Ate last night at the Caveau des Vignerons. In Michelin guide. Fairly empty for a Friday night. Fondu 26 CHF each and shared a 9 CHF mixed salad plus two glasses of wine. Ten minutes walk up from hotel. Decent meal. Must say Montreux appears not to have much of a dinning scene if reports are accurate.
Turns out that August 1 is Swiss National day so we returned to our hotel to watch fireworks over Lake Geneva. Nice show!
The Majestic hotel is situated well just in front of the train station and overlooks the Lake so location is great. There are, however, some safety issues that are somewhat annoying. Lots of steps
that you don’t expect like walking from the room to the bathroom or balcony. The bathtub is tall so getting in requires some effort and I’m 6 feet tall (183 cm) The bathtub is also slippery although the towel holder is pretty solid. Not sure if it would hold my entire 80 kilos of weight if necessary.

Hi mjs,

The dining scene in Montreux is better than it was a decade ago, though. Here are some spots to try:

La Brasserie on the Grand Rue

La Rouvenaz, just across from the TI office on the lake (I can remember having pizza there in 1969), mainly for seafood or Italian

Bis, on Ave Nestlé, was also very good, but it appears to be temporarily closed now.

Du Pont, just uphill a bit from the Caveau

In Vevey, try:

Ze Fork, right on the lakeside promenade

If you want an interesting experience, try Mazot, tucked away in one of the tangled, winding streets of Vevey's old town. It's usually filled with locals.

You may want to download the app Le Fork, which is very good for finding very good restaurants.

Have fun!

s

Thanks for the restaurant recommendations!
Ate at Rouvenaz last night. Had a nice risotto
while my wife had fish. Going to Geneva now. Any restaurant recommendations there? Also considering going to Evian so recommendations there would also be appreciated.

We awoke late yesterday as forecast was for rain until 10:00. Breakfast at hotel since it’s free due to my Marriott platinum status. Quite decent although about average for a 4 star hotel.Took a train to Vevey which is covered by a Montreux transport pass curtesy of the hotel, then bus up to the hill. Walked down through the Lavaux vineyards doing some tastings along the way. It was quite lovely. Each tasting cost about 6 CHF. Have little experience with Swiss wines. My cellar is mostly French, Italian and California. My thoughts were that they were pleasant and competent and very drinkable. Same response I have to a good beaujolais. Made it down to town of Rivas where we took the train to Lausanne. Walked up a very steep hill to the old town ( no funicular?) Explored the area including the cathedral, iced tea and nocha eclair in a little shop, then took train back to Montreux. Swiss half price card being quite useful.

if you want to try really great Swiss wines then you have to either come to the Valais or find wines from here. There are a couple of places in Sion and Sierre that have wine tasteings. Les Celliers de Sion is one. in Sierre - Vinum Montis. We have some reds here that the Romans brought and you won't find elsewhere...Cornalin, Humagne etc. And some very decent whites (in addition to the ubiquitous Fendant!)

A while ago Swandav and I had a very decent meal at the Restaurant du Pont. I noticed they have Malakoffs on the menu. These are very very vaudois - but not from the Montreux part of Vaud. They are mostly found in Luins and Eysins, two villages that are closer to Geneva. They are extraordinary and have an interesting history (supposedly invented by Swiss mercenaries at the siege of Sebastopol). Like raclette normally they are served one at a time and you keep eating till you are full. But outside of their "district d'origine" I think you normally get 4 or so on a plate. Treat them like any other hot cheese dish - don't eat or drink cold things afterwards. A nice white wine with them is perfect.

Just a few random Swiss travel comments. Brought a pair of jeans and did not use them. I brought $20 Costco synthetic pants that are light, easily washed and dried and similar to much more expensive hiking pants seen in stores like REI. Light Gortex rain jacket essential. My Salomon Gortex hiking shoes worked well. My wife has Merrill Gortex hiking shoes that are light and worked very well - you want good tread if it is muddy.
Brought a light cashmere sweater and a sweatshirt for layering while hiking and used neither. Probably would bring just the sweater next time. Brought both long sleeve shirts and polo like short shirts and mainly wore the polo like shirts. I generally at home wear mostly cotton and some wool but for travel light synthetics seem to be more practical.
The SBB train App is really good for train schedules and do register with Apple Pay or a credit card as there are sometimes further discounts available on the App. We got a further 20% discount on top of our 50% discount for our future first class Montreux to Zurich ticket.
MeteoSwiss seems to be the best weather site for Switzerland.
Michelin Green book good guidebook for Switzerland.
Swiss tourist agencies very helpful and usually located near train stations.
Coop and Migros groceries generally near train stations and have decent sandwiches for lunches.
Brought two kinds of bug repellent and didn’t use either, though I got one bite in Luzern.
Do bring suntan lotion and hat for hiking (though I didn’t use either, my wife slathered suntan lotion on for hikes).
I would only go up to high mountains (Jungfrau or Schilthorn, Pilatus, etc) if weather cams show promise or it is free on a travel pass (but even then, you will use up a lot of time when you could be hiking and having better views without the crowds).

