서울대학교 미주동창회 Seoul National University Alumni Association in the USA
Although my wife and I had visited Switzerland several times before, this journey to Verbier felt especially meaningful. We carried memories of Swiss towns, lakes, museums, and mountain landscapes from earlier years, but Verbier offered something different: ten days in a village where music, alpine beauty, and daily life seemed to meet naturally. We came for the 2026 Verbier Festival (the classical music festival 7/16/2027 – 8/2/26) yet we left with memories that reached beyond concerts alone.
Travel
We planned the journey carefully, considering not only the artists and performances we most wanted to attend, but also our age, ㄷnergy, and health. I was particularly concerned with whether my wife would be comfortable spending an extended time at Verbier’s high altitude. I researched and compared with several ski mountains we had visited many years earlier, when we were younger and healthier. For that reason, we chose to focus our two-week trip mainly (July 23 to August 5, 2026) on Verbier village and Lake Geneva. We agreed not to push ourselves beyond our limits. We also monitored the local weather for several weeks so that we could prepare appropriately.
The Journey
We reviewed every part of the itinerary carefully. Once our journey began, we were pleased to notice that everything proceeded as planned.
All the car services were punctual and cordial, and the lines for customs and security at the airports were unexpectedly short and moved quickly. The one-way flight took about seven hours or more, and the meals throughout the trip were very good. One small surprise was that lifting my carry-on luggage into the overhead compartment was no longer as easy as it once had been.
When we arrived at Geneva Airport, our car service agent was already waiting. After brief introductions and loading our luggage into the trunk, our young, pleasant English-speaking driver began the two-hour trip to Verbier.
Verbier and the Alps
As our driver drove the car smoothly along the winding road toward Verbier, he spoke warmly about the village and the surrounding Alps, helping us relax and enjoy the journey. Through the window, I admired the looming alpine scenery: mountains rising above us, rivers glistening below, and small villages scattered across the valleys. As the car climbed through the steep mountain pass, the Swiss landscape opened beneath the clear summer sun. High above us, cows grazed peacefully on alpine slopes, while the villages below looked like small, picturesque tapestries. Surrounded by dramatic and magnificent
mountains, I often wondered how the road could find its way through such high and rugged terrain. Even in the warmth of late July, the peaks were still capped with stunning white alpine glaciers.
Our arrival in Verbier felt like a breathtaking prelude to the days ahead. When we finally reached Verbier, I was struck by the contrast between the quiet grandeur of the surrounding mountains and the cozy elegance of the village, already alive with the
nascent festival excitement. Residences, shops, and hotels lined the streets, yet every building—including the five-star international hotel—shared the same traditional chalet style, built with traditional Swiss dark wood and stone. Nothing competed for attention or tried to outshine the alpine landscape. This architectural harmony allowed the village to blend naturally into its alpine setting and preserve its distinctive character. I admired the care and discipline behind this Swiss design tradition, and I felt humbled by the way human craftsmanship had been made to serve, rather than dominate, nature. From the outside, there was little sign of modern design; Verbier presented itself with timeless mountain charm.
Festival banners reading “BIENVENUE 2026 VERBIER” and posters on tall streetlight posts featuring celebrated artists welcomed visitors, filling the village with a festive sense that something special was happening.
Although we were tired from the journey, we were eager to begin exploring. The hotel’s contemporary, refined interior provided a pleasing contrast to Verbier’s traditional chalet-style exterior.
From our balcony, we enjoyed an expansive and panoramic view of the alpine village below us. Countless gondolas moved steadily between Le Châble, about 800 meters down the mountain, and Verbier, where our hotel stood at roughly 1,500 meters. Operating as public transportation for nearly twenty hours a day, they departed about every ten seconds and completed the 1.4-mile journey in approximately thirteen minutes. Watching them glide quietly through the mountain air made the village feel both peaceful and alive. Looking out over the scene, I felt refreshed and renewed. Throughout our stay, the hotel service was flawless.
