Day trip from Interlaken to Chillon Castle

  • Removed user
    Participant
    72625 posts
    19 August 2017 at 2:15:22 #813004

    Hi. My friend and I will be staying in Interlaken in early October. We were thinking of doing a day trip to Chillon Castle. We have a Swiss Travel Pass and are planning to take the Golden Pass route to Montreux. We are thinking of doing a boat ride too. May I know whether It’s possible to take a boat ride from Montreux to Chillon Castle directly or do we need to change boat rides? Would it be possible for us to do some sightseeing in Lausanne and Montreux too? Any recommendations on “must see” places would be great. We do need to go back to Interlaken on the same day though. Both of us are new to Switzerland so would really appreciate your advice. Thank you!

    Regards, Ling.

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    Arno
    Moderator
    15471 posts
    19 August 2017 at 17:18:30 #868576

    Thanks for joining MySwissAlps Ling!

    Your trip is possible but it might be a bit much for one day. Also consider that there will only be daylight from around 7.30 AM to 7 PM. I’d say it can be done if you don’t mind traveling back after sunset.

    Yes, there are direct boats from Montreux to the castle, or back. Alternatively you can walk along the lake from Montreux to the castle in about 45 minutes. That gives you the chance to see part of the Montreux boulevard. The castle takes 2 hours to see at the very least, but you can easily spend much more time there.

    After that you can take a train to Lausanne. Optionally via Puidoux-Chexbres (the wine train) for a quick short ride along the vineyards. Perhaps do a city walk, then take a train via the quickest route (not Golden Pass) back to Interlaken.

    Slowpoke
    Participant
    7567 posts
    20 August 2017 at 1:03:48 #868577

    Hi Ling –

    Lucas has hit on the key point.. The Golden Pass route from Interlaken to Montreux (or return) is not the fastest route, by a couple of hours. Since darkness come early, consider taking the less scenic route back, via Bern.

    If you use the timetable:

    http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable

    you can check into timing for the ideas noted by Lucas. Please read the instructions page; the timetable defaults to the fastest route. To visualize the Golden Pass route, you must enter a “via” of Zweisimmen.

    If you do not, you will get a route through Bern…faster for the return, which may be after dark.

    This map will help you understand the geography of the cities and routes mentioned in Lucas’ post. Zoom in and you can see the train lines:

    map.search.ch/

    Also, check this link:

    http://www.myswissalps.com/go ldenpass

    Slowpoke

    Removed user
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    72625 posts
    20 August 2017 at 3:56:13 #868578

    Thank you very much for your replies. Think we may walk to the castle as suggested by Arno and take the boat ride on another day instead if we do go to Geneva. And thanks for the tip on the train ride back! Will go through Bern instead of Golden Pass then since it is likely we will only travel back at night. The map link is great, Slowpoke! I had a lot of trouble trying to picture the route in my head. Can’t wait for our trip! But I need to be more hardworking and do more homework first. We’ve only decided the places we want to go (so many!) but not planned how to get there. Thanks!

    Peterli
    Participant
    1206 posts
    20 August 2017 at 4:48:57 #868579

    Hej !

    Arno is correct about this being a busy day, but it is definitely can be done. Get off to an early start as soon as you can in Interlaken. The Golden Pass train will set you down in Montreux. From there you can walk to the Château de Chillon (as Arno has suggested) or you might be able to catch the next train going in that direction (towards Villeneuve). Just make sure you get on one that is stopping at the second station, which is called Veytaux-Chillon. I suggest you ask a CFF employee there to make sure you get on the right train. I think it will be on platform 3 but, like I said, check to be sure. From the Veytaux-Chillon station (which is very small) you will see signs indicating the way to the Château, it is only about 450 metres which (according to Google Maps) translates to about a 6 minute walk. You will also see it as you walk along. (See first attached image of this segment). In the unlikely event that there is no local train leaving Montreux that will stop at Veytaux-Chillon for a while and you don’t want to wait, you could get lucky on a boat heading that way or you can do the walk. The walk, if you don’t dilly-dally along the way, will take you about 45 minutes (as Arno states above) according to Google Maps. Personally, I would wait for the next local train to come along or take the bus. I just googled “CFF Montreux à Veytaux” and it appears there is a train going from Montreux to Veytaux every hour at two minutes after the hour, i.e. 10h02, 11h02, 12h02 etc. The other alternative is to take the Bus 201, which you catch at the bottom of the “Escaliers de la Gare” (Stairway to the train station). It takes 5 minutes to walk down to the bus stop and the bus ride lasts for 8 minutes. I am not sure if your train pass covers this so please check. If not be sure to buy your ticket before boarding the bus, as there will be nobody on board selling tickets (honour system).

