4 Best Sights in Les Alpes Vaudoises, Vaud

On sabbatical from a fairy-tale storybook, the 15th-century spire-and-turreted Château d'Aigle offers a close-up look at winemaking history and promotion. First peruse display casks, bottles, presses, and winemakers' tools in the wood-beamed chambers of the Musée de la vigne et du vin (Vine and Wine Museums of Vaud), in the chateau. Some living quarters are reproduced, and there's even a collection of costumes worn over the centuries at the local Fête des Vignerons. The separate Musée de l'étiquette (Museum of Wine Labels), in a timbered attic in an adjacent warehouse called the Maison de la Dîme, chronicles the history of prestigious vintages through a collection of labels representing more than 50 countries and dating back 200 years. Pay an additional fee for a tasting of the local vintages and take the souvenir glass with you.

The technical and sporting elements of hot-air ballooning that put this tiny village on the world map are highlighted at Espace Ballon, a museum and exhibition space run by professional pilots. Permanent and changing shows follow the history of avionics, challenges shared by flying enthusiasts, and flight records that have been broken by adventurers like Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones, whose Breitling Orbiter set off from a nearby meadow. In addition, there are 3-D movies that take the viewer along for a ride, or you can schedule your own voyage into the thermals.

The annual hot-air ballooning festival gets off the ground in late January in a spectacle featuring more than 100 vibrant balloons. On Friday night a nightglow is held. Scramble to the top of the hill that has the church (look for the steeple) for a stunning view of brilliantly colored, backlit balloons choreographed to music. A lively village fair follows.

Aigle, in the Chablais region, is home to wine museums and the Badoux winery, renowned for Chasselas. Try: Aigle Les Murailles Chasselas, whose lizard label is a Swiss icon.

In Château-d'Oex's tiny center, the Musée Artisanal du Vieux Pays-d'Enhaut gives insight into life in these isolated parts. An old farmhouse reproduces interiors from a farmer's home, a cheese maker's cottage, and a carpenter's studio.