Verbier: A Winter Ski Village and Summer Music Festival Destination
Verbier is known not only for its beauty as a mountain village, but also as one of Switzerland’s most celebrated winter resorts. Its dramatic slopes, clear alpine air, and sweeping mountain views have long attracted skiers from around the world. Areas such as Mont Fort, which rises to about 3,300 meters, and Tortin are especially famous for challenging runs that appeal to adventurous skiers during the winter season. Even in summer, when the snow has melted from the lower slopes, the village still carries
the spirit of a ski destination. Gondolas move steadily up the mountains, chalet roofs line the hillsides, and the surrounding peaks capped with white glacier even under summer sun heat remind visitors of the powerful winter landscape that helps define Verbier’s identity.
Morning Walks on Rue de Médran
In the mornings, we often walked leisurely along Rue de Médran, Verbier’s quiet main street, wearing light puffer jackets and light blue tailored jeans. We enjoyed the morning fresh alpine air and the village’s relaxed pace. Morning seemed to belong to nature and the mountains. Cafés, restaurants, exclusive boutiques, and high-end shops lined the street, yet it never felt crowded. Instead, the village had an elegant calm that invited visitors to slow down, look around, and take in the mountain setting. Some streets in the village were designated as car-free areas, allowing pedestrians to walk safely and comfortably. During the world-renowned Verbier Festival, the village became an open-air cultural gathering place. Colorful banners and posters decorated Rue de Médran, celebrating composers from Vivaldi and Bach to contemporary performing artists such as Yunchan Lim and Martha Argerich. Visitors from around the world came for major concerts and chamber music performances at Salle des Combins and the Église, as well as for master classes and smaller events held throughout the village.
What was especially delightful was seeing benches, chairs, rocking chairs, lounge chairs, and chaises generously placed outside the shops, inviting walkers to rest, breathe the fresh
mountain air, and enjoy the beauty of the surroundings. Young people were already gathered at al fresco cafés, while summer hikers passed by with backpacks, walking poles, and mountain-hike bikes. Together, music lovers, hikers, residents, and travelers gave Verbier a lively yet graceful atmosphere. During those quiet and memorable morning walks, the village felt both intimate and international, simple yet refined—a mountain village, temporarily transformed by music into a place of shared expectation and cultural celebration. Everyone was enjoying the morning in the Swiss Alps.
Afternoons became a quiet time for us to rest and prepare for pleasant anticipation in the
evening, as we looked forward to the coming evening concerts and other musical activities.
Quiet Elegance and Alpine Luxury
Verbier is an exclusive village, quite different from ordinary ski resorts. Its character can be felt not only in its high prices, elegant buildings, and refined services, but also in the quiet confidence of the place itself. Nothing about Verbier feels accidental. The chalets, hotels, shops, restaurants, and private residences all seem carefully placed within the mountain setting, creating an atmosphere of quiet luxury and restraint.
Unlike some famous resort towns, Verbier does not display its wealth in a loud or crowded way. Its charm lies in understatement: polished wooden balconies, flower-filled windows, discreet entrances, beautifully dressed shopfronts, and streets that remain calm even during the busy festival season.
Along Rue de Médran, Verbier’s refined atmosphere was especially visible. The street was neither long nor crowded, yet it carried the quiet confidence of an elegant resort community. Fashion boutiques, watch and jewelry stores, luxury clothing shops, cafés, and restaurants were arranged with taste and restraint, without the aggressive display often found in larger cities. Their windows were thoughtfully designed, their signage was discreet rather than showy, and their entrances blended naturally with the surrounding chalet-style buildings. As I walked there, I felt that luxury in Verbier was not meant to impress by excess, but to become part of the village’s quiet visual harmony.
