Montreux

Built on rock inside the lake, so the water strikes the wall directly. The pillared undercroft was a store and a prison, and once Byron wrote a poem about a man held there visitors came from across Europe; one pillar carries a name said to be cut by him.

The train joins two railways of different gauge and removes the change between them. At one station it crawls over a device that resets the wheel spacing. Passengers stay in their seats for it. It has run so since 2022, and front seats are behind the driver.

A path along the water to the next town, planted with beds and lined with palms. The mountains keep the north wind off, so leaves do not freeze and palms and agaves winter outdoors. Bicycles share it with walkers; step aside when a bell rings.

The summer festival falls in July, and with several stages outside the paid halls more people listen without a ticket than with one. A statue of a singer long tied to the festival faces the lake, and flowers are left at its feet whatever the season.

Just below the summit a set of burrows holds marmots of several kinds. They sleep the winter through, so from late autumn to spring they are inside and nothing shows. An alpine garden next to it grows only what comes up on this mountain.

Terraces held by stone walls face the lake, and a path between the villages runs through them. People here speak of three suns: the one overhead, the one off the water, and the heat the walls give back at night. That path gets almost no shade.

A giant stainless fork stands upright in the water off the next town. It went in as a short-term piece in front of a food museum, stayed because people liked it, and is now the most photographed thing on this stretch of shore.

Hotels raised at the close of the nineteenth century for people sent here to recover line the hillside. Long south-facing balconies where patients were laid out run along each floor, which makes the storeys look thick. Most are schools or flats now and closed.

The open deck is windy, so bring a layer. Boats run from the town pier to the castle and take longer than walking. People take one anyway, because the way the castle sits on the water only reads from the water.

Through December stalls line the shore. A sleigh with a Santa in it crosses the air above the lake on a wire. The stall lanes are tight and the evening crowd shuffles, so daytime is easier. A cave up the hill holds a second set, reached by cable car.

The manor at Corsier above Vevey where Charlie Chaplin spent his last years, turned into a museum in 2016. The house is kept as the family lived in it, and a studio building next door recreates film scenes as sets. His grave lies apart in the village cemetery.

A small free exhibit inside the casino, in the space of Mountain Studios where Queen recorded albums. The mixing desk, handwritten lyrics and stage costumes are on show. Fans have covered the walls with scribbled messages.

A forest path climbing the ravine from behind Montreux station toward Les Avants, crossing several bridges beside the stream. Take the train back down from the top and you only walk uphill. After rain the rock is slick, so wear hiking boots.

In May wild narcissus whiten the slopes of Les Avants and Glion above Montreux, a sight called May snow. Take the train uphill, then follow the paths downhill through the fields. Signs everywhere ask you not to pick them.

A castle set among vineyards where the Rhone valley opens out, housing a museum of vines and wine. From the tower windows, rows of vines ring the walls. Montreux is close by train; from the station you climb on foot between the vines.

A tiny hilltop town with one cobbled street and a castle in its walls, a day trip from Montreux by train over the hills. By the castle is a museum of Giger, who designed Alien, an odd mix. Below, a dairy shows cheese made in big vats behind glass.