If you have time the Charlie Chaplin home is a nice visit, as is the Casino and Queen museum. No suggestions for Evian, we ate a light lunch on the ferry, and a quick bite while there, no big meals. Have fun.

Hi again,

Thanks for the thanks!

Yikes, sorry, no, nothing to recommend in either Geneva or in Evian, sadly. I don't like big cities, and I've only spent 1 day in Geneva, and that was in the 1990s.

Hi Hambagahle! What a delight the Du Pont was! And seeing you again!

Have fun on your trip mjs,

s

Awoke to another beautiful day and went to Geneva for the day. Spent most of the time following Michelin guide walks. Did a free city tour starting near the Ferris wheel. Had best dinner of our trip at restaurant Les Armures in the old town. Had a beer with Swiss sausage and what was labeled as a potato salad turned out to be hash brown potatoes with melted cheese. Good but I think I exceeded my calorie count for the week.
Still 25 CHF. My wife had perch with potatoes and a glass of Swiss Sauvignon Blanc. Both of our meals came with a small salad.
Now on train back to Montreux.

and what was labeled as a potato salad turned out to be hash brown potatoes with melted cheese

Sounds like Rösti

Rosti? Might be but not labeled as such on menu.
Some thoughts about Jungfrau vs Berner Oberland Pass. Jungfrau 4 days cost 180CHF with discount while BO pass cost 305CHF for 6 days. If you want to go to the top of the Jungfrau you get 50% off with either pass (assuming you also have Swiss Half Fare). BO pass also cover first class train from Lucerne to Interlaken and the Golden Express first class to Montreux which the Jungfrau does not. In case of bad weather the BO pass also lets you visit Bern if you wish. The BO pass also cover pretty much every transport on the Murren side of the valley including Schilthorn, which is not covered by the J pass. The only real advantage of the Jungfrau pass is on the gondolas to First and the trains going up towards the Jungfrau. These passes are somewhat confusing and apparently change every year but I think I have what I wrote to be correct. So for us I think the combination of the Swiss half fare card and the BO pass worked best.

Their "palace" is quite a bit above the river. But their "swimming pool" feeds off it. That would flood or maybe has some water level control devices ? On the opposite bank the area called Matte does flood.

On 0838 train to Zurich via Rennes. 20% discount to Zurich on this schedule. So about $50 first class one way. Seating 2 seats one side one seat other side. No room for baggage storage at ends of car. Room in between seats and above rack. Above rack apparently not for larger luggage as we were told to remove our bags we had put there on our Lucerne to Interlaken trip. Fortunately at least at this time our first class cabin is only about 25% full so maybe we are ok with one bag in between seats a the other across the way. (Fire extinguisher in our other in between bag location)

>>The SBB train App is really good for train schedules and do register with Apple Pay or a credit card as there are sometimes further discounts available on the App. We got a further 20% discount on top of our 50% discount for our future first class Montreux to Zurich ticket.>>

Be careful about that. Sounds to me as though you bought a SuperSaver ticket. Those are great deals but you have to take the exact train at the precise time you bought it for - no flexibility at all. Miss the train and there is no refund and you cannot use the SS ticket on a following train unless you have missed it because an inbound train was late.>>

Evian restaurants - there is a small place called la Bourgogne on the rue Nationale almost where it ends on the side of the town. It has very nice and not expensive food. We like it a lot.

We bought out tickets at the Montreux SSB office as we were confused by the options presented to us on the AP. They explained everything to us and we were ok with taking one specific train to save a bit of cash.

A comment on forlorn young women traveling with large suitcases. We saw many. Surprised by the relative lack of backpackers. I did three 2 months backpacking tours to Europe with very cheap second class Eurail passes during my University days and backpackers were everywhere. This was of course centuries ago. Maybe the youth have more money these days?
I remember not spending much time in Scandinavia or Switzerland because of cost but the hotels in Switzerland were quite clean and neat. The population of Western Europe has really changed with the influx of people from the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe and China. Lots more interesting restaurants now. Along with this is a spread of American food like burgers and tacos. Much of which look like nothing I have ever seen before.