At times, Rue de Médran reminded me of Madison Avenue in Manhattan, or of Avenue Montaigne and Rue Saint-Honoré in Paris, where luxury forms part of the daily landscape. Yet Verbier felt very different from those city streets. In New York or Paris, elegance is surrounded by traffic noise or pollution, gilded beau monde, and the constant energy of urban life. In Verbier, elegance was softened by the looming serene mountains. A designer boutique might stand beside a wooden chalet, and an expensive watch display might be framed by green slopes, flower boxes, and distant peaks. This contrast gave the village its special charm. It felt sophisticated and international, yet also calm, intimate, and unmistakably alpine.
It is also well known that some celebrities, international artists, and members of European royal families have owned or rented chalets in Verbier during winter season. Knowing this added another layer to my impression of the village. Verbier felt fashionable but private, privileged but not theatrical. It was a place where wealth and fame could remain modest, down-to-earth, and discreet, hidden behind wooden balconies, mountain views, and quiet lanes. For me, this combination of alpine simplicity and cultivated elegance became one of Verbier’s most distinctive charms. The village offered not only natural beauty and cultural richness, but also a rare sense of graceful seclusion. At the same time, Verbier did not feel closed or unwelcoming. Anyone who came with curiosity and appreciation could share in its atmosphere. Some of my favorite memories were not necessarily inside the concert hall, but in the village itself. Each day in Verbier felt far away from ordinary life.
Festival
Each morning, I read the Verbier Festival’s daily paper, Le Quotidien, over coffee to plan our day. It listed schedules, venues, concert times, and brief notes about the performers, making it an essential guide to the festival. Reading Le Quotidien in the
morning gave me pleasure and some anticipation. More than an announcement sheet, it connected us to the music, the village, and the people who brought the festival to life.
Purchasing our tickets in November 2025 allowed us to reserve good seats for the concerts we most wanted to attend. Many performances seemed to sell out soon afterward, making me grateful for our early planning and especially, for my wife’s thoughtful help. We also noticed many visitors from Korea, perhaps because tickets were especially difficult to obtain there, particularly for Yunchan Lim’s concert.
Salle des Combins, the festival’s largest concert hall, seats more than 1,500 people, yet it felt both spacious and welcoming. From every seat, the sightlines were clear and unobstructed, and two large screens beside the stage allowed the audience to see the
performers closely and, when needed, read helpful surtitles. The acoustics gave the music clarity, depth, and warmth, whether the program featured a solo pianist, a chamber ensemble, or a full orchestra. The seating is very comfortable and spacious.
Unlike many famous European concert halls, Salle des Combins had no ornate walls, chandeliers, or luxurious carpets. It is a temporary venue, erected and dismantled each year, yet it was fully equipped for serious musical performances. Its simplicity placed the music itself at the center of attention. One evening, during a heavy rainstorm, we could hear rain striking the roof that was designed to block out strong wind or heavy rain. Rather than distracting me, the sound drew me more deeply into the performance, until the music seemed to absorb the storm outside. It became an unforgettable Verbier experience.
Among the artists we enjoyed were violinist Daniel Lozakovich; pianists Yunchan Lim, Minsoo Sohn, Evgeny Kissin, and András Schiff; and soprano Renée Fleming. Each performer brought a distinctive character to the festival. Some concerts impressed me with technical brilliance, while others moved me through tenderness, elegance, or quiet emotional power. Many performances were conducted by Lahav Shani, Music Director of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and I felt fortunate to see him several times in such a memorable setting. The festival also featured other world-class conductors and artists, including Simon Rattle, James Gaffigan, Daniel Harding, Gianandrea Noseda, Alexander Kantorow, Bruce Liu, Kirill Gerstein, Sunwook Kim, Nikolai Lugansky, Joshua Bell, and Hera Hyesang Park.
Most daytime concerts were held at the Église, while evening performances usually took place there or at Salle des Combins. Both venues were about fifteen minutes from our hotel by car, and the hotel’s reliable transportation made attending the concerts easy and comfortable. After each performance, the drive back through the cool mountain air gave the evening a peaceful close.
