Switzerland · Lake Geneva & Valais · Travel guide
What a few days on the Lake Geneva Riviera really cost, why train and boat beat the car between Lausanne and Montreux, and how to experience the Lavaux wine terraces without a coach party.
Photo: Loïc Privet / Pexels
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Estimates for orientation, not booking prices. Getting there means train or car from Switzerland, return, per person. Hotels vary strongly by season: current prices are behind the links below.
Money & payment: You pay in Swiss francs (CHF). Cards and the Twint app work practically everywhere, even on alpine pastures. Many shops accept euros but give change in francs at a poor rate. Service is included in prices; rounding up is customary. Getting there: By train (SBB) or car, 1 to 4 hours from Zurich.
Nine options in three price ranges, each among the best-rated on Booking.com.
Budget
The youth hostel in green surroundings between the Olympic Committee and the lakeshore in Vidy, ten minutes from the station on bus 1 or 25. Dorms and simple double and family rooms, breakfast and Transport Card included, garden with barbecue area.
Right on the lake in Territet, between Montreux and Chillon Castle, Territet station two minutes away. Plain rooms, terrace by the water, breakfast and Riviera Card included. For festival-goers on a small budget the best house on the Riviera, provided you book early.
The cheapest chain hotel in the region on the western edge of the city, with free parking and Bussigny station within walking distance, S-Bahn to Lausanne in ten minutes. Rooms small and functional. For drivers and anyone who only wants to sleep and do the Riviera by train.
Mid-range
Small house in a lane below the cathedral, Place de la Palud and the Flon three minutes on foot. Rooms quiet and freshly renovated, breakfast in the vaulted cellar. For city travellers who want to sleep in the old town, which is rarely possible in Lausanne.
Large four-star hotel with a palm garden between the station and the Place Saint-François, M2 metro outside the door. Rooms modern, some with balconies, good breakfast buffet. For anyone using Lausanne as a base for the Lavaux and Montreux.
Seventies high-rise right on the quay, no beauty from the outside, but with balconies and lake views from almost every room inside. Breakfast with a view of the Dents du Midi, casino and station five minutes away. The lake view at half the palace price.
Luxury
The palace of 1861 in Ouchy with a park down to the lake, two starred restaurants (Anne-Sophie Pic), a spa and a breakfast room under crystal chandeliers. The Treaty of Lausanne was signed here in 1923. For the big occasion, with lake-facing rooms from double the price.
The Belle Epoque house of 1906 where Nabokov lived for 16 years and where the jazz festival puts up its guests. Art nouveau halls, a spa with lake views, rooms from the small city room to the suite with a balcony over the quay. The Montreux of the postcard.
Five-star hotel from 1915 at the top of the city, with a view over the rooftops to the lake and one of the best spas in western Switzerland. Coco Chanel lived here, the IOC meets here. For guests who want to sleep in the centre rather than by the lake and walk to the old town in the evening.
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The IOC museum in Ouchy with torches from every Games, medals, interactive stations and a park with sculptures and lake views. CHF 20 (about EUR 21), free with the Museum Pass, two to three hours. For children from six, one of the best museums in Switzerland.
The water castle on the rock between Montreux and Villeneuve, with cellars, knights' halls and Byron's carved name. CHF 15 (about EUR 16), half with the Riviera Card, one and a half to two hours. On foot from the quay in Montreux 45 minutes, or by boat right up to the gate.
Through the UNESCO terraces from Saint-Saphorin or Chexbres down to Rivaz and Cully, two to three hours, free, with a stop at the Lavaux Vinorama (CHF 17, about EUR 18, for three wines). Guided with a winery visit and tasting from CHF 90.
From Montreux station in 55 minutes up to 2,042 metres, normally around CHF 75 (about EUR 80) return, half with a Half Fare Card or Riviera Card. At the top a marmot park, alpine garden, panoramic views of lake, Alps and Jura. Allow half a day; when there is fog on the lake, it is often sunny up here.
