By Air

Geneva Cointrin International Airport is the nearest airport to Montreux, about an hour west by train. Geneva International Airport offers direct flights to over 100 destinations worldwide and serves as a hub for the Luton based budget airline easyJet.

Airport facilities include over 60 restaurants and services, covering almost anything a traveller could need. There are fine stores and duty-free shops, business centres, banks and bureaux de change, wireless internet access, a hair dresser, a dry cleaner, showers and a nursery. Most of the airport is wheelchair accessible and disabled passenger assistance is available. Lost luggage service is located on the main concourse. There is a large car park with room for 4,500 cars. Euros and Swiss francs are accepted throughout the airport, and the restaurants also accept pounds sterling and US dollars.

By Rail

Montreux is well-connected via several rail lines. Regular fast trains depart Montreux Train Station for Italy, France, Lausanne and Geneva. The Chocolate Train and Wine Train are two themed rail daytrips that venture out into the surrounding region.

By Bus

Montreuxs only bus route is number 1 and runs every 10 minutes along the edge of Lake Geneva, between Vevey and Villeneuve. Considering Montreuxs size and orientation, this bus route is quite sufficient for the town. Bus connections for destinations farther afield are made at either terminus.

Château de Chillon

1.5km/1mi beyond Territet, in the outlying district of Veytaux, is the popular tourist attraction of Chillon Castle, a stronghold of the Counts and Dukes of Savoy. Situated on a rocky islet close to the shore, it commanded the road from Burgundy over the Great St Bernard into Italy.

The castle, which now belongs to the canton of Vaud (conducted tours), was built in the ninth or 10th C., enlarged in the 11th-12th C. and given its present form in the 13th C. In the basement are large dungeons hewn from the native rock. Many Genevese were confined here for expressing their views too freely, among them François de Bonivard, Prior of St Victor's in Geneva. He was incarcerated here by the Duke of Savoy in 1530, fettered to an iron ring which is still shown to visitors, but was released in 1536 when Bernese conquered Vaux and, with the help of ships from Geneva, took the castle. He is the hero of Byron's poem "The Prisoner of Chillon" (1816). Other illustrious poets and writers such as Victor Hugo, Rodolphe Töpffer and Juste Olivier have written about the castle. Nowadays it is hard to distinguish the 25 buildings that make up Chillon castle, closely grouped around three courtyards; the oldest being the keep and the Duke's Tower, which are linked by an internal wall, the square tower, which dominates the entrance and the living quarters.

Naye Rocks

From Caux there is a cog-railroad to the popular skiing area (ski-lift) on the Rochers de Naye, and from the upper station (1,973 m/6,473ft; hotel) it is a 10-minute climb to the summit (2,045 m/6,710ft), which has superb views of the Alps and Lake Geneva.

Old Town Museum

The history and development of the Montreux area, from Neolithic history up to the evolution of the tourist trade is shown in this museum.

 Les Avants

From Chamby the road climbs, along the east side of Mont Cubly, towering above the Gorge de Chauderon. 9km/6mi: Les Avants (974 m/3,196ft), a summer and winter resort high above the valley of the Baye de Montreux. 3km/2mi farther on is the Col de Sonloup (1,158 m/3,799ft; hotel), which can also be reached from Les Avants by funicular.

Information not available

July - August -> 20(°C) - Summer
January - February -> 1(°C) - Winter

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