The other side of the lake…

We have slowly been exploring more of Switzerland, this time with a Canadian friend.  His father was in the city visiting so he was keen to show him as much of the surrounding area as possible. So were invited to join them on a Saturday trip to visit Montreux.

Genève is situated on the far west of Lake Genève (also known as Lac Léman). The lake is crescent shaped with the far left being Genève and with Montreux situated on the far right about 73km away. We were keen to see what was on the other side of the lake.

The train trip there was pretty fast (about 1 hour 10 mins) and the scenery is absolutely beautiful! You really notice how big the lake is and get some idea of how huge the Alps are.  One of the most beautiful and interesting things we noticed was the large number of vineyards along the route. Grape vines are planted and squeezed into the tiniest of nooks and crannies making use of all the precious space available.

Arriving in Montreux the weather was very overcast with low clouds hanging over the mountains. This somewhat spoilt our view of the mountains but the view from the lake was still good.

The beautiful view

We headed straight to the tourist information centre and picked up a map of the area.  After reviewing our options we decided to walk along the edge of the lake to the famous Château de Chillon (Chillon Castle).

Walking along the lake

A hotel along the lake

Along the lake

After about an hour of slow meandering along the lake looking at the view, flowers, boats and properties we arrived at the Castle. Chillon Castle is situated at the edge of the lake and is sort of a mish-mash of architecture and periods as it was build and added to over a number of centuries, although it all flows and matches very well.  The history of Chillon Castle can be found at the Castle website http://www.chillon.ch/en/index-La%2Bgrande%2Bhistoire-0-0.html.

Chillon Castle

Wine made exclusively for and around the Castle

The tour starts at the bottom of the Chillon Castle in the courtyard area and as you follow the numbers to the areas indicated on the map you end up walking through all the levels of the castle eventually (and after what felt like a million stairs) reaching the top lookout area. 

The visit was very interesting and the Chillon Castle is surprisingly bigger inside than it looks from the outside, as our slow walk through took about 2 hours.  By this time it was well past lunch and we were all starving. Luckily we found a place still serving food just across the road from the Castle where we proceeded to wolf down some lunch.

Tired but satisfied we took a slow walk back along the lake and decided to call it a day.  We had a lovely day (despite the poor weather) and the castle was interesting. We will definitely head back when the sun is shining to take full advantage of the beautiful view of the mountains.

Now to decide where in Switzerland to visit next...