Day 1
We arrived in Montreux in the early afternoon and headed straight to our hotel to check-in. After recharging in our room for a bit our first order of business was finding a late lunch so, we headed out along the waterfront in search of something to eat.
After walking for about 10 minutes we came across the Li Lo, a small café and bar situated right on the water. They had a few tables available so we took a seat and perused the menu.
We ordered a drinks as well as some food. There was a slight mix-up with our order and another table but, eventually they got it sorted out. Food and drink in hand, we kicked back and enjoyed the view out over the lake.
Relaxed and recharged, we headed back along the waterfront towards the center of town. Both the lake and walkway were filled with people enjoying the tail end of Summer. As a wakeboarder, I especially enjoyed seeing all of the towboats in action. We certainly don’t get backdrops like that in Texas!
As we neared the center of town, we heard music coming from an open air pavilion. Apparently a festival honoring Freddy Mercury was occurring during our stay.
The show at the time was open to the public and we listened to the band for a couple of minutes before continuing down the waterfront. We found a Mövenpick Ice Cream stall nearby and after grabbing a couple of cones went to sit on the beach. Once the ice cream was gone we headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. After changing and getting ready, we started with cocktails on the outdoor terrace of the hotel as the sun was starting to set.
With drinks finished we headed out to make our way to the restaurant. Mrs. ATX wanted fondue and found a place located up the hill away from the waterfront, Restaurant le Museum. While the name doesn’t get much of an indication of the food, it had great reviews online so we made our way off the beaten path to the restaurant.
We checked in with the hostess and were immediately shown to our table. As far as I could tell, all of the tables were outside and we had a nice view of the lake below and the mountains on the horizon. While the view was nice upon our arrival, it turned in to one of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve ever seen. Even the restaurant staff paused to take pictures as the sky lit up bright orange. The photos below are completely unedited and taken with my iPhone.
With the light show over it was time for dinner. Mrs. ATX ordered a traditional fondue dish while I had a steak. My steak was delicious and she really enjoyed her dish, though the potatoes and cheese filled her up quickly.
After dinner, we were exhausted from a long day of travel so we returned back to the hotel for the night.
Day 2
Needing to catch up on some sleep, we didn’t set an alarm and woke up the next morning around 10:30a. After breakfast at the hotel we headed across the street to the train station to make the short ride to Château de Chillon. Thanks to our public transit passes provided by the hotel, all of our rail transport around Montreux was covered.
Chillon Castle
After a quick train trip, I love the efficiency of Swiss rail, we got off and made the 5 minute walk from the station to the castle grounds along the waterfront. The weather this morning was perfect which made for an enjoyable walk.
We headed straight to the ticket booth and thankfully there was no line. We used our Montreux Card to get a discount on the tickets and headed inside the gates into the main courtyard of the castle.
There are self guided and audio tour options for exploring the castle. Mrs. ATX and I chose the self guided option and found that the path was very well marked and easy to follow. Our first stop was in the cellar of the castle that was also used as the jail. The bedrock that the castle was built upon is visible here and there are some small windows that overlook the lake allowing some light to come in.
After leaving the cellar, we wound through the chapel area before heading back outside into another courtyard space.
From there, we headed into the main residence area of the castle. The castle was expanded multiple times over the 800+ years of its existence and reflected the importance of controlling the trade route between Lake Geneva and the Rhône River valley. As impressive and important as the castle is, the bed still doesn’t look like somewhere I’d want to spend the night.
The bathtub was also interesting and was essentially a big wooden barrel draped with cloth.
Though it was built as a fortress, the castle still had amazing views every time you looked out the window. No wonder the Counts of Savoy decided to summer here.
We left the main living quarters and crossed through some covered outdoor passageways a few levels up from the main courtyard. There were also some cannons situated here that guarded the castle from the road below.
Finally we ended out tour up in the keep, where many of the weapons would have been stashed. You’re probably tired of pictures by now but, since this was the highest point of the castle, the views from here were even better.
