Château-d’Oex

January is the time of the balloon festival. December to March is the ski season. June to September is best for hiking and cheese farms. April, May and November are quiet.

• Espace Ballon is a museum about hot-air ballooning.
• Cave de l'Etivaz is the cellar where local Etivaz cheese is aged.
• Musée du Vieux Pays-d'Enhaut is a museum in an old chalet.
• Musée du Pays-d'Enhaut is a local history museum.
• Gruyère Pays-d'Enhaut is a cheese region, known for its mountain cheese.
• Lac Lioson is a small mountain lake above the valley.

• Take a hot-air balloon flight, one of the best places in Europe for it.
• Taste Etivaz cheese at the cellar.
• Visit the balloon museum.
• Ski or sledge in winter.
• Ride the Golden Pass train.
• Hike on the high pastures.

• Rougemont is a village with a large wooden church, about 10 minutes away by train.
• Gstaad is a famous resort, about 25 minutes away by train.
• Lenk is a ski and spa village in the Bernese Oberland.
• Montreux on Lake Geneva is about 1 hour away by train.
• Gruyères, with its castle and cheese, is nearby.

• Rougemont and Gstaad are the nearest villages on the same railway.

• By air: Geneva is the main airport, about 2 hours 30 minutes away.
• By train: Château-d'Œx is on the Golden Pass line between Montreux and Gstaad. Check times on SBB.
• Trains from Montreux take about 1 hour.

• The village is small and easy to walk, with some slopes.
• The Golden Pass train links the nearby villages.
• Local buses and lifts serve the ski area.

• A car is not needed in the village.
• Roads are mountain roads with bends.
• Parking in the village is easy.

Try Etivaz cheese, a hard mountain cheese made on high pastures in summer. Cheese fondue and raclette are common. Many farms sell cheese and cream.

People speak French. English is widely understood.

• Château-d'Œx is very safe.
• Mountain weather changes fast.
• Avalanche risk exists in winter. Stay on marked trails.
• Balloon flights depend on weather.

The Pays-d'Enhaut was a farming and cheese region for centuries. Its main language is French, but it was once ruled from Bern. Tourism began in the 19th century.

Hot-air ballooning came in the 1990s. In 1999 the first round-the-world balloon flight took off from here.

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