Very interesting (and acute!) observation. Yes - things on the food front so to speak have changed enormously and continue to change. As do the sorts of visitors we get. Now they seem to come from all over the world - 60 or so years ago the only Asian country represented seemed to have been Japan. The popularity of things like "CLOY" - sitcom I suppose you would call it? - means lots of Koreans and Chinese visitors. I remember using the book "Europe on $5 a Day" to locate cheap hotels in the early 1960s when I travelled. These days one is lucky to find anything under $200 a day!

I remember Lets go Europe for us poor students. It was pretty helpful most places except Moscow.
Arrived Zurich 1130. Marriott about a 15 minute walk along the river from the train station. Typical 4 Star business/ tour hotel. Had to wait a half hour but got an ungraded club foot corner room on the 32nd floor overlooking the river. Glad I used my free night award since the room goes for $850.
Decent but not large size. Went out to explore the old Towne using our Michelin guide. Nice weather with sunny to partly cloudy with highs around 75. Warm. (24C). Supposed to be a few degrees warmer tomorrow. Bought some chocolates at Man. Stopped by the Patek store and they have a sister store next door which sometimes has older Pateks for sale but unfortunately none now. Apparently the 3919 I like is fairly popular and they don’t last when they appear. Back to hotel for rest in the lounger. Beer, wine, non alcoholic drinks plus a fairly decent spread of cold cuts, cheeses, fruits, beef stew, desserts. Not anywhere as good as what you would find in a similar hotel inAsia. Still pleasant.
walked back out down the river for dinner at Sternen grill which had been recommended by Daniel Humm, a Swiss chef who runs Madison Eleven, a Michelin 3 star in NYC. Had Weinerschnitel and fries with free tap water for a modest sum. Walked

Somehow posted before ready. Chocolate shop was Max. Walked back a mile to hotel. Packed for return flight home.
We had breakfast in the hotel lounge in the morning then took an Uber to the airport for 19 CHF. Taxis wanted 50 CHF. Train would have been 3.50 CHF each.
Business security easy. Passport control the worst I have ever seen in a major international airport. Train to E terminal. Senator lounge pleasant and not very crowded. Better than the business lounge. Ordered a burger at the grill and got a shredded pork sandwich. Bar has something like 150 whiskies but I don’t like whiskey and it was too early
to drink anyway.

Home now after our Switzerland trip. Flight home was uneventful. We did fly ZUR-IAD last year on Swiss and although the hard product was not that different than United Polaris, food and drinks were better on Swiss.

We had a good time in Switzerland. This was my third trip to the country but the longest one by far. My first trip as a backpacking student centuries ago was short as we found it to be too expensive for us. Last trip was a brief train ride via Chur on the Bernina Express. We found the Swiss people to be pleasant and welcoming and everyone seemed to speak English except in the French areas when I had to occasionally rely on my 3 years of high school French, which was painful for all. Food was fine but nothing exciting. Similar to Austria and Germany.

We found Zurich, Geneva, Lucerne, Montreux and Lausanne to be nice cities but not places we feel necessary to revisit. Our 5 days in Wengen were the highlights of our trip. We were lucky to have days there with no rain and mostly partly cloudy/sunny. We were able to get in a lot of scenic hikes. Many in our hotel in Wengen appear also to be hikers judging from the shoes left outside each hotel room. Interestingly we saw many older hikers with appropriate gear and hiking poles on the trails. They appeared to be mostly people from around Europe in their 60s to 80’s. We found the 50% off Swiss rail pass plus the Berner Oberland pass to cover almost everything except of the train rides from and to Zurich.

I think I mentioned that we did not see very many backpackers. Mostly people on tours and people with hard luggage. This might be because of the high costs in Switzerland. I walked into a MacDonalds to price a Big Mac (7.2 CHF) to do a Big Mac index but was stymied because I do not happen to know what a Big Mac costs at home. Fortunately, the current Economist did a short article and the Swiss franc was the most overvalued currency by this standard. I had been guessing that prices in Switzerland were about 50% higher than home here in California and this was confirmed by the Economist. The Euro was also overvalued but not by as much. Our April trip to Sicily was not very expensive. Miss those 3 Euro Aperol Spritz’s. Taiwan was the most undervalued currency in this article. Never been, maybe our next trip.

A return to Switzerland in the future would probably involve Zermatt, the Glacier express and maybe some time around the Engadin. We found the Michelin Green book to be very good. Fodors was better for lodgings and restaurants. We might consider in the future doing some of the driving tours in parts of Switzerland detailed in Michelin guide. The SBB AP for trains and the MeteoSwiss AP for weather were both quite useful. We also found the tourist offices near the train stations and in Wengen to be quite helpful. Advice from this forum in planning our trip was invaluable. Thanks!