By CGN steamer from Ouchy along the Lavaux terraces via Vevey to Montreux and Chillon, around 90 minutes, CHF 25 (about EUR 27) with a Half Fare Card. The Belle Epoque paddle steamers mainly run on the summer timetable. Boat out, S-Bahn back is the right combination.
The manor house in Corsier above Vevey where Charlie Chaplin lived until 1977, with a studio reconstruction and the original living quarters. CHF 30 (about EUR 32), two to three hours, bus 212 from Vevey station. More expensive than other museums, but one of the best made in the country.
The largest Gothic church in Switzerland with its rose window and the climb up the tower (CHF 5, about EUR 5, 224 steps), the Escaliers du Marché down to the Place de la Palud and on into the Flon. Guided city walks from CHF 20, two hours; at 10 pm the watchman calls from the tower.
The little train on wheels runs from Lutry or Cully through the vineyards in an hour, April to October, CHF 15 (about EUR 16). For anyone who wants to see the Lavaux without hiking, with children or with little time. Book seats in advance at weekends.
The Nestlé Foundation's museum of food on the quay in Vevey, CHF 15 (about EUR 16), two hours, with cookery workshops for children. On Tuesday and Saturday the market on the Grande Place in front, in summer with wine served by the glass. Combines well with Chaplin's World for a Vevey day.
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Vaud cooks French with Swiss roots: fish from the lake, sausage with protected origin, leek and potatoes in winter and Chasselas from the Lavaux with everything. You eat and drink most honestly in the pintes and caveaux of the winegrowing villages, most beautifully on a quay at sunset, and the daily menu is everywhere the way to eat well and affordably.
Small perch fillets fried in butter, with lemon, chips and tartare sauce. The dish of Lake Geneva, CHF 32 to 45 (about EUR 34 to 48), depending on whether the fish really comes from the lake.
Tip:"Perche du Léman" is rare and expensive, the farmed fillets from abroad taste almost the same; honest restaurants say so on the menu.
Leek and potatoes slowly braised, topped with saucisse aux choux, a smoked cabbage sausage with protected origin. The winter meal of the Vaudois, CHF 24 to 30 (about EUR 26 to 32).
Tip:In September the dish is the centrepiece of the village festival in Lutry, when every stall serves it.
Deep-fried cheese balls of Gruyère and white wine, crisp outside, molten inside. CHF 7 to 9 (about EUR 7 to 10) each, two or three fill you up.
Soft cheese from the Vallée de Joux in its spruce box, melted in the oven with garlic and white wine and spooned up with potatoes. October to March only, CHF 25 to 30 (about EUR 27 to 32) for two.
Tip:Making it yourself is easy: box in the oven, 25 minutes at 180 degrees, done.
Puff pastry with pork cracklings, salty and crisp, the traditional Vaud aperitif pastry with white wine. CHF 2 to 3 (about EUR 2 to 3) each at the bakery.
The Chasselas from the steepest sites of the Lavaux, mineral, with notes of honey and flint, one of the great white wines of Switzerland. In a caveau CHF 4 to 5 (about EUR 4 to 5) per decilitre, a bottle from the winegrower from CHF 22.
Tip:The caveaux change the pouring winegrower every week; the rota hangs on the door and is on lavaux.ch.
Smoked pork sausage with protected origin, boiled and served with potato salad or baked in brioche dough as saucisson en brioche. CHF 18 to 26 (about EUR 19 to 28) in a restaurant, CHF 8 to 10 at the butcher.
Flat cream tart with sugar and cinnamon, the Vaud Sunday dessert, simple and very sweet. CHF 4 to 6 (about EUR 4 to 6) a slice.
Through markets and eateries with a guide, tastings included.
