If you dream of exploring storybook castles, strolling through medieval villages, tasting world-famous cheese and chocolate, riding to mountaintops with views of the Alps, or sipping wine in sun-soaked vineyards, then you need to visit Montreux and the Swiss Riviera on your next trip to Switzerland!
But before you can enjoy all of that, you need to make sure you don’t overlook the key components that will make or break your trip to this region. For example,
- How many days should I spend here?
- Where is the most central location to stay in this area?
- Do I need a car, or is there a train pass for this region?
- What are the can’t-miss experiences?
- How do I connect Montreux with the other destinations on my Swiss vacation?
Today we’re answering your biggest questions so you can spend less time stressing and more time soaking in this stunning slice of Switzerland.
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Where is Montreux and the Swiss Riviera
The Swiss Riviera stretches from Lausanne to Montreux, including Vevey, Villeneuve, and the Lavaux vineyards. It’s iconic for its Mediterranean feel of brightly colored houses, adorable villages, sprawling vineyards, sun-kissed hills, and lakeside promenades.
Loads of famous people have been charmed by the beauty here. Charlie Chaplin lived in Vevey, Freddy Mercury lived and worked in Montreux, and Audrey Hepburn also had a house near Lausanne. But what makes the Swiss Riviera even more special is the lake it sits on!
Lake Geneva is the largest lake in Switzerland, and technically is shared by Switzerland and France. It’s shaped like a crescent moon, measuring 45 miles (73km) long and nearly 9 miles (14km) wide and as deep as 1,000 feet (310m). For context, it takes around 3 hours to drive around the entire lake and it’s deeper than 100 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
The real name of Lake Geneva is actually Lac Léman, but it has a different name in German, Italian, and English. In this post, we will be calling it “Lake Geneva” because we don’t speak French (we will try our best, but our brains only function in English, German, and Italian, and those latter two are serviceable at best).
How to Reach Montreux and the Swiss Riviera
So what’s the best way to reach this fairytale region of Switzerland?
If you’re flying from abroad or from anywhere in Europe, Geneva is the closest airport. From the airport on the west side of the lake, it’s about a 50-minute direct train to Lausanne or 1-hour and 15 minute direct train to Montreux.
But you can also easily get to Montreux by train from other Swiss destinations as well. You’ll need as little as:
- 3 hours from Lucerne,
- 2 hours and 15 minutes from Interlaken,
- and 2 hours and 45 minutes from Zürich, Basel, or Zermatt.
And by car, those times are a bit shorter:
- Lucerne is 2 hours 20 minutes,
- Interlaken is 1 hour 45 minutes,
- Zürich is 2 hours 45 minutes,
- Basel is 2 hours 15 minutes,
- and Zermatt is 2 hours.
GoldenPass Express Scenic Train
If we haven’t met, we’re Jana and Brett, Aplins in the Alps, and we’ve been helping you travel Switzerland with confidence since 2021 through our YouTube videos and Swiss Travel Guides. We live near Interlaken, so if your itinerary includes a stop there, we highly recommend the GoldenPass scenic train line!
It’s a beautiful 3 hour 15 minute journey between Interlaken and Montreux. And besides the obvious panoramic views and splurge-worthy Prestige Class, the GoldenPass Express is the first train in the world to change from metric to standard gauge widths while also raising the carriages! If you’re not sure what that means or why it’s cool, we explain more in this video, including two other swanky train experiences we think you’ll enjoy along this route.
Once you arrive in Montreux, you’re on the far eastern side of the lake. And in our opinion, this is the prettiest side of the lake.
If you’re coming by car, it’s best to book a hotel or Airbnb that offers parking. In the city, you can park in the blue or white zones for about 4 CHF/hour, or in a parking garage for 10–50 CHF/day depending on the location. In general, it’s cheaper to not have a car in this area, and we’ll explain more about guest cards and public transportation later.
If you arrive by train, it’s just a 5-minute downhill walk from the station to the lake promenade and boat dock.
Orientation to Montreux and the Swiss Riviera
Before we go any further, it’s ultra important to know that the Swiss Riviera is hilly. That means, the farther you go from the lake, the hillier it gets! And Google Maps or Apple Maps won’t always mention this important detail.
For example, that 5-minute walk between the train station and boat dock has an elevation difference of 60 feet. That’s like walking up or down a 6-story building in just a few minutes.
And these two train stations look next door to each other, right? But what the map doesn’t show is that the 300-meter walk between them covers more than 100-feet of elevation change.
So make sure to pay attention to lakeside proximity when booking your lodging. Because getting sweaty hauling your luggage up a steep hill is not a fun welcome to the Swiss Riviera. Thankfully there are some stairs and elevators throughout Montreux, but that’s still no fun with your baggage!
