Sightseeing and hiking in and around Leysin?
 

I'll be spending a week in Leysin in early September while my husband attends a conference. I'm planning on visiting the castle in Chillon and Chateau d'Aigle. Can anyone suggest other half-day or full-day trips and activities. I won't have a car. I'd also like to get some information on easy to moderate hikes in that area.
Thanks.

Hi Roma,

I've spent a lot of time in Montreux on Lake Geneva, and I hope I can help.

Here's a website that lists more than 1,400 hikes around Lake Geneva: www.balades.ch. Though it's in French, it's pretty easy to navigate. On the left hand side of the page, you can choose your hike by duration (less than an hour, 1-2 hours, 2-3 hours, etc), and on the right hand side, you can choose your hike by region (Leysin is in the Vaud Est area). You can also enter "Leysin" as a search term.

The Swiss rail website is at www.rail.ch, and you can get all your transportation information there.

For some other day-trip activities, I'd recommend:

The town of Vevey and its suburb of La-Tour-de-Peilz, absolutely lovely places to spend an afternoon.

The vineyards of the Corniche Lavaux (www.lavaux.com/navigation.asp?page=balades.asp) between Lausanne & Vevey, with special note of the towns of Lutry (www.lutry.ch), Rivaz, and St. Saphorin. You can combine a morning in the Lavaux with the afternoon in Vevey. Take the ferry from St Saphorin to Vevey -- ferry schedule at www.cgn.ch.

I also recommend you take the time to see Morges, waaay over on the west of Lausanne. It'll take about an hour and a half by train, but it's worth it, I think. Morges is a tiny town filled with flowers -- it has a cobblestone main street lined with bakeries and shops, a lakeside park of huge stately trees, and a flowered lakeside promenade. I loved it.

Let me know if you'd like more info --

s

Hi S,

Thank you for your very helpful list of suggestions. The websites - especially the "balades" - are very informative. I do have another question: would train ticket offices in smaller towns such as Leysin accept payment by credit card?

Roma

Roma

I went to college at the American College of Switzerland in Leysin almost twenty years ago. Your posting brings back a lot of memories. The most obvious day trips are Montreux and Lausanne. If you have the time for a full day trip I would go to Guyere. It is the town where the cheese is made. It has a very old castle. The town of old Guyere is filled with old shops and the view is incredible!

It is not super fast going up and down the mountain from Leysin on the cog train but I would certainly explore the area by train at least a few days. Leysin is a cute little town and well worth poking around for a couple of days. A favorite memory is listening to the cows graze with their cowbells. The scenery in the area is wonderful. I have a zillion pictures of the same mountains over and over because the clouds made the view look different every day. Have Fun!

Hi Roma,

Yes even smaller stations accept credit cards as the whole SBB system accepts credit cards --

However, a more important question will be if the station will be open for you to purchase your tickets. Usually there is a ticket machine (that accepts cc), so hopefully you won't have any problems.

Hey spencequeen, I went to school at Monte Rosa in Montreux, and I'm *still* under the influence of that place. It's a delightful problem, eh?

s