DDLJ Shooting Locations in Switzerland: Chasing Raj and Simran Across the Swiss Alps

Some trips begin with a destination. This one began with a movie.

By December 2019, Switzerland was already familiar territory for me. I had visited the country four times before and had explored many of its famous mountain roads, scenic train journeys, charming villages, and breathtaking Alpine landscapes. Switzerland had long been one of my favourite countries in Europe. Yet when we started planning our winter road trip across Europe in 2019, I knew this visit would be completely different.

The reason had nothing to do with Switzerland.

It had everything to do with Sunitha.

Like millions of Indians who grew up in the 1990s, she is a die-hard fan of Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, and of course Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ). For her, Switzerland was never simply another country. It was Raj and Simran’s Switzerland. It was the Switzerland of green meadows, mountain trains, wooden bridges, tiny churches, and unforgettable Bollywood moments that had lived in her imagination for more than two decades.

As we planned our 22-day European road trip covering nearly 12,000 kilometres, I decided to dedicate seven days to Switzerland and build an itinerary around the most famous DDLJ shooting locations in Switzerland. The plan sounded simple enough. Visit the locations, recreate a few iconic moments, take photographs, and continue towards Italy.

What actually happened became one of the most memorable family journeys we have ever taken.

Because somewhere along the way, we stopped following a movie.

And started creating memories of our own.

Why Switzerland Became Every Indian Traveller’s Dream

Long before Instagram influencers, travel vlogs, and destination weddings became popular, Bollywood had already introduced Switzerland to India.

Much of that credit belongs to Yash Chopra.

His films transformed the Swiss Alps into symbols of romance for an entire generation. Snow-covered mountains, flower-filled meadows, charming villages, and railway stations became part of India’s collective imagination. Switzerland was no longer simply a European country. It became a dream destination.

Then came DDLJ.

Released in 1995, the film became more than a blockbuster. It became a cultural phenomenon. Even today, travellers continue searching for DDLJ shooting locations in Switzerland, planning their own Switzerland road trip, and following the footsteps of Raj and Simran across the country.

Nearly 29 years later, we found ourselves doing exactly the same.

Saanen: Where Raj and Simran Still Live

Our DDLJ journey began in Saanen, a beautiful Swiss village near Gstaad. If you are planning a DDLJ Switzerland itinerary, this is one of the most important stops. Several memorable scenes from the movie were filmed here, and the village continues to attract Bollywood fans from around the world.

The moment we arrived, something felt familiar. Although I had never stood on those exact streets before, the surroundings felt strangely recognisable. That is the power of cinema. You spend years watching a place on screen and feel as though you already know it when you finally arrive.

The biggest difference was the season.

The Switzerland shown in DDLJ is filled with sunshine, flowers, and green meadows. We arrived to find snow-covered rooftops, frozen pathways, and white mountains surrounding the village.

Yet somehow the magic remained.

Watching Sunitha walk through Saanen was perhaps more enjoyable than visiting the location itself. For her, this was not simply another stop on a European holiday.

This was a place she had dreamed about since 1995.

St. Mauritius Church: The Most Emotional Stop

Google Maps: https://maps.google.com/?q=St+Mauritius+Church+Saanen

One of the highlights of Saanen is the beautiful St. Mauritius Church, one of the most recognisable Bollywood locations in Switzerland.

The church stood quietly beneath fresh winter snow when we arrived. There were no crowds, no souvenir shops, and no signs celebrating its Bollywood fame. It remained exactly what it had always been — a peaceful church serving the local community.

Yet for Indian travellers, it represents something much larger.

Standing there, listening to the occasional church bell echo through the valley, I realised this trip was no longer about finding filming locations. It was becoming about the memories attached to them.

The church looked completely different from the version we had seen on screen for decades.

And yet it felt exactly the same.

The Famous Palat Palat Bridge

Google Maps: https://maps.google.com/?q=Holzbrücke+Saanen

Every Bollywood fan remembers the scene.

Raj walks away. Simran watches him. And then comes one of the most iconic moments in Indian cinema history.

Palat… Palat… Palat…

The traditional wooden bridge near Saanen is where that unforgettable sequence was filmed.

Standing on the bridge nearly twenty-five years later felt surreal. Snow covered the wooden structure during our visit, creating a completely different atmosphere from the movie. Yet the emotion remained unchanged.

