LLindaC

Many thanks for your input.My second trip to this country. Here is our trip plan: Louisville, Ky to Milan Fri arrive Sat. Stay at Holiday Inn Lugano..yes, I know, not great hotel, but we have enough points to stay 3 nights FREE. Eat at great restaurants, hike , etc. Tues, train to Wengen. Stay at Caprice. Hike, hike, hike. 3 days train to Montreux. Stay 2 nights at Hotel Masson. Rent car, do the coast and wineries. Drive to Geneva. 2 nights not decided where. Help! Fly home in tears. I am just giddy thinking about it. My 50th b-day, my husband will celebrate his 54th in Geneva. I am locking this in tomorrow, if anyone wishes to voice an opinion, please do so! Many thanks.

Scarlett

I think it all sounds great, since I have never been to any of these places! But Happy Birthday to you both, what a great way to celebrate!

Grasshopper

Sounds very nice. Is there a reason you are going to Geneva? If not, I would suggest taking a boat ride to Geneva from Montreux for a day and then training back to Montreux (or Vevey). It's really much nicer than Geneva.

Cicerone

I agree that the Montreux end of the lake is so much prettier and offers more to see and do than Geneva. You might just stay in that area or do one night in Geneva if you have an early flight.

I absolutely LOVED the Caprice, I was there at Christmas and will be back there in May. Public areas are small but lovely, great restaurants, nice rooms with great views (rooms are not overly luxurious but certainly good). The best thing about the hotel is the staff and the owners, really the best-trained staff I have ever encountered, and I have stayed as some of the world’s best (Villa D’Este, Penn Hong Kong, Amanpuri, Amandari). They make you feel very welcome and no request is too small or unimportant. Some great walking in the area, as you seem to know. Have a great trip.

swandav2000

Hi all,

LLindaC, I agree with the others here that the move to Geneva is not necessary. It's only a bit over an hour by train and not worth the trouble of packing, checking out, then arriving, checking in, & unpacking. Stay in either Geneva or Montreux and do excursions. You can easily get to the Geneva airport by train from Montreux with 0 changes, but as you'll have a car that'll be even easier.

I also think doing the wineries by car will not be the easiest! The only parking place I recalled in the Lavaux vineyards was an underground lot in the middle of nowhere outside of Chexbres. It was a headache to find. It's SO much nicer to take the train to Chexbres and then just stroll down to the lake and take the train (or ferry) from Rivaz back to Montreux (or, for the Masson, back to Territet). Same with Lutry or Cully -- limited parking. Really recommend you investigate the ferries (www.cgn.ch) and use them to get between the vineyards.

Cicerone, I think I skied past the Caprice a few time -- is that the hotel at the end of the ski run into Wengen??? If that's the place, I remember seeing all those sunburned and happy faces at the outdoor cafe watching us ski (badly) past them. I thought it looked like a great place to stay!

Grasshopper, good to see ya!!

s

LLindaC

Okay, you convinced me! I intend to be sans car the entire trip. However, I really do want to stay in Geneva for a day and a half to do some shopping, piano bars, music, etc.I think I could live in Montreux, but that's another thread. This will be the only chance to do "big city" and that will be a fun change of pace. Last time I was in Geneva, we went to a diamond factory. That was so fascinating, plus you can try on everything! I was pleased to get tickets base price of 790- remember, we're doing 2 airports. Most of the trip is on Delta, but I didn't get good pricing on their website, go figure. The best pricing on all airlines was through American Airlines' AAworldOne. You cannot get multi city quotes through Sidestep or Hotwire. Orbitz came in second. Travelocity has become ridiculous. Okay, now I'm looking for restaurants, lol, brushing up on my French and learning a touch of German....

swandav2000

Hi LLindaC,

O, I hope you enjoy the trains!! I like to print out a few schedules for my planned excursions just to cut down on the wait time at the train station. You can get rail schedules & fares at www.rail.ch. You can also use that site to get ferry schedules -- drill down to "options" then de-select everything but "boat." You may have to wait until the summer schedules are posted, though, to get accurate schedules. Or you can get them at the www.cgn.ch site.