Things to do in Montreux and the Swiss Riviera
So what can you do while you’re here? Well, there are endless possibilities but here are a few of the highlights:
- Explore the fairytale Château de Chillon set right on Lake Geneva, and the hidden Fort de Chillon in the mountain right beside the castle.
- Enjoy hours of fun and games in the Olympic Museum or the Swiss Game Museum.
- Hop on board the Lavaux Express for a scenic ride and wine tasting in the vineyards.
- Cruise along Lake Geneva on a boat.
- Or ride a cogwheel train up to Rochers-de-Naye.
- Or relax on the GoldenPass Express panorama train to Interlaken.
- Sample authentic Swiss chocolate at the Cailler Chocolate Factory or do a cheese tasting at the Gruyères Cheese Factory.
- Spend time with Charlie Chaplin at Chaplin’s World Museum or with Freddie Mercury at the Queen Studio Experience Museum.
By the way, if you’re coming with at least one other adult and plan to do even just a few of the activities on this list, then be sure to buy the Swiss Coupon Pass before your trip.
This digital book has more than 100 buy-one-get-one-free discounts in Switzerland, including 9 that we have specifically mentioned in this post, worth up to a combined 320 CHF!
- Olympic Museum
- Lavaux Express
- Chaplin’s World
- 2-hour boat cruise
- Train to Rochers-de-Naye
- First Class Upgrade on GoldenPass Panoramic or Belle Epoque
- Fort de Chillon
- Maison Cailler
- La Maison du Gruyeres entrance and cheese fondue
We know Switzerland can be expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. We personally used the Swiss Coupon Pass on our last trip to the area and were blown away by how much money it saved us. And you can save even more by using the code AFFAPLINSINTHEALPS to save 20% on your purchase of the Swiss Coupon Pass!
How long to stay in Montreux and the Swiss Riviera
Okay, so how in the world do you craft all those ideas into a realistic itinerary? First, we’d recommend staying at least 3 days in this area. That gives you a great balance of exploring the towns, vineyards, mountains, and lake — while leaving space for a day trip nearby.
In fact, we spent months creating our 3-Day Guide to Montreux. If we were coming here for the first time, this is exactly what we’d do. Or if we sat down with you over coffee to help plan your trip here, this is exactly what we’d recommend.
It has detailed step-by-step itineraries, transportation tips, food recommendations, day trip ideas, and more. So if you want to skip the research and just show up ready to enjoy Montreux, buy it today and save yourself hours of planning.
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Where to Stay in Montreux and the Swiss Riviera
Speaking of planning, you’re going to need somewhere to stay. And Montreux is the most central place to stay in the Swiss Riviera because it’s convenient for pretty much everything you’ll want to do during your trip.
- Château de Chillon is in the village of Veytaux, less than 5 minutes by train.
- Vevey is another town worth visiting, and it lies to the west just 5–10 minutes by train.
- Lausanne, as we mentioned earlier, is another 15 minutes past Vevey.
- And in between Lausanne and Vevey, is Lavaux, a stunning UNESCO World Heritage Region with terraced vineyards and storybook villages.
Unfortunately, staying in Montreux can be very expensive. Thankfully, there are lots of villages dotting the lake connected by regional train lines, so you could easily stay in a nearby town to save some money on lodging without sacrificing too much convenience.
Personally, our preferred place to stay and the spot we recommend as an alternative to Montreux is Vevey. It’s a little smaller, less hilly, and filled with plenty of restaurants, cafes, and even sightseeing opportunities to keep you busy for a few days.
Another village to consider is Villeneuve, one stop past Château de Chillon. It’s much smaller and has fewer amenities, but it might be the best option if you’re traveling on a budget.
Montreux Riviera Card (Montreux Guest Card)
No matter where you stay between Vevey and Villeneuve, overnight guests will receive a complimentary Montreux Riviera Card. This is a Guest Card entitling you to free travel between Montreux and those two towns, and throughout the zones shown on this map.
That means you won’t think you’re saving money booking lodging in a small town just to spend more money on transportation, since you can travel for free with this card. And the Riviera Card has additional benefits too, like free travel on a handful of local funiculars and a variety of discounted attractions such as boat rides.
If you happen to be staying in Lausanne, there’s a separate guest card for that city with similar benefits too. Just be aware that the free location transportation in Lausanne is for a different area than offered by the Riviera Card.
Hotels in Montreux and the Swiss Riviera
If you’re like us, then you start to look for lodging and are overwhelmed by hundreds of options. I mean really, how are we supposed to narrow them all down?
