Our group (two mothers and four teenage daughters) will be in Montreux for 3 nights during the Jazz Festival. I would love to do a nice, fairly easy 2 hour hike in the Gruyeres area as well as sightseeing etc. in Gruyeres.

This is the rough plan -

Catch 7.45 am Goldenpass Panoramic
Arrive Gruyeres 8.50am

Hopefully wander around town before too many tourists arrive.

Visit Castle and have morning tea (compulsory)

Take funicular/cablecar to summit of Moleson.

Descend and spend time at Adventure Centre where kids will do bobsledding, etc. The other thing I was interested in are those mountain scooters that you can rent, however I could not find any in that area.

Lunch at Moleson sur Gruyeres.

Here is the "me activity" -

Do the Moleson cheese-dairy trail
(Moleson - Chalet du Penny - La Proveta d'Amount - La Proveta d'Avau - L'Arena - Gruyeres

Return to Montreux by train about 6.30 pm

Any comments would really be appreciated. The requirements for the hike need to be mountain scenery, cows, flowers, tranquility, traditional huts in other words the quintessential Swiss scenery even though we are in the pre-Alps. If there are any better short walks which would fit I would love to know. Is this itinerary doable?

I originally hoped to go to Wengen for 3 days instead but it was all too hard. So I am a bit disappointed.

Forgot to add, watch cheese making demonstration at Moleson dairy before doing walk.

If you're going to be in Montreux, why not go to Chillon? It's a picture book castle, and it has a wonderful history because of its celebrated prisoner.

We plan on visiting Chillon by boat on another day, stopping off at Vevey on the way back, then getting a bus back to Montreux. Perhaps spending the remainder of our time just stolling the town and promenade.

I did two or three day trips to Gruyere when I lived in Lausanne, quite awhile ago. My days were never as ambitious as yours but am sure you've checked out how long it takes to walk the trail, etc.

Early April could still be quite chilly up there but hope you will see some Alpine flowers and great scenery. And, be sure morning tea includes the raspberries or strawberries with the Gruyere cream--artery clogging but grand, if not, have it at some point during the day.

The chateau is interesting--sparsely furnished when I was there but I am talking years ago!

Thanks for your responses. The only thing I couldn't find was how long the funicular/cable car takes up to the summit of Moleson. The sojourn to the adventure park might have to be left out if there isn't enough time.

Hi Toni,

Regarding the Castle Chillon - be sure not to miss it - it is one of my favorite memories of our Europe trip in 07 and my dd as well. We walked from our hotel - it is a lovely stroll. We took the boat back. The self guided tour is great.

Enjoy!

We planned our France/Switzerland trip in 2008 to coincide with the Montreux Jazz Festival, as I'd wanted to go for many many years.

When the schedule for the festival was released -- sometime in April, if I remember correctly -- I was extremely disappointed to discover that there was precious little JAZZ to be found there! Sadly, Montreux is now just another pop festival.

I passed it by. We'd been to Montreux the previous year (not during the "Jazz" Fest) and it's a beautiful city, well worth seeing.

Gruyere was interesting, especially the castle. The old village on the approach to the castle is now largely a tourist trap, but the scenery is worth it. We also did the cheese tour at the plant there, but happened to arrive after the daily production had finished. Not much to see on the factory floor, but the cheese-turning robot was cool, and the museum part was pretty good. Also a rather large souvenir store on site, of course. Go early to see the cheese-making.

Was there lots of free street entertainment during the Festival and was it very difficult catching boats etc. because of the crowds?

toni, there are lots of food stands along the quais during the festival and a number of different stages where you can hear music for free. And yes, there is very little jazz now, mostly rock it seems.

There should be no problem catching the boats vis-a-vis crowds because they hold between 200 and 400 people but you can walk to Chillon if you are staying in Montreux. A better idea than taking the boat to Vevey is to take the train to Lausanne and then catch the boat that leaves from there and goes directly to Thonon or Yvoire in France. The first has a great plaza shaded by plane trees with lots of good restaurants and the second is a lovely medieval village.

Thanks beaupeep, Yvoire looks like a lovely town. How long does the trip take?

It is true that real Jazz is scarce these days (that's actually not new) in Montreux - last year they had Alicia Keys, Chaka Khan, Das Pop, Deep Purple, a bunch of DJs playing anything but Jazz, and on and on. But maybe you knew that? The list for this year comes out in April.

In case you will be looking for great alternatives for daytrips, here are two:

Take the little train from Montreux via Glion and Caux up to the Rochers de Naye, it is the Swiss Alpine Flower Paradise, and has awesome views across the lake and onto the French Alps and beyond. See www.montreux.ch/naye

Take the regular fast train to Martigny (pick one that stops there), then take the Mont Blanc train via Le Châtelard-Frontière to Chamonix, and come back down the same way, or take the longer way: the regular trains or a bus to Genève (Eaux Vives) and the train from the main station in Genève (Cointrin) along the lake back to Montreux. What a day! Search YouTube and Google Images and see for yourself!