Trip report part 1 – Swiss Riviera Montreux

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    20 September 2017 at 0:00:49 #813303

    Hello,

    This is the first part of a 16 day, solo whirlwind trip through Switzerland in the first 2 weeks of September 2017 having just returned last night. I had the 15 day Swiss Travel Pass (Youth) which was very worth it with my itinerary.

    Day 1 – Sunday 3rd September

    Woke up at 4.15 am to catch the 7.45 am flight from London Gatwick to Geneva. Proceeded straight on the train to Montreux (Territet) staying at the youth hostel for 2 nights. It was a sunny day and arrived just after noon. There was a Queen celebration in town over the weekend at the lake promenade at the Freddie Mercury statue (it was his birthday). There was a band playing so enjoyed a little by having lunch in the sunshine. Then took a lake cruise to Chillon Castle. Later on in the evening, I took the Territet – Glion funicular. It was a beautiful day.

    Day 2

    Had a local guide meet up through the “Be my guide” programme by Montreux Riveira tourism board. His name was Paul, who lives in Corseaux, with a beautiful small property looking over the vineyards. He is retired and spoke good English and runs a B&B which is part of his home. We met at the Vevey funicular station, and hopped into his car towards Plein Ciel – Mont Pelerin TV tower & lookout. It was a nice and quiet short walk through the woods towards the communications tower. I remember how fresh the air was. We were the only ones there at around 9.20 am. Paid the 5 CHF (in coins) entry fee per person and took the elevator up to the top. It was a great panoramic view. Paul was very knowledgeable about the area, where he showed me the pre-Alps and Jura Alps. We also saw two Swiss air force fighter jets fly past the tower, they were flying really low. I managed to take a picture of them. This is a topic I will come back to again later as throughout my 16 days in Switzerland, I heard them flying every day and saw them on 4 different days.

    We then drove back to Corseaux and began a walk through the Lavaux region (St Saphorin – Rivaz – Dezaley – Cully). Paul had kindly prepared a picnic consisting of baguette, a bottle of local white wine, salami, cheese, apples and cuts of vegetables (carrot & celery). He brought along an old small sharp knife for cutting the bread and also sausage which had the handle made from animal horn. We had the picnic at a fantastic lookout point, which I can’t remember where it was but I remember Paul mentioned that it was the highest point of our hike through Lavaux. He also mentioned that that was the steepest part of the area where it is the best for growing the grapes.

    Had a drink on the outdoor terrace of Au Major Davel Hotel while waiting for the boat cruise back to Vevey. It was already 4.30 pm when we arrived at Vevey and we parted ways. I explored a little of Vevey and met a young Canadian couple and chatted with them. They were on a world tour having quit their jobs and Switzerland was their 1st stop getting the most expensive place out of the way. Spent part of the evening on the lake promenade by the Alimentarium, saw the giant Fork in the lake and also the Charlie Chaplin statue. The sun was just about to start going down. I caught a train to Lausanne and headed to the port (Ouchy) just in time to catch the beautiful sunset.

    Pictures would be attached soon once i get unpacked and sort things out. More to come.

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    20 September 2017 at 8:16:30 #869972

    Hi Ben,

    Thanks for starting your trip report so quickly! Sounds like a good start to your trip!

    FYI pictures will need to be re-sized to under 1mb – looking forward to them!

    Lucas

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    20 September 2017 at 16:26:12 #869973

    Yes, it was a good start with good weather. All my pictures are around 5MB in size each so i have used links to Flickr instead. Below are the pictures for Day 1.

    View from the train from Geneva to Montreux – flic.kr/p/XBXpqS

    Freddie Mercury celebration – flic.kr/p/YCJDXY

    The Belle Epoque Steam paddleboat at Montreux – flic.kr/p/YCJtQ3

    On board the boat heading towards Chillon castle – flic.kr/p/YhTf5Y

    Chillon Castle – flic.kr/p/YFmrDV

    View from the castle – flic.kr/p/YB8NeN

    View from the castle – flic.kr/p/YCHyTw

    on the Territet – Gion Funicular – flic.kr/p/YU1y1P

    View from the top – flic.kr/p/XEbLNH

    Removed user
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    20 September 2017 at 16:40:52 #869974

    Day 2 pictures are in the album in the link below.

    flic.kr/s/aHsm5wxPva

    Posting individual links for each picture is very time consuming. I have added a brief description of each picture within the album.

    Enjoy !

    Removed user
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    21 September 2017 at 4:06:28 #869975

    Great pictures and a wonderful start to your trip! How did you hear about the local tour guide and how did you arrange it?

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    21 September 2017 at 8:55:18 #869976

    Hello Mvmomcat,

    Thank you. I feel that the pictures are not as good as the actual thing itself. I came across the ‘bemyguide’ programme while performing my research for my itinerary on the montreux riviera website. there is a list of locals who has signed up to the programme and you read through a brief 3 lines of things that they are happy to introduce to you and from there decide who is best for you. Then you select your preferred guide and get in touch via email and hope for a response.

    In total, i got in touch with 4 guides, 1 did not respond at all, 2 were not available during my time in Montreux and Paul responded within 24 hours with a good plan and itinerary with sound advice too ( from his experience of being a B&B host). Not a lot of people know about the programme, in fact Paul, told me i was the first person he took around as part of the ‘bemyguide’ programme. He mentioned there was another person who got in touch previously, who was from Geneva, so not really a tourist.

    Ben

    rockoyster
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    8889 posts
    21 September 2017 at 21:45:52 #869977

    Hi Ben,

    Tanks for sharing your experiences and great photos. The Flickr album works well. I have bookmarked http://www.bemyguide.ch/en/ for my next Swiss visit. Not heard of this service before you mentioned it.

    Removed user
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    24 September 2017 at 2:52:24 #869978

    Hi Ben,

    Very enjoyable and detailed trip report – thank you!

    What a fabulous initiative the bemyguide program is! Thanks for telling us about that too. I’m very impressed with the fantastic itinerary Paul devised for the day, and with his thoughtfulness in bringing a picnic along. He seems like an ideal guide.

    Alpenrose

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