L'ermitage

Understand a little about the...

by Sharrie

Understand a little about the formation of the Alpine Range:

Commenced in the Palaeolozic Age (about 300 million years ago). When molten granite flowed upwards during the Carboniferous period & solidified as cooled magma into granite, it produced a mountain in Hercynian form.

In the Mesozoic Age, when the sea covered everything & eroded the 'original' Alps, a long-reaching valley was created. Over the years (hehe... we are talking about 160 million years!), its bottom were covered by limestone & dolomite forming a troughs.

In the Chalk Age (towards end of Mesozoic period), the formation of the mountain begun. The Mesozoic sediments became forced together & on top of one another in various phases until they ended up as mountains 150 km / 90 miles in width. As the granite & gneiss masses pushed upwards they formed the Central Massif.

Summer Jazzy Nights: Montreux Jazz Festival

by Tripack

The 40th Montreux Jazz Festival will take place from June 30- July 15, 2006. The place to be...

Music lives, and at the Montreux Jazz Festival you can feel its pulse. When it was first held in 1967, the festival lasted three days and concentrated exclusively on jazz, but it has since grown into a gigantic international spectacle. Over 16 days, musicians – from newcomers to legends – from all over the world come and go. Musical forms other than jazz have long since become part of the celebration and now high-class musicians representing just about every musical form produce a colourful mixture of sounds.

Its name alone promises quality, musical diversity and a multicultural atmosphere. The backbone of the festival is formed by the concerts given by big name artists in the Stravinski Auditorium, as well as the experimental fusion of musical styles to be found in the Miles Davis Hall. Another component of Montreux Jazz that has made itself indispensable over the years is the „Off-Festival” outside the Congress Center. This offers over 300 free concerts by artists of all types, staged daily from noon until late at night at various venues. The „Off-Festival” also includes the popular musical cruises on the samba, salsa, gospel and dance ships, which invite festival-goers to take part in a floating carnival.

Walk along the lake to Château de Chillon

by SurfaceTravel

I have made a separate tip for the Château de Chillon itself. The walk along the lake going there east from Montreux centre is so pleasant that it warrants its own tip. It takes about 45 minutes walking leisurely. There is a pedestrian-only paved foot-path with, I believe, a separate lane for roller-bladers or cyclists. You pass though gardens and little harbours, and all the time you have magnificent views of the mountains across the lake.

Coming back you can walk up to the main road and take the #1 bus.

Cruise on Lake Geneva...

by Tripack

Do not miss to enjoy a cruise on the Lake Léman (Lake Geneva) aboard on a paddle steamer to admire the Swiss Riviera surrondings (St-Gingolph, Le Bouveret, Villeneuve, Montreux, Vevey, Lausanne, Evian).

TIP: Happy Hour Cruise. Enjoy the daily After Work cruise. Two drinks for the price of one during your relaxed cruise. Beware not to sink!
Special Happy Hour cruise ticket: CHF 15 (adult), CHF 9 (Half fare pass), CHF 8 (child).
Timetable: Montreux Dep. 18h25 Arr. 19h15. Sun May 22, 2005 - Sun September 25, 2005

A Couple of Days in Montreux

by SurfaceTravel

We stayed here for a few days as part of a 5-day trip around Lake Geneva, on both the Swiss and French sides.

We arrived by train from Geneva and walked the two blocks down the hill to our excellent hotel, the Montreux Palace Hotel (see tip), where later we also had an excellent meal (see tip).

We walked the footpath along the edge of the lake to the Château de Chillon, wandered through there, and took the bus back (see tips).

Another day we took the GoldenPass Panoramic train (see tip) to Gstaad. We wanted to take the ski lift to the top of the mountain, but there was too much snow. We were told that the lift in Saanenmöser would be open, but the next train was almost an hour away, so we had to take a taxi. Once there, we went to the top and played around in the thick snow falling. Trains were slow from there, so again we had to take a taxi to Gruyères. At the end of the day we took a regular train back to Montreux. In hindsight, it would have been better to rent a car that day.

Finally, we caught the train back the way we came to Lausanne.