Gstaad via the Col des Mosses

Back in 1905, Vaud’s cantonal engineer Isidore de Montferrand laid out the Col des Mosses road at 1,445 m to keep winter trade flowing between Aigle and the Pays-d’Enhaut. That same line still lifts you from Montreux over the pre-Alps: the lake falls away, pastures take over, and the dark-timber chalets of the Sarine valley come into view. After roughly 58 km via Les Avants, Les Mosses, and Château-d’Œx, Gstaad appears in stages; the Promenade’s discreet storefronts, the Romanesque towers of Saanen and Rougemont, and the Wispile and Eggli gondolas hovering above the roofs tell you exactly where you’ve arrived.

For a full day, the car is yours: hotel pickup in Montreux, an unhurried start, photo pauses on the pass and a stop in L’Etivaz for cellar-aged cheese, while your private chauffeur in Montreux handles the pace and the roads. Stroll the Promenade, lunch at the Gstaad Palace or a Saanenland inn, then detour to Rougemont’s 12th‑century church before looping back via Château-d’Œx. Expect about 1 h 20 each way, with the freedom to secure a table, step into an alpine dairy, or tweak the route with the weather.