Day 3
Today you'll have the chance to get to know Château-d'Oex and its surroundings, as you join your tour manager for a guided walking tour. Dressed for the festive season, the village – once the beloved home of screen legend David Niven and a place that has been welcoming Newmarket customers for three decades – is a picture, set in a broad valley beneath snow-capped hills.
A trio of fascinating museums chronicles life in this corner of Switzerland, the history of cheese-making, and (thanks to the village’s place as a world centre of hot-air ballooning) the magnificent men and women and their flying baskets. Bars, restaurants and shops, a cable car to the heights above, plus a Christmas nativity scene, the arrival of Santa and a warm welcome from friendly locals complete a perfect holiday location. At the end of your tour, you'll enjoy a warming visit to the village dairy and cheese museum, for the chance to sample local produce.
Begin your Christmas celebrations with dinner at the hotel, this evening, in the company of your fellow guests.
Day 4
Spend a wonderful day (and hopefully a White Christmas) resting and relaxing at the hotel. Perhaps take a morning stroll – and enjoy Christmas Lunch in good company. Your tour manager will arrange festive games for those who wish to join in, and a light supper will be served this evening.
Day 5
After breakfast, join our included excursion to Bern, travelling through a snow-capped winter wonderland, past the jet-set ski resort of Gstaad and Lake Thun to what is one of the world’s most picturesque capitals. Huddled together above a sweeping meander in the River Aare, Bern is maze of cobbled streets and squares, covered shopping arcades, medieval houses and great churches that begs to be explored. Head to Kramgasse (Grocers' Alley) to see the city's famous mechanical clock as strike the hour, or perhaps browse the colourful Christmas Market.
You'll return to Château-d'Oex in the late afternoon, time permitting via charming Fribourg, with its old town sloping steeply away from the River Sarine, and later enjoy a last dinner and convivial evening with your new-found friends at the hotel.
Day 6
Bid farewell to your Alpine idyll, and return to Geneva Airport to catch your flight home at the end of a wonderful, memorable Christmas holiday.