and customs checks for Schengen and non-Schengen flights. In winter, from December to March, it is open from 08:00 to sunset, and to 20:00 for helicopters.
If you are coming from Montreux or Interlaken, the GoldenPass Express makes the last leg part of the trip. Reserve a seat: it costs CHF 20 and is not included in the Swiss Travel Pass or the Gstaad Card.
GetYourGuide
One-way GoldenPass Express ticket from Montreux to Gstaad.
Departs from Montreux · About 1.5 hours
By train in about 3 hours, changing at Montreux onto the GoldenPass line. By car it is about 150 km, around 2 hours 15 in clear conditions.
About 3 hours 10 to 3 hours 25, with two changes: at Bern and Spiez, or at Bern and Zweisimmen.
For scheduled flights, Geneva and Zurich are the main airports, with Bern Airport about 1 hour 20 away by car. Private aircraft can land at Gstaad Airport in Saanen with prior permission.
For overnight guests, yes: the Gstaad Card gives free 2nd-class travel on the local MOB trains between Lenk and Rougemont and on the Saanenland PostBus lines, including the bus to Glacier 3000.
The Promenade, Gstaad's main street, is car-free. There are public car parks around the centre, but parking is scarce in high season, so the tourism office advises leaving the car at your hotel.
By PostBus from Gstaad station: line 181 to Lauenen in about 13 minutes and line 180 to Gsteig in about 15 minutes. Both are free with the Gstaad Card.
Sources: transport.opendata.ch, transport.opendata.ch, transport.opendata.ch, transport.opendata.ch, transport.opendata.ch, transport.opendata.ch, transport.opendata.ch, router.project-osrm.org, router.project-osrm.org, router.project-osrm.org. Checked October 2026.
