Chateau-d'Oex

The basin at Chateau-d'Oex has conditions balloonists prize - stable cold air, reliable winter weather and mountains close enough to make the flying interesting - and the International Balloon Festival held there each January puts dozens of balloons of many countries into the sky over about nine days. Its strongest claim is a specific one: in March 1999 Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones lifted off from here in Breitling Orbiter 3 and completed the first non-stop balloon circumnavigation of the globe, landing in Egypt after nearly twenty days. The village also has a museum of the Pays-d'Enhaut covering paper cutting, the local decorative craft, and the surrounding valley makes L'Etivaz cheese.

History

Caves around the village were used seasonally from 9500 BC, and Château-d'Œx is first mentioned in 1115. The church of St Donat is first recorded in 1175, the villagers threw off their duty to serve the nobility in 1388, and in 1555 the upper county of Gruyère, with the village, passed to Bern; in 1800 a fire took the wooden houses on the central hill (Wikipedia, Château-d'Œx).

What's there

• A January balloon week - dozens of balloons over the basin for about nine days.
• The launch of Breitling Orbiter 3 - the first non-stop balloon flight round the world, 1999.
• Paper cutting - the Pays-d'Enhaut craft shown in the village museum.
• L'Etivaz country - the cheese made in the chalets around.

When to go

January for the festival; June to September otherwise. Two days.

Good to know

Balloon flights depend entirely on weather and are cancelled often; passenger places book far ahead and are expensive. The festival fills the village. Outside January it is a quiet valley village.

Nearby

Gstaad is east; L'Etivaz and Montreux are along the MOB line.

Key facts