For restaurants in/around Montreux, I like the du Pont on Rue du Pont in the old town, but it's waaay out of the way unless you're up there anyway to explore. I had pasta with shaved white truffles for lunch -- verrrrry nice! I like the pizzeria Rouvenaz, right on the main drag in Montreux, across from the Tourist Information booth at the lake. I also like the Auberge de Rivaz in Rivaz (across the street from the dock), which is a perfect place to stop and refresh yourself after a stroll through the vineyards. One time I had an entire menu of white asparagus (salad, entree, etc) and local white wine; grrrreat! Finally, I like the pizzeria Hostellerie de Geneve in Vevey, right on its main square.

I hope you have a minute to stop in Morges and walk down to the park next to the lake. I really fell in love with this charming town.

Have a great time!

s

swandav2000

ps,

Forgot to add this site: http://www.lavaux.ch/sentierglobal.htm

It's a map of the Lavaux vineyards, walking trail, & wineries. So you can see which towns you'll be needed ferry/train service from!

s

suze

My opinion is that it sounds fantastic!! Just chiming in to wish you both a fabulous trip (as another fan of the Montreux area) and happy birthdays!

LLindaC

You people are ANGELS! I just checked on the route, and found that they have a pedestrian trail from Montreux to Lausanne! This is NOT mentioned in the tour books! I am a marathon runner, my hubby is a long distance hiker, so we intend to walk the entire trail (over 2 days). My gosh, it is spectacular! We'll stumble on the train on the return route, lol! I have not been able to book Masson online, as the site is down. The hotel is closed right now, but I hope they are checking messages? We are staying at Bel L'Esperance in Old Town Geneva the last 2 nights. I am a musician and we want to go to some party spots before we head home. This is a cheap, no-frills place, but gets excellent reviews. We plan to spend our money on great wine and food! To heck with 500 buck hotel rooms, LOL. I still appreciate any input from you. THANK ou a million times over!

suec1

LLindaC - what time of year are you going? I will be there near the end of May (Montreux) and reading this thread was great. I'm going to print it out and use it to plan alot of my day trips. The guide books I have looked at seem to short change this area! SueC1

suec1

Part II - do you plan to stay at the Masson without renting a car? I'm a little concerned its a bit far from the train station (we will be traveling by train to Montreux and for day trips.) Have you stayed at this hotel before? It looks very pleasant, are you signing up for the half board option? Thanks! SueC1

swandav2000

Hi Again,

Remember too that you can rent bicycles at the train station (about 35 chf/day) and do the trails by bike.

Be sure to sample some wine! You'll really be stumbling then, eh?

Also don't overlook the 11 km flowered lakeside promenade that links Clarens & Villeneuve (suburbs to the nw & s of Montreux); it's spectacular. No wineries on this route, but plenty of lakeside cafes!

Enjoy!

s

jmw44

Just a mention - - If you're still interested in Murten as a daytrip, it's possible from the Lavaux. Murten is a walled half-timbered town. It's under two hours from Montreux via Lausanne and Neuchatel. J.

swandav2000

For suec1,

A few options for getting to the Masson:

1. Take a taxi from the Montreux train station; there are always taxis there.

2. Take the train to the Territet stop (closer to the Masson, but you'll have to change trains in Montreux) and take a taxi from there -- or walk the few blocks if you're travelling light. There aren't usually taxis at this stop, so you'll have to find a phone and call the hotel to send you one.

3. Take the bus, again a good option if you're travelling light. Exit the train station, walk down the stairs to the Grand Rue, and hop on bus #1 heading to Villeneuve.

Whatever option you decide on, it's a good idea to map out the hotel to get oriented. Input the hotel's address (Rue Bonivard 5) at www.mappy.com and see how far it is from the main street, the Montreux & Territet train stations, etc.

Have fun!

s

LLindaC

Sue, we will be there the last 2 weeks of June. I managed to extend our trip to 11 days. Still not enough, but there's always next year. I'm not concerned about Masson's location. We like to walk a lot and often hike a half day. That's a great idea about the bikes- we bike a lot as well.I was reading about how the area becomes quite busy on weekends and how drivers zip around between the towns. That makes staying in a remote location more attractive.The owner of Masson wrote to me last night to confirm the room- she seems lovely! And, yes we'll "sample" wines, lol. We've been to CA wine country three times in 2 years, as well as New York and S Africa's wine country. We'll hit Portugal's in April 2006.Here's a good article: http://www.lgmr.ch/general_info/salesguide/chapter4.pdf
A lot of good info out there is in French, and I'm quite rusty, but will start reviewing. Did you know that there's an online yodeling course complete with diploma? LOL!http://www.jodelkurs.de/eng_index.html
Good luck with your planning and thanks again for all the great suggestions.