Gstaad holiday region – an insider tip for bike fans and hikers

I’m real­ly look­ing for­ward to final­ly get­ting back on my moun­tain bike. This time in unfa­mil­iar places: I’m trad­ing the moun­tains of the Grisons for the Bernese Ober­land. I’m excit­ed to see what cycling fun Gstaad has in store for me. 

The state-of-the-art, bike-cer­ti­fied Saa­nen-Gstaad Youth Hos­tel is ide­al for overnight stays. No mat­ter where you are in the hos­tel, you’ll always find some sun: either on the two ter­races or in the green, well-kept gar­den. The view of the impos­ing moun­tain back­drop is includ­ed. 😉 There’s also a well-equipped bike room where you can pol­ish and patch up your bike. Like! 

There’s no such thing as keeping your feet still

I don’t have much time to chill, I’m just itch­ing to test out the bike routes in the beau­ti­ful sun­shine. The first thing I want to do is go to the Eggli. There, the new­ly shaped trail (please note: only for advanced cyclists) is wait­ing for me right under the moun­tain rail­way. It’s super fun rid­ing down the desert­ed trail with a breath­tak­ing view and at tremen­dous speeds!

The qual­i­ty of the bike trails is great. This is part­ly due to the fact that the des­ti­na­tion is still rel­a­tive­ly unknown to two-wheel­er fans. A true insid­er tip! On the oth­er hand, there are extra trail builders work­ing to keep the trails in good shape. You’ll also find plen­ty of bike shops and Alpinzen­trum Gstaad right next to the youth hos­tel. The staff has great tips and tricks for your adven­ture on two wheels and oth­er adren­a­line-charged expe­ri­ences. You can hire first-class equip­ment for all kinds of sports direct­ly on site, sav­ing you the has­sle of drag­ging it around – and allow­ing you to decide what you fan­cy on impulse! 

Golden hour on the summit

Lat­er in the after­noon, I swap my bike for hik­ing boots. I’m chas­ing the per­fect sun­set. The Horn­fluh seems excel­lent for this. There are dif­fer­ent routes. The paths around the moun­tain peak are easy to walk and are also suit­able for fam­i­lies. As an adven­ture lover, how­ev­er, I decid­ed to climb the top­most tip. The view is almost too much, as beau­ti­ful as it is.

Atten­tion water lovers: On Lake Horn­berg (1,800 metres above sea lev­el), you have the oppor­tu­ni­ty to test your skills on the wake­board lift under the guid­ance of pros. You can reserve your ses­sion online in advance. Or you can do what I do and lis­ten to the DJ’s beats and treat your­self to a nice drink at the bar. Stuffed thanks to the deli­cious Youm­mi menu at the hos­tel, I fall into the com­fort­able youth hos­tel bed tired but hap­py. 

Off to the water

I wake up the next morn­ing well rest­ed and full of ener­gy. After a tasty break­fast, I pack my things and set off to dis­cov­er the (world) famous Lake Laue­nen – on my beloved moun­tain bike. The route on foot is also great. 

First, I catch the cable car from Gstaad up to the Wispile. From there, it takes just under 45 min­utes up the ridge and through colour­ful mead­ows to Lake Laue­nen. The view is fan­tas­tic! A pic­nic by the water to regain your strength is a must, of course. After absorb­ing the impres­sions and recharg­ing my bat­ter­ies, I head back towards Gstaad. 

Be mindful of others

There are a few things you should keep in mind to ensure that your bike trip is also per­fect. Trail tol­er­ance is a top pri­or­i­ty in Gstaad, and trails are often shared with hik­ers. Keep a mod­er­ate pace and be friend­ly – smiles are free. 😊 From time to time, you may have to get off your bike to open gates – look­ing ahead is very impor­tant so that you can brake in time. And most impor­tant­ly: Pro­tect your head and bones with a hel­met and pads! 

By the way, you can trans­port your bike on most moun­tain rail­ways and on pub­lic trans­port. How­ev­er, to be on the safe side, I rec­om­mend that you con­sult the moun­tain rail­ways or the SBB app before­hand. 

I had a lot of fun expe­ri­enc­ing this part of Switzer­land still quite unfa­mil­iar to me, and I’m already look­ing for­ward to my next vis­it!