The concerts were the heart of our journey. Founded in 1994, the Verbier Festival has become one of the world’s leading classical music festivals, but what impressed me most was not only its international reputation, but also its setting. It was the way music
seemed to fill the entire village and become part of daily life in Verbier during the festival period. During our previous trips to Switzerland, my wife and I had often planned our days around museums and galleries, followed by concerts in the evening.
In 2017, for example, we attended Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte at the Zurich Opera House and heard Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 at MAAG Tonhalle, the temporary home of the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra. Yet hearing great musicians in Verbier felt different.
There, music was not separated from its surroundings. It seemed to be continuously in conversation with the mountains, the clean alpine air, and the quiet rhythm of the village.
A concert in a large city is often a discrete event apart from the rest of the day. One enters a formal hall, listens to the performance, and then returns to the noise and movement of urban life. In Verbier, the experience felt more continuous. The music seemed to begin long before the evening performance—maybe in morning conversations along Rue de Médran, in the festival posters displayed throughout the village, in the visitors’ carrying programs, and in the quiet anticipation shared from person to person. By the time we entered the hall in the evening, the whole village had already prepared us to listen more attentively.
A piano recital, chamber performance, or full orchestral concert could feel intimate one moment and expansive the next, as if the sound was opening beyond the concert hall into the surrounding peaks. What I enjoyed most was not simply hearing famous
performers but also experiencing unexpected moments of discovery: a fresh interpretation, a gifted young musician, or a familiar passage that suddenly sounded new. The festival’s combination of internationally celebrated artists and rising young musicians is one of its special qualities. It allows listeners to encounter mastery and discovery, tradition and youthful energy, within the same musical atmosphere.
Sitting among listeners who had traveled from many parts of the world, I felt that we were sharing more than a performance. We were sharing a rare moment of attention, silence, and appreciation. Each evening, after the final applause, the music remained with me as we returned through the cool mountain air. Coming to a festival in the Alps is not the same as going to a traditional concert hall in a large city. In Verbier, extraordinary music, mountain scenery, and village life came together so naturally that the concerts seemed to belong not only to the stage, but also to the landscape itself.
Looking back, I realize that the Verbier Festival was not simply a destination. It was a harmony of place, music, friendship, and time. The surrounding mountains provided a magnificent backdrop, but it was the music that gave the town its special energy. The
festival is a beautifully orchestrated symphony. I felt that evenings in Verbier belonged entirely to music.
Golf in the Alps
Since arriving in Verbier, I had been looking for the right day to play golf in the Alps. Each morning, I checked our schedule, including my wife’s plans, to see whether there might be a good time. Because alpine weather can change quickly, I did not want to rush the decision. I wanted the experience to be memorable—not only as a round of golf, but also as a chance to enjoy the mountain landscape from a different point of view. For example, I still remembered playing with my wife at the Monte Carlo Golf
Club, set high in the rugged hills above Monaco with beautiful views over Monte Carlo. Finally, the right day to play golf came. That evening, I went to bed early, eager for the next day and slightly anxious about the challenge. I knew that playing a high-altitude mountain course would not be the same as playing at home. The slopes, uneven lies, thinner air, and unfamiliar layout would all make the round more demanding.
The next morning, I went to the restaurant early to pick up a packed lunch, knowing that I would need fresh and healthy food for good game. I then asked the hotel concierge to arrange transportation to Golf Club Verbier. The course sits at an altitude
of about 1,800 meters, roughly 300 meters higher than the village itself. Even before I arrived, that elevation made the outing feel special. It was not simply a visit to a nearby golf course; it felt as if I were climbing into another part of the mountain.
I rented clubs, bought a few extra balls, and set out with a feeling of confidence mixed with excitement. The golf course was built into the alpine slopes, and from the first tee I could see that this would not be an ordinary round. The fairways rose, dipped, and
turned with the mountain itself. None of them felt easy or level; there was almost no flat ground anywhere. Some holes seemed to disappear over ridges, while others opened suddenly to sweeping views of green valleys, chalet roofs, forests, and distant
peaks still touched with summer glacier. The air was thin, cool, and wonderfully clear. Every breath felt fresh, and every shot seemed to travel through a landscape painted by nature.