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Lausanne grew out of Roman Lousonna on the lakeshore at Vidy, but withdrew in the early Middle Ages to the three hills above, where the bishop built his cathedral. It was consecrated in 1275 in the presence of pope and emperor and remains the largest Gothic church in Switzerland; every night the watchman calls out the hours from the tower between 10 pm and 2 am, as he has for more than 600 years. In 1536 Bern conquered the Vaud, introduced the Reformation and ruled for 262 years as bailiff, until the Vaudois won their freedom in 1798 with French help and became a canton of their own in 1803. In the 19th century the English arrived: first for the cure, then for the climate, and the railway of 1861 turned Montreux into a riviera with palaces and palm trees. Lord Byron had already visited Chillon Castle in 1816 and carved the name of the prisoner Bonivard into a pillar. In 1915 Pierre de Coubertin brought the International Olympic Committee from war-torn Paris to Lausanne, which has been called the "Olympic Capital" ever since. The Lavaux, the wine terraces between Lausanne and Vevey, was laid out by Cistercian monks in the 12th century and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2007. Montreux got its jazz festival in 1967, in 1971 the casino burned down during a Frank Zappa concert, which inspired Deep Purple to write "Smoke on the Water", and Freddie Mercury recorded here until 1991; his statue stands on the quay.
From Zurich the IC takes 2 hours 10 minutes to Lausanne and 2 hours 40 minutes to Montreux, from Bern 65 and 90 minutes respectively, from Basel around 2 hours 20 minutes to Lausanne. With a Half Fare Card, Zurich return costs around CHF 80 (about EUR 86), supersaver tickets from CHF 20 each way. By car it is 230 kilometres on the A1, but Lausanne is one of the steepest cities in Europe with expensive car parks (CHF 25 to 40 a day), and in Montreux the lakeside road is clogged in summer. Between the two towns the S-Bahn runs every 15 minutes, a 25-minute journey, CHF 7 with a Half Fare Card. If you stay in a hotel or youth hostel, you get the Lausanne Transport Card in Lausanne and the Riviera Card in Montreux, which make local public transport free; the Riviera Card also gives 50 per cent off mountain railways and boats. In Lausanne you need the M2 metro, the only underground in Switzerland, which climbs 400 metres from the lake at Ouchy to the station and the old town. The CGN boats connect Lausanne-Ouchy, Vevey, Montreux and Chillon, the Half Fare Card is valid, and the trip along the Lavaux is the most beautiful stretch of the lake, around 90 minutes, CHF 25 with a Half Fare Card.
Lausanne has three locations. Around the station you stay practically, with the M2 up and down, mid-range from CHF 160 (about EUR 171). The old town around the cathedral and the Place de la Palud is lovely in the evening and noisy during the day, and hotels are rare. Ouchy down by the lake has the palaces (Beau-Rivage Palace from CHF 500) and the promenade, but you are a metro ride from the city. Montreux lines its big houses up along the quay: Fairmont Le Montreux Palace, Eden Palace, Grand Hotel Suisse Majestic, rooms with a lake view from CHF 300. The cheaper hotels sit one or two streets behind the quay on the hillside, from CHF 150, and the youth hostel in Territet stands right on the lake for CHF 50. The price trap is called Montreux Jazz: in the two festival weeks at the start of July every room costs double to triple, and without a booking made in winter you get nothing at all. The same on a smaller scale at Christmas with the Christmas market. The honest compromise is Vevey: smaller, more charming, with a market and the Alimentarium, ten minutes by train from Montreux and 15 from Lausanne, hotels 20 to 30 per cent cheaper. If you like wine, sleep in one of the winegrowing villages in the Lavaux (Cully, Epesses, Rivaz), small B&Bs and inns from CHF 140, with the S-Bahn every 30 minutes in both directions.
