The Swiss Alps has everything you need for the ideal winter holiday. Slopes of varying thrill levels blanketed in sparkling snow. Melted cheese and molten chocolate to thaw your weary urban soul. Grand resorts and charming villages to recover in until the pistes beckon again.
So, why would anyone want to visit in the summer when the mountains lack their prized, powdery commodity? That’s when the Alps truly come alive. The weather is perfect for cycling, sipping aperitifs on balconies without needing three layers of thermal underwear, and dipping your toes in streams that run through the valley like veins of milky jade.
More than half of Switzerland’s surface is dominated by the Alps. Let us point you towards Andermatt if you need help deciding how to recreate your dreams of living like Heidi. A two-hour drive from Zurich, the small village is undergoing a massive transformation.
In 2005, it captured the attention of Egyptian magnate Samih Sawiris, who devoted a staggering budget of 1.8 billion Swiss francs (S$2.78 billion) to develop the area. Before his grand plans of creating the next St. Moritz or Gstaad, Andermatt had a 125-year history as a Swiss military stronghold.
It remained so until the end of the Cold War. For years afterwards, the only people who gave this tiny outpost in the Ursern Valley any thought were the people who lived there and the handful of ski enthusiasts who wanted to tackle some of the steepest slopes in the central Alps.
However, once development took off in 2013, Andermatt exploded with luxury upgrades. The Chedi Andermatt, designed by Kuala Lumpur architecture firm Denniston, is a stately fusion of modern luxury and traditional Alpine charm with its temple-like dark wooden elements integrating seamlessly with the surrounding landscape. It set the tone for what Sawiris wanted to achieve.
He invited Michelin-starred chefs like Markus Neff, Fabio Toffolon, and Dominik Sato to open restaurants Gütsch and The Japanese by The Chedi Andermatt. The ski area expanded to 180km with pistes that could accommodate less experienced skiers. Along with it came the delightful Après-Ski Train, transporting passengers from Andermatt to Disentis while serving snacks and drinks from its fully stocked bar
In 2016, the Andermatt Golf Course opened. Three years later, a 650-seater concert hall attached to the four-star Radisson Blu Hotel Reussen followed.
Andermatt Swiss Alps, Sawiris’ company, is far from done. It plans to add luxury retail concepts, cafés, bars, restaurants, several apartment complexes, and three more hotels. The global nightlife brand Cotton Club will also open its Alpine branch by the end of the year. The promise of so much more to come makes repeat stays essential, which brings us to Andermatt’s most fascinating draw—its properties can be purchased.
Buying property in Switzerland as a foreign national is a complicated affair because of the Swiss Lex Koller law, which usually regulates the permits required for foreigners to purchase real estate in Switzerland. However, Sawiris’ hefty investment in the land came with the condition that the Swiss government would allow him to sell apartments to outsiders.
In addition to Swiss residents purchasing holiday homes, the other half of the clients are international, including a growing number from South-east Asia and Scandinavia. Andermatt Swiss Alps even claims that its properties have a history of appreciating in value within three years of purchase. There is also a rental programme in place, offering packages designed to assist you in furnishing, managing, and eventually acquiring your property down the road.
Despite its extravagant goals, the town has not lost its rustic charm to the polish of modern architecture. “All the houses in a Swiss village are a little different because we never had an aristocracy that ordered everything to look a certain way,” explains Miroslav Sik, an architect who helped create the original urban development plan for Andermatt.
“When you walk around here, you always end up facing a facade. Instead of the American-style grid, you are always meandering, and that creates the cosiness of a Swiss village. It’s all about community.”
The community has just 1,500 residents, another plus for those looking for a genuine escape. The lack of winter tourism also means fewer crowds, which golfers will appreciate.
The 18-hole Andermatt Golf Course stretches over 6km across the Ursern Valley floor. Playing on these rolling green fairways feels like a walk in the park due to the abundance
of biodiversity.
Of the 149 bird species recorded in the valley, 118 have been observed on the golf course, along with 56 butterfly and 12 dragonfly species. A four-time winner of Switzerland’s Best Golf Course at the World Golf Awards, the course also features entertaining tees designed by golf course architect Kurt Rossknecht.
The village offers a variety of art trails that allow you to meander through cobbled streets and wooden houses, but the real beauty of the Alps lies higher up. At 1,437m above sea level, alfresco dining will never be more invigorating. With Alp Hitta Restaurant, you can enjoy a sheepskin rug, drink Aperol Spritzes, and wait for the fresh mountain air to cool your braised pork knuckle risotto.
You can also rent a bike and cycle to the small dairy farms, where cows graze on the mountain meadows, producing milk that gets made into fresh or aged alpine cheeses that burst with nutty, fruity and even grassy flavours. You can even sample edible flowers and wild berries on an educational herbal hike with local tour guide Bernard “Banz” Simmen.
The valley transforms into nature’s salad bowl with his affable demeanour (despite his gnarled, pirate-like visage) and encyclopaedic knowledge serving as the perfect dressing.
Andermatt will remain an atypical luxury hangout despite the proliferation of fancy properties and facilities in the next few years. It’s not trendy, its architectural language is deliberately random, the weather is unpredictable, and the raw, granite cliffs don’t always make for wonderful photos.
But that’s the whole point. Mother Nature isn’t posing for a calendar spread. Get out of your comfort zone and explore the rugged wilderness. Here, the outdoors aren’t just great—they’re wondrous and magnificent.