The course demanded patience and careful judgment. Many holes were blind, meaning the greens could not be seen from the tee boxes, and the white direction guide sticks indicated the proper direction and had to be respected and appreciated. I had to trust
the markers, my swing, and sometimes my instinct. A well-struck ball could be rewarded by the slope, but a careless shot could easily be carried away by the mountain contours. The challenge was part of the beauty. Between shots, I often paused simply to
look around: gondolas floating in the distance, mountain walls rising above the fairways, and the quiet dignity of Verbier village spread below. It felt as if the game of golf had been placed inside a grand alpine theater.
My round began memorably when I made par on the first hole, giving me confidence for the difficult holes ahead. By the end of the day, I had made four pars and one birdie. On the par-69 course, I scored 84, or 15 over par, which meant I had beaten my age. It was July 28, 2026. I asked another player to sign my scorecard as a witness, and he wrote one simple word: “Bravo.” That single word captured the happiness of the moment. It was the second-best score of my 45 years of golf. Thrilled, excited and deeply grateful, I called the hotel concierge for transportation and then emailed my golf colleagues at home to share the news of my age-breaking round.
Conclusion
In the end, I realized that although I had come to Verbier mainly for the music, I was leaving with something more, broader and deeper. Before the trip, I expected beautiful concerts, famous artists, and memorable performances. All those expectations were
fulfilled. The concerts were bringing together celebrated musicians, gifted young performers, and devoted listeners from many parts of the world. Yet as the days passed, I began to understand that the festival was not only a series of musical events. It was also a complete experience shaped by place surrounded by the craggy and verdant alpine, idyllic and serene atmosphere, and peaceful and tranquil daily rhythm that took place in the village.
What made Verbier unforgettable was the way everything seemed to belong together. I remember the morning walking along the peaceful, festive and exclusive Rue de Medran, the white glacier-covered peaks, the traditional Swiss chalets, Countless gondolas gliding up and down against the high white glacier – capped peaks even in warm summer. Chalets resting peacefully on the slopes, sheep grazing on the steep alpine hillsides, the magnificent mountains standing quietly in the clear alpine air and the Alps’ panoramic view from, and the cool night air on the hotel balcony, and the feeling that life had slowed down to a more
graceful pace. During the day, village life moved at an easy, graceful pace; and in the evening, the promise of music filled the streets with gentle excitement. The landscape prepared the heart to listen, and the music made the mountains feel even more alive.
In Verbier, music did not stay inside the concert hall. It seemed to drift through the village, along the mountain paths, and into the clear alpine sky.
This is why this journey touched me so deeply. It gave me artistic pleasure through the performances, but it also gave me peace through the surroundings and gratitude through the people who shared the experience. I remember the applause after a concert, but I also remember the silence afterward, when the melodies remained in my mind as we returned through the cool mountain air.
For that reason, the 2026 Verbier Festival will remain one of my most treasured travel experiences. It was more than a trip to attend concerts or visit a beautiful Swiss mountain village. It was a rare moment when extraordinary music, natural beauty, and quiet happiness came together. When I left Verbier, I carried not only memories of great performances, but also a lasting sense of calm, gratitude, and inner peace. Perhaps that is what makes a journey truly meaningful: not how many places we visited, but how deeply one special place became part of our memory.
Verbier will remain in my memory as a place where the mountains were beautiful, the music was unforgettable, and life seemed, for a little while, to move at a more graceful pace.
Surrounded by alpine beauty, inspired by extraordinary music, and challenged by a memorable round of golf, I found an experience I will always treasure. The mountains gave the journey its beauty; the music gave it meaning. And the people and experiences along the way gave it memories that I will carry with gratitude for years to come.