Gstaad ski holidays

Families and groups who want unhurried skiing, with a glacier for the days the snow calls for it. The region has 200 km of slopes between 1,000 and 3,000 m over nine ski areas (Gstaad), and free learning parks in Zweisimmen, Schönried, Saanenmöser, Gstaad and Lauenen (Gstaad Mountain Rides).

Rinderberg, Saanersloch and Horneggli together hold 105 km of slopes; Eggli and La Videmanette run down to Rougemont; Wispile is the gentle local mountain, with its own learning park. On selected evenings there is night skiing at Rinderberg and Eggli (Gstaad Mountain Rides).

Because the areas are spread out, the instructor matters as much as the slope. We book private instruction by level and plan each day around one area, so children and first timers are not carried across the valley. Our guide to skiing with children explains how we pace the week.

It depends on the ticket. For 2026/27 the Gstaad day ticket covers every lift except Glacier 3000, multi day tickets are valid on all cable cars including Glacier 3000, and the season pass leaves it out (Gstaad Mountain Rides).

Glacier 3000 is 20 minutes from Gstaad by road (Glacier 3000) and is the only glacier ski area in the Bernese Oberland, with 28 km of slopes and views over more than two dozen peaks of 4,000 m, Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn among them (Gstaad). We choose the passes for each person, so nobody arrives at the cable car with the wrong ticket.

In the heart of winter, when the valley lifts are running, with Glacier 3000 covering the edges of the season: it is scheduled from November 7, 2026 to April 30, 2027 (Glacier 3000). The main Gstaad lifts have not announced their 2026/27 opening and closing dates yet.

Christmas, New Year and the February holiday weeks fill first, so for those dates we book the instructor before anything else. Our guide on when to book a ski trip covers the timing week by week.

From Geneva Airport, Gstaad is about 2 hours by car or 2 hours 50 minutes by train; from Zurich Airport about 3 hours by car; from Bern Airport about 1 hour 30 minutes by car (Gstaad).

Gstaad Airport in Saanen has air taxi connections to destinations in Switzerland and abroad (Gstaad). We arrange the transfer from whichever airport your flights land at, and private charter when the schedule calls for it.

Gstaad itself for the village and its evenings; Saanen, Schönried, Saanenmöser and Zweisimmen along the same railway, closer to the Rinderberg and Horneggli slopes. Overnight guests receive the Gstaad Card, with free travel on the region's trains and buses (Gstaad).

We do not sell from a fixed list of hotels or chalets. We look at who is coming, how each of them skis and how they like to spend the evening, then tell you where to stay, and why.

Everything between the flight and the last run: where you stay, a private instructor for each level, the right lift passes, transfers, equipment and a concierge on the ground, with one point of contact from the first message to the flight home.

Patagonia Living is a ski travel agency based in Patagonia and operated worldwide, and skiing is all it plans. The full list is in what a private ski trip includes. When you are ready, plan your next trip with us.