Unlike many film locations around the world, the bridge remains remarkably authentic. There are no giant signs or commercial attractions built around it. It simply exists as part of everyday Swiss life.

And perhaps that is what makes it special.

Gstaad: Walking Through a Bollywood Postcard

The drive from Saanen to Gstaad felt like travelling through a giant Christmas card.

Snow-covered chalets lined the roads. Decorated shop windows glowed beneath the winter sky. Every corner looked picture perfect.

Gstaad has appeared in numerous Bollywood productions and remains one of the most famous Bollywood locations in Switzerland. Walking through the promenade felt like stepping into scenes that had lived in our imagination for decades.

Most visitors arrive looking for movie scenes.

We found ourselves simply enjoying the atmosphere.

Sometimes travel becomes more enjoyable when you stop searching for a scene and start appreciating where you are.

Early Beck Bakery: A Sweet Stop in Bollywood History

Google Maps: https://maps.google.com/?q=Early+Beck+Gstaad

One of my favourite memories from Gstaad was not a mountain, a church, or a famous landmark.

It was a bakery.

We stopped at Early Beck Bakery for coffee, pastries, cakes, and chocolates while escaping the winter cold. The smell of freshly baked bread filled the air while locals quietly went about their day.

Years later, I still remember that stop.

Travel memories are rarely built only from landmarks. Sometimes they are built around a warm pastry, a hot coffee, and a conversation shared while snow falls outside.

For a brief moment, we forgot about itineraries and filming locations. We simply enjoyed being there.

Gstaad-Saanen Airfield

Google Maps: https://maps.google.com/?q=Gstaad+Saanen+Airport

A short drive away sits the Gstaad-Saanen Airfield, another lesser-known DDLJ filming location.

Most tourists never visit it.

Yet Bollywood fans will instantly recognise the surrounding landscapes.

The dramatic Alpine backdrop, open surroundings, and peaceful atmosphere explain why filmmakers kept returning to this region. Unlike major attractions, the airfield remains wonderfully quiet.

No crowds. No queues. No tourist buses. Just mountains and open skies.

Zweisimmen Railway Station

Google Maps: https://maps.google.com/?q=Zweisimmen+Railway+Station

For most travellers, Zweisimmen is simply another railway station.

For Bollywood fans, it is part of cinematic history.

Watching trains arrive through the snowy landscape instantly brought back memories from the film. What I loved most was its authenticity. People still commute. Trains still arrive. Life continues exactly as it always has.

The station remains a functioning part of Switzerland rather than a tourist attraction.

That authenticity makes it unforgettable.

Lake Lungern: The Switzerland We Had Seen on Screen for Decades

Google Maps: https://maps.google.com/?q=Lake+Lungern

If there was one place that instantly felt like the Switzerland we had imagined while growing up watching Bollywood, it was Lake Lungern.

Surrounded by dramatic mountains and impossibly beautiful scenery, the lake represents everything that made Switzerland a dream destination for Indian travellers.

Standing there during winter felt surreal. The Switzerland shown in the movie was green, colourful, and full of sunshine. The Switzerland standing in front of us was covered in snow.

Yet somehow it felt even more beautiful.

The lake was calm. The mountains appeared larger than life. The entire landscape looked as though somebody had painted it.

For a long time, we simply stood there in silence.

No photograph could truly capture what it felt like.

Following Yash Chopra’s Footsteps in Interlaken

Yash Chopra Statue: https://maps.google.com/?q=Yash+Chopra+Statue+Interlaken

Victoria Jungfrau Grand Hotel: https://maps.google.com/?q=Victoria+Jungfrau+Grand+Hotel+Interlaken

No Bollywood pilgrimage through Switzerland would be complete without visiting the Yash Chopra Statue in Interlaken.

Standing beside it, I found myself reflecting on how one filmmaker changed the travel dreams of an entire generation.

But our Interlaken experience did not end there.

We also visited the famous Victoria Jungfrau Grand Hotel, where Yash Chopra stayed during many of his visits to Switzerland. The hotel became closely associated with his love for the country and his connection to Interlaken.

We decided to have dinner there.

As we sat looking toward the mountains that had inspired countless Bollywood moments, it became easy to understand why Yash Chopra kept returning year after year.

For Indian travellers, it is more than a luxury hotel.

It is part of Bollywood history.

Winter Switzerland Versus DDLJ’s Summer Switzerland

One of the biggest surprises of the trip was seeing how different Switzerland looked compared to the movie.