And that’s one of the reasons why we love HotelCard. They partner with select 3-, 4-, and 5-star hotels in Switzerland to offer discounted rates to members. And it’s not unusual to save more on a one-night stay than what you paid for the annual membership.
But with our link you get an additional 20 CHF discount, making HotelCard a no brainer. And you can even search for availability before you purchase the card to see if it fits with your itinerary.
We’ve personally used HotelCard to book stays in Montreux, Vevey, and Villeneuve. Our room and terrace at the hotel in Montreux were directly on the promenade with stunning lakefront views. The hotel in Vevey had an amazing rooftop hot tub, and we also had a waterfront view from our room in Villeneuve.
Unfortunately HotelCard is not available to residents of all countries.
But another option you could try, especially if simplicity is valuable to you, is booking a holiday package through the Switzerland Travel Center.
Their packages bundle hotels and train travel into a single purchase, allowing you to snag your nightly lodging, train pass, and even scenic train tickets with seat reservations in a single transaction.
As a bonus, they even sometimes have the ability to get their customers booked onto scenic trains that are showing as completely booked out! So be sure to look into the GoldenPass Express Classic or one of their other train journey holidays, and use the code AFFAPLINSINTHEALPS to benefit from a 5% discount.
Now some of you will probably book your lodging with something like Airbnb or VRBO. Just remember what we mentioned earlier about this region being so hilly. You will find lots of options further up in the hills, and we’ve stayed above the lake like this a few times. But we highly recommend making sure your lodging is near a bus stop or train station with quick access to Vevey or Montreux.
I particularly remember this time we stayed in a pink Airbnb on a vineyard in Lavaux. It had stunning views from the giant terrace and was just a short walk from a train station, but we fully accepted that it was a hike down to the waterfront.
When to Visit Montreux and the Swiss Riviera
Since this is the Swiss Riviera, you’re probably hoping to experience that mild Mediterranean climate. And you’re in luck with plenty of sunshine and moderate temperatures throughout the year. While the Winter can certainly be chilly, Spring and Fall can be really pleasant. But just be prepared that it could be quite hot in the Summer — don’t forget your sunscreen!
So if you’re coming in July or August, like for the Montreux Jazz Festival, we’d pack for 75°F (24°C) and sunny, but also bring options for 90°F (32°C) and even 60°F (16°C). And if you’ll be visiting during Christmas market season, expect a chilly and breezy40°F (-10°C).
As always, MeteoSwiss has the most accurate weather info. And like most places in Switzerland, you can always check the webcams before you visit to see a live view of the skies. And if you need more help packing, you can download our free SwitzerlandPacking List for all 4 seasons.
Montreux and Swiss Riviera Train Passes and Public Transportation
Another question you might be wondering about is how to get around this area. Of course you can drive to many places, but we find that public transportation is easiest. There are trains and buses, and even funiculars and boats, that reach all of the tourist destinations.
And if you’re familiar with our other posts, then you’ve heard us mention train passes before. For most travelers to Switzerland, not buying a train pass is like throwing your money in the garbage.
So most of you will benefit from using the Swiss Half Fare Card and the free Montreux Riviera Card — especially if sticking to a budget is a top priority for you. The Swiss Half Fare Card provides a 50% discount on nearly every ride in this region and throughout the entire country.
But if you value convenience and have already decided that the Swiss Travel Pass makes sense for your whole Swiss itinerary, then you’ll enjoy having it here too. It functions as your ticket on nearly every public transport journey you’re likely to take while you’re here, and provides free or discounted admission to loads of museums. For example, the Swiss Travel Pass could save you 65 CHF total if you visit Château de Chillon, the Olympic Museum, Cailler Chocolate Factory, and Gruyères Cheese Factory.
If you will have the Swiss Travel Pass, make note that it only provides a 50% discount on a portion of the journey to Rochers-de-Naye. And don’t forget to consider that the Riviera Card offers free local transport so you may not get a ton of value out of your Swiss Travel Pass for the days you’re here, depending on your specific plans.
I feel like we should also tell you that there is a train pass for this region, called the Lake Geneva-Alps Pass. But most of you won’t want to buy this pass and here’s why: it combines 2-3 days of “unlimited” travel and 3-4 days of merely discounted travel (although plenty of the routes on those “unlimited” days are only discounted) — making it kinda confusing and inconvenient to use.
So you could theoretically make an itinerary to maximize this complex pass, but truthfully, the majority of you will get the most benefit from just the Swiss Travel Pass or the Half Fare Card and the Riviera Card.
Montreux Travel Guide
But if you want to take the guesswork out of constructing an itinerary, deciding what’s really worth your time, and figuring out which train pass really is best, be sure to check out our 3-Day Guide to Montreux or read this next, and we’ll see you in Switzerland!