Our tour complete, we headed out through the gift shop. I found the perfect book for kids that think they have it rough.
We left the castle and started walking along the waterfront back towards the train station. Since it was such a nice day, we decided to pass up the first station and keep walking along the lake back towards Montreux.
Montreux Open and a Cog Railway
During our walk, we stumbled upon a tennis club where the Montreux Open was being played. Mrs. ATX played competitive tennis through college so we decided to pop in and see what was going on. I’m not sure if admission was free or if nobody asked to see if we had tickets but, we ended up sitting courtside for one of the matches and had lunch.
Across the highway from the tennis club was the Territet-Glion funicular station. We planned to ride the funicular up to Glion where we would connect over to the Montreux–Glion–Rochers-de-Naye cog railway line. There was a car waiting in the station and soon we were headed up the mountain. While the view climbing the hill was great, the glare from the car windows made it difficult to capture on camera.
In Glion we transferred over to the cog railway. Since the stations are steep and short, there are only certain stops where the full train can be loaded. Large items are loaded into an open air car connected to the front of the train for transport.
While the line goes all the way to the top of Rochers-de-Naye, we disembarked earlier in Haut de Caux. Beyond this point our Montreux Cards were only valid for a discount instead of free travel and we wanted to explore a bit instead of doing a direct turn at the top. After disembarking the train we had roughly 40 minutes before the return journey down the mountain.
There were a few homes scattered around as well as a small hotel and restaurant. We walked around the area for a bit taking in the view before heading to the restaurant to grab a snack and enjoy the weather.
We took a table on the back deck overlooking the lake. We ordered a couple of drinks and bottled waters along with a raspberry tart to share while we relaxed.
Our short time in Haut de Caux passed quickly and we soon had to head back to the station. We boarded the train and rode it all the way down to its terminus in Montreux, across from our hotel. Mrs. ATX wanted to go for a swim so we headed to the hotel to change before making our way down to the water. There was a small beach nearby and we spent about an hour or so swimming into the lake. A curious swan even decided to come and join the party.
By the time we were done swimming it was almost 7:00p. We headed back to the hotel and decompressed in the sauna before heading to our room to change and start packing. We grabbed a round of drinks from the hotel bar at 8:30 before making our way to a nearby restaurant for one final dinner in Montreux. I had my first schnitzel of the trip while Mrs. ATX had the mussels.
Our train to Zermatt wasn’t scheduled to depart until 11:40a so we had a nice, relaxing morning at the hotel and grabbed breakfast in the lobby. At 11:30a we made the short walk over to the station and, with that, our time in Montreux had come to a close.
We really enjoyed the couple of days we spent here and, if given the opportunity, we wouldn’t hesitate to return.
In This Trip Report
- Introduction: The Black Forest and a Trip Across Switzerland
- KLM B787-9 World Business Class (AUS-AMS)
- KLM Crown Lounge 25 Amsterdam (AMS)
- KLM Cityhopper E190 EuroBusiness (AMS-FRA)
- Frankfurt to Badenweiler via Deutsche Bahn
- Park Hotel and Spa KATHARINA Badenweiler
- Exploring Badenweiler
- Badenweiler to Montreux via Swiss Federal Railways
- Grand Hotel Suisse Majestic, Autograph Collection Montreux
- Exploring Montreux
- Montreux to Zermatt via Swiss Federal Railways
- Chalet Hotel Schönegg Zermatt
- Exploring Zermatt
- Zermatt to Zurich via Swiss Federal Railways
- Neues Schloss Privat Hotel Zurich, Autograph Collection
- Exploring Zurich
- A Day Trip to Liechtenstein
- Marhaba Lounge Zurich (ZRH)
- KLM B737-800 Business Class (ZRH-AMS)
- KLM Crown Lounge 52 Amsterdam (AMS)
- KLM B787-9 World Business Class (AMS-AUS)