The Riviera is not cheaper than Geneva, but it is easier to outsmart. First: the Riviera Card from your hotel halves the rack railway to the Rochers-de-Naye (normally around CHF 75, about EUR 80, return from Montreux, with a Half Fare Card CHF 38, with the Riviera Card likewise 50 per cent) and admission to Chillon Castle (normally CHF 15). Second: the Olympic Museum costs CHF 20, the park in front with sculptures and lake view nothing, and with the Swiss Museum Pass or the Raiffeisen card you get in free. Third: the winegrowers' caveaux in the Lavaux, small wine bars in Cully, Epesses, Rivaz and Saint-Saphorin, pour decilitres for CHF 3 to 5 at weekends from May to October, with cheese and dried meat alongside; this is the cheapest wine tasting in Switzerland, and the winegrowers themselves stand behind the counter. Fourth: at lunchtime the daily menu for CHF 20 to 26, even in restaurants that cost CHF 60 in the evening. The traps: filets de perche on the quay in Montreux for CHF 48 with no indication of origin, the trip to Glacier 3000 as an "excursion from Montreux" for CHF 150 when you can have the high mountains more cheaply, and parking by the lake on public holidays. And: the Montreux Jazz has had a large free programme on the lakeshore and in the park for years, the main stages cost CHF 80 to 250, but you get the festival atmosphere for nothing.
The Montreux Jazz Festival runs for two weeks from the start to the middle of July, in 2025 for the first time at the new site around the casino and on the lakeshore, because the convention centre is being rebuilt. For music fans this is the time; for everyone else it is the time when Montreux is full and expensive. May, June and September are the most beautiful months for the lake: swimming weather from mid-June, the quays in full bloom, the boats on the summer timetable. October is the best month for the Lavaux: grape harvest, golden vines, mist in the morning and sun in the afternoon, the caveaux still open. Every 20 to 25 years Vevey hosts the Fête des Vignerons, last held in 2019, next around 2040, so nothing you need to plan for. December brings the Christmas market in Montreux on the quay with the flying Santa Claus over the lake and packed trains at weekends; the market in Lausanne on the Place Saint-François is smaller and quieter. January and February are grey by the lake and sunny on the Rochers-de-Naye, where people snowshoe and sledge above the fog. Lausanne itself is a university city with 50,000 students and therefore alive in November too: the Flon district with its bars and clubs fills up from Thursday.
The walk through the Lavaux is the best half day in the region and costs nothing. Take the S-Bahn to Saint-Saphorin or Chexbres and walk down through the terraces to Rivaz, Epesses and Cully, two to three hours on tarmac winegrowers' paths between walls, with the lake and the Savoy Alps below you. On the way is the Lavaux Vinorama in Rivaz with a film and tasting (CHF 17, about EUR 18, for three wines). Vevey is the town that gets lost between the big names, unjustly: Nestlé headquarters and the Alimentarium (museum of food, CHF 15), the giant fork in the lake, the Chaplin statue on the quay and, above in Corsier, Chaplin's World, the house where Charlie Chaplin lived for 25 years (CHF 30, two to three hours, genuinely worth it). Market day on the Grande Place is Tuesday and Saturday, in summer with wine served in glasses you buy at the stall. The Rochers-de-Naye at 2,042 metres are reached by rack railway from Montreux in 55 minutes; at the top a marmot park, alpine garden, panoramic views of lake, Alps and Jura, and snowshoe trails in winter. In Lausanne itself go to the Sauvabelin tower in the woods above the city (bus 16), a 35-metre wooden tower with a spiral staircase, free, with a view over the city as far as Mont Blanc, and then walk down through the Hermitage park with the Fondation de l'Hermitage into the old town.
Vaud is the canton where Switzerland eats French, with dishes of its own. The filets de perche, perch fillets fried in butter with lemon and chips, are the dish of the lake. To be honest, most come from farms in Estonia or Poland, because the lake does not yield enough; the good restaurants write "perche du Léman" on the menu and charge CHF 45 (about EUR 48), the others CHF 32 for fillets that are just as good. Papet vaudois, leek and potatoes with saucisse aux choux, a smoked cabbage sausage with protected origin, is the winter meal of the Vaudois, CHF 24 to 30 in the pintes, the village inns. The wine is Chasselas, here with sites like Dézaley and Calamin that have Grand Cru status, mineral and made for fish; in a restaurant CHF 6 to 10 per decilitre, in the caveaux CHF 3 to 5. Add Vacherin Mont-d'Or from the Vallée de Joux in winter, melted in the oven and spooned up with potatoes, CHF 25 to 30 for two. The best bakery speciality is the Taillé aux greubons, a puff pastry with pork cracklings, eaten with white wine in the late morning. In Lausanne you eat well and cheaply in the Flon and around the Place de la Riponne, in Montreux behind the quay on the Rue du Marché, and the best value for money is in the pintes of the Lavaux villages, where the winegrowers themselves go out to eat.