DDLJ gave us sunshine, flowers, and endless green meadows.

We got snow. A lot of snow.

Every location looked different. The famous green fields were hidden beneath white blankets. Yet winter added its own charm. The roads were quieter. The villages felt more intimate. The mountains appeared larger.

Instead of recreating DDLJ exactly, we discovered an entirely different Switzerland.

And honestly, I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

Living Our Own DDLJ Moments

One of the best parts of the trip was our accommodation.

We stayed in a traditional wooden chalet surrounded by winter scenery. Every evening we returned after long days of driving through the Swiss Alps and visiting DDLJ filming locations.

The fireplace would be burning. Food would be ready. Snow would be falling quietly outside.

Those evenings became some of my favourite memories of the entire journey. Not because they were connected to DDLJ. Because they were connected to us.

Travel memories are rarely built only from attractions. They are built from conversations, meals, laughter, and quiet moments shared together.

Years later, when I think about Switzerland, I often remember the warmth of that chalet before I remember the famous landmarks.

The One Thing Missing

There was only one problem.

Snow and my kids.

The Switzerland shown in DDLJ is filled with green meadows and romantic summer scenery. Our Switzerland was covered in snow. And every time Sunitha tried to recreate a Raj and Simran moment, Julius or Jordan somehow appeared in the frame.

A joke. A laugh. A photobomb.A random interruption.

What was supposed to be Bollywood romance often became family comedy. Looking back, I wouldn’t change a thing. Because those interruptions became part of our story.

Final Thoughts: The Movie Gave Us the Dream. Switzerland Gave Us the Memory.

As we crossed from Switzerland into Italy, I realised this journey had never really been about recreating DDLJ.

The movie simply gave us a reason to travel.

What Switzerland gave us was something far more valuable.

It gave us stories; The church bells of Saanen. The Palat Palat bridge. The pastries at Early Beck Bakery. The snow-covered streets of Gstaad. The railway platforms of Zweisimmen. The beauty of Lake Lungern. The tribute to Yash Chopra in Interlaken.

And perhaps most importantly, the evenings spent inside a wooden chalet, sitting beside a warm fireplace while snow quietly fell outside.

Looking back, the funniest part of the journey is that we never really succeeded in recreating DDLJ exactly. The snow transformed every landscape. The green meadows we had watched on screen for decades were hidden beneath winter white. And every time Sunitha attempted to recreate a Raj and Simran moment, Julius or Jordan somehow appeared in the frame and turned Bollywood romance into family comedy.

At the time, it felt as though they were ruining the scene. Today, those interruptions are among my favourite memories. Because that is what family travel looks like.

It is not perfect. It is not scripted. And it rarely goes according to plan.

Yet that is exactly what makes it memorable.

This was my fifth visit to Switzerland. I had already seen many of the mountains, driven many of the roads, and experienced much of what makes the country special. Yet this became the Switzerland trip I remember most.

Not because of the scenery. Not because of the movie.

But because I experienced both through the eyes of someone who had waited more than twenty years to be there.

Travel has taught me something over the years. Movies may inspire us to dream. Destinations may inspire us to book tickets. But the memories we keep forever are usually the ones we never planned. They happen somewhere between the famous attractions. Somewhere between the itinerary and reality. Somewhere between expectation and experience.

For Indian travellers, DDLJ may be the reason Switzerland first appears on the bucket list. But once you arrive, Switzerland becomes much more than a Bollywood destination. It becomes a place of mountains, lakes, villages, road trips, family moments, and stories that stay with you long after you return home.

The movie gave us the dream.

Switzerland gave us the memory.

And somewhere between the Palat Palat bridge in Saanen, the snowy shores of Lake Lungern, a warm dinner at Victoria Jungfrau in Interlaken, and evenings spent beside a fireplace in our wooden chalet, we discovered that the best journeys are not the ones that follow a movie script.

They are the journeys that begin as a dream inspired by someone else and end as memories that belong entirely to you.

I’ve also added my old Switzerland travel video below. Back then, I was documenting my travels through YouTube rather than through long-form storytelling and blogs. Looking back, it’s interesting to see how both my travels and the way I share them have evolved over the years.

How To Explore Switzerland And Must Do Places of DDLJ Movie

Your Turn

• Have you ever visited a place that lived in your imagination long before it appeared in your passport?

Was reality better than the dream?