What do James Bond, George Clooney, Inspector Clouseau, Sherlock Holmes and Frankenstein have in common?
They all belong—at least partly—to Switzerland’s extraordinary cultural landscape.
Switzerland has long offered writers and filmmakers something difficult to reproduce in a studio: dramatic mountains, secluded hotels, Belle Époque elegance, discreet financial centres and the sense that behind every perfect landscape, another story may be unfolding.
George Clooney’s geopolitical thriller Syriana moved between Washington, the Middle East and Geneva, with scenes filmed at the Hotel President Wilson. The city’s role was no accident: Geneva provided the ideal setting for a film about oil, diplomacy, intelligence networks, corporate power and the private negotiations that shape international affairs.
For James Bond, Switzerland became almost a second home. Parts of Goldfinger, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, GoldenEye and The World Is Not Enough used Swiss locations. Most famously, the revolving restaurant at the summit of the Schilthorn became Blofeld’s Alpine headquarters in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Today, visitors can still enter the world of 007 at Piz Gloria and the Schilthorn.
Gstaad has its own place in cinematic history.
Blake Edwards filmed parts of The Return of the Pink Panther in Gstaad during the summer of 1974. Peter Sellers’s gloriously accident-prone Inspector Clouseau pursued Lady Claudine Litton through the resort, with the Gstaad Palace becoming part of the comedy’s elegant—and chaotic—Swiss setting.
The region also appeared in The Tamarind Seed, starring Julie Andrews and Omar Sharif. Beyond the screen, Gstaad attracted filmmakers, actors, musicians and writers who found in the Saanenland a rare combination of beauty, privacy and cultural life.
Literature arrived here long before the cameras.
Mary Shelley began writing Frankenstein beside Lake Geneva. Thomas Mann turned Davos into the philosophical world of The Magic Mountain. Arthur Conan Doyle sent Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty over the Reichenbach Falls. Ernest Hemingway, Ian Fleming, John le Carré and many others found in Switzerland landscapes suited to romance, intrigue, exile, danger and reinvention.
On 29 and 30 August 2026, that tradition continues with WoW Gstaad—World of Words, the international literature festival founded by Thomas D. Gommes.
Across two days, WoW Gstaad will bring together Susie Boyt, DBC Pierre, Jill Dawson, Sadie Jones, Jakuta Alikavazovic, Douglas Kennedy, Willem Veenstra, and Andrea and Gottfried von Siebenthal for literary conversations, masterclasses, book signings, Alpine walks and lunches at The Alpina Gstaad.
Come for the authors.
Stay for the mountains, cinema history, long lunches, Alpine lakes—and the possibility of discovering your own story.
📅 29–30 August 2026
📍 Gstaad, Switzerland
🏔️ Main venue: The Alpina Gstaad
🎟️ Programme and tickets
Readers of THE BRIEF have a 10% off tickets with code WOWWELCOME10
📚 Begin with the festival
Attend intimate author conversations, a creative-writing masterclass with Booker Prize winner DBC Pierre and a practical session exploring how artificial intelligence is changing writing, publishing and book marketing.
Explore the WoW Gstaad programme and buy tickets.
🏘️ Walk through historic Saanen
The festival’s Saturday programme includes an optional riverside walk to Saanen, followed by an apéro and book signing at Librairie des Alpages. Saanen is the historical heart of the region and one of the Bernese Oberland’s most beautiful protected chalet villages.
🌊 Escape to Lake Lauenen
Set within a protected nature reserve at 1,381 metres, Lauenensee is surrounded by mountains, forests and the Tungelschuss and Geltenschuss waterfalls. Visitors can walk around the lake, hire a rowing boat or simply read beside the water.
🥾 Take a literary walk through the Alps
Gstaad offers everything from gentle riverside paths to panoramic mountain trails. The landscapes invite precisely the kind of unhurried observation from which stories often emerge.
🎨 Discover Gstaad’s art and cultural life
International galleries, regional museums and traditional craftsmanship give the destination a cultural identity extending far beyond its famous hotels and boutiques.
🏛️ Visit the Museum of the Saanenland
Housed in a building dating from the late Middle Ages, the museum traces the customs, craftsmanship and changing life of the region—the historical world behind Sunday’s free Madame Gstaad conversation.
🚠 See the region from above
Summer cable cars open the way to panoramic walks, mountain restaurants and high-Alpine viewpoints across the Saanenland.
WoW Gstaad is more than a literary festival.
It is an invitation to spend a weekend inside a landscape that has inspired novelists, screenwriters, actors and directors for generations.
Come for the authors.
Stay for the mountains, cinema history, long lunches, Alpine lakes—and the possibility of discovering your own story.
📅 29–30 August 2026
📍 Gstaad, Switzerland
🏔️ Main venue: The Alpina Gstaad
🎟️ Programme and tickets
Readers of THE BRIEF have a 10% off tickets with code WOWWELCOME10
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