Christmas Celebrity-Spotting in Switzerland
To visit Switzerland like the celebrities do, the tourist should concentrate on one of five key resort areas during the Christmas season.
Verbier is very popular with the likes of James Blunt, who now brings his father along with him. His favorite haunt is apparently the Farinet. Verbier is also the favorite winter holiday resort of Richard Branson, Juliette Binoche, Hugh Grant, and the Duchesse of York. The New York Times designated Verbier the trendiest Swiss resort, but in fact it is rather the trendiest among a particularly young Anglo-Saxon crown. New Years at Verbier is mythic for its raucous festivity and lubricious nightlife.
Zermatt attracts a different group of celebrities, among them Robbie Williams.
At Crans Montana, the Grand Hotel fills up during Christmas with guests like Alain Delon and Celine Delon.
And then for the Decorous and Faded crowd there is Gstaad, where Johnny Halliday returns year after year, to find other habitués like Ernesto Bertarelli, Victor Emmanuel de Savoie and Ursula Andress.
Gstaad and Crans Montana are known for their discreet and calm festivities, and habitués – both stars and untelevised tourists – prefer quiet partying in their chalets. Celebrities who spend Christmas in Crans usually leave their body guards home. The residents of Crans Montana consider their aloof attitude to famous guests a matter of tradition.
Arguably the most exclusive is Saint Moritz, which the tourist office refers to as the Saint Topez of the snowbelt. But its exclusiveness is defined by its price tag, which makes it a viable place to winter only for the very wealthy. The past few years Russian billionaires were a major component of the Christmas crown, but this year there appear to be fewer high spending visitors.