    After your visit at the Château, if you continue along another 180 metres (about 2 minutes walking) you will get to the dock (débarcadère) where the CGN boats pull in. See second attached image. Time your arrival to catch the next boat that is heading towards Lausanne. If it is a nice day, you may feel like staying on the boat as it works its way towards Lausanne, with stops at places with names such as Territet, Montreux, Clarens, Vevey, Rivaz, Cully, Lutry, and Ouchy (Lausanne) where you can disembark. By the way, all those names sound so much nicer when pronounced in French ! Here is the website of the CGN (Compagnie Générale de Navigation), in English, where you can learn more about all the boats that ply the lake and their schedules. http://www.cgn.ch/en

    Once you are back on terra firma you can either walk up to the train station (Gare CFF) or alternatively ride up on the M2 Métro line which links Ouchy to the train station (ticket is CHF 3). Then you can hop on the next train to Berne and from there the next one to Interlaken.

    Bon voyage !

    Removed user
    Participant
    72625 posts
    20 August 2017 at 15:50:10 #868580

    Thanks for the detailed directions and attachments, Peterli! A bus ride sounds good too, especially with limited time. We want to take the boat ride but also want to have time to explore the castle and Lausanne at a leisurely pace. Guess we will probably decide when we reach the area. I suspect we will butcher the names when we are there as we can neither speak German nor French. Hopefully we will be able to pick some words up this time round!

    Peterli
    Participant
    1206 posts
    20 August 2017 at 17:38:04 #868581

    Hi again,

    Not to be a pessimist, but the boat trip to Lausanne is less enjoyable on a rainy day. Of course, same goes for the train trip from Interlaken to Montreux, so I hope you are lucky and have blue skies.

    Removed user
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    72625 posts
    25 August 2017 at 18:09:05 #868582

    Hey,

    I took golden train from lucern to montreux via Interlaken. I went there on 2 august 2017. This is very near to montrreux station . You can also take a bus from montrueux to castle which is about 5 minutes drive. bus staiton is also very near to montrueux railway station. You just need to get out of station and you will reach bus station.

    IMPORTANT: DO NOT BUY TICKETS AT CASTLE .THIS IS INCLUDED IN TRAVEL PASS

    Lol i mistakenly purchased tickets although i had swiss travel pass. 😛

    There is a second option also. you can go to BROC where there is BIG FAMOUS NESTLE chocolate factory and also near to broc there is a village GRUYERS where you can see one BIG CASTLE similar to CHATEAU CHILLION . But in gruyers you can also see cheese factory

    Thanks

    Removed user
    Participant
    72625 posts
    26 August 2017 at 10:29:34 #868583

    Thanks for the suggestion puneetnsit. Unfortunately there does not seem to have enough time for all that we want to do so no chocolate train for us.

    I do have a new question regarding reservations for the Golden Pass. I was planning to take the earliest trains from Interlaken to Montreux (7 a.m. departing Interlaken OST). However that timing does not appear when I try to reserve seats. Only the later trips appear. Is it because all seats have been reserved or have I keyed something wrongly? Have attached screenshots of the trips shown. Would greatly appreciate advice on this. Thanks!

    Regards, Ling.

    Arno
    Moderator
    15471 posts
    26 August 2017 at 18:09:54 #868584

    Hi Ling,

    I recommend trying to book seats only for the Zweisimmen to Montreux leg (departure 8:25). You don’t need reservations for the other trains. Even for Zweisimmen to Montreux it is most probably not necessary either, but you can reserve if you want to.

    Enjoy the ride!

    Removed user
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    72625 posts
    27 August 2017 at 11:06:43 #868585

    Thanks, Arno! Think we will do just that. 🙂

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