By train from Zurich in 2 hours 10 minutes to Lausanne and 2 hours 40 minutes to Montreux, from Bern in just over an hour, with a Half Fare Card around CHF 80 (about EUR 86) return from Zurich, supersaver tickets from CHF 20. You do not need a car: between Lausanne, Vevey and Montreux the S-Bahn runs every 15 minutes, plus boats and the M2 metro in Lausanne. With the Lausanne Transport Card or the Riviera Card from your hotel, local public transport is free.
Three days is a good rule of thumb: one day in Lausanne with the cathedral, old town, Olympic Museum and Ouchy, one day walking the Lavaux with a caveau and Vevey, one day in Montreux with Chillon Castle and the Rochers-de-Naye. With four days you can add Chaplin's World and a boat trip. If you only have a weekend, take Lausanne or Montreux plus the Lavaux, not everything.
With a mid-range hotel for two, a daily menu, a dinner with wine, one museum or Chillon Castle and public transport, expect CHF 170 to 210 (about EUR 182 to 225) per person per day. The mountain railway to the Rochers-de-Naye adds around CHF 40 (Half Fare Card or Riviera Card). On a budget with a youth hostel, a picnic from the market in Vevey and a caveau instead of a restaurant, CHF 90 to 110 is realistic. In the jazz week expect double for the hotel.
Yes, it is the most visited historical site in Switzerland, and rightly so: a water castle on a rock in the lake, with vaulted cellars, a knights' hall, a chapel and Byron's carved name. Admission CHF 15 (about EUR 16), half with the Riviera Card, one and a half to two hours with the audio guide. Come before 10 am or after 4 pm, the coaches arrive at midday. The most beautiful way there: on foot from Montreux along the lakeshore, 45 minutes, or by boat right up to the gate.
The festival lasts two weeks from the start to the middle of July. Concerts in the big halls cost CHF 80 to 250 (about EUR 86 to 268) and are often gone within hours of tickets going on sale in April. The free programme on the lakeshore, in the park and on small stages runs every evening and for many visitors is the real festival. Book hotels in Montreux by winter at the latest, or sleep in Vevey or Lausanne and take the S-Bahn, which also runs at night during the festival.
Yes. The Lavaux Express, a small train on wheels, runs from Lutry and Cully through the vineyards, around an hour for CHF 15 (about EUR 16), April to October. The S-Bahn stops in every winegrowing village, so you can get off in Epesses, go to the caveau and get back on in Rivaz. The CGN boat between Lausanne and Montreux shows you the terraces from the lake. And from Chexbres above, you have the famous view over the terraces, 30 metres from the station.
On the shore of Lake Geneva since 1967 and long since about far more than jazz: world stars from pop and soul to electronic music play the Auditorium Stravinski and the Lab, surrounded by around 250 free concerts on lakeside stages, in parks and on the boat. Tickets for the big names cost CHF 100 to 300 (EUR 105 to 320) and are gone within hours in April; resale through the official platform is the only reliable route. The lakeside promenade becomes a two-kilometre festival strip with food stalls, bars and crowds until three in the morning, which is wonderful for night owls and loud for everyone else. Hotels in Montreux and Vevey cost twice the normal rate during these two weeks and sell out early; Lausanne (20 minutes by suburban train) and the Lavaux vineyards are the alternative. Special trains run towards Lausanne after the main concerts.
For travellers: The free concerts and the lakeside atmosphere are worth it even without a ticket, especially on weekdays; if you want peace, come in the second half of July, when the Riviera is back to normal.
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