SWITZERLAND
MONTREUX AND
INTERLAKEN
Day trips are popular in Switzerland,
especially in smaller cities like the
lakeside resort of Montreux, the last city
featured to face Lac Léman on this
journey across Switzerland. If
Bohemianism had Monmarte in Paris,
then it had Montreux in Switzerland in
the 19th century when writers, artists and
musicians flocked to the town. Two
centuries on and Montreux is still
synonymous with music, especially jazz
and rock, with the first genre seeing an
international fanbase congregating along
the lake’s shoreline for the annual
Montreux Jazz Festival for 40 years now.
For rock, three bands made history at the
town’s Casino Barrier de Montreux. A fire
that broke out during a Frank Zappa and
the Mothers of Invention gig at the casino
inspired Deep Purple’s hit ‘Smoke on the
Water’ (the water here, of course, refers to
Lac Léman), which was also recorded at
the casino. But by far the biggest rock
band to call Montreux home is the
legendary group, Queen. Queen recorded
a total of seven albums at Mountain
Studios in Montreux, including final
album ‘Made in Heaven’. Admission is
free to Queen – The Studio Experience at
the casino where Mountain Studios is
located. Parts of the studio have been
converted into an exhibition hall
showcasing costumes, original penned
lyrics and albums by Queen, while the
control room remains as it had been since
the last days when Queen worked here.
Beyond the music at Montreux, the
town also sees an influx of visitors during
the Christmas season. Montreux is
believed to be the home of Santa Claus
and families can visit his house and the
elves’ village. Montreux also has one of
the biggest Christmas Markets in
Switzerland, with 160 decorated and
illuminated chalets along Grand-Rue and
the quays of Lac Léman.
Another day trip can be made to
Interlaken, the city that straddles Lake
Thun and Lake Brienz. This vacation
destination, which is presided over by
the might Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau
mountains, is the starting point for
numerous activities, such as cross-
country skiing, tobogganing, paragliding
and more.
As much fun as Interlaken is, half the
excitement is in the train ride from
Montreux. Instead of sitting on a regular
train, make the journey a memorable one
with at seat on the GoldenPass, a
passenger train with glass-dome coaches
for uninterrupted views of the passing
serene scenes of Switzerland.The Montreux
Jazz Festival
is the second
largest annual
jazz festival in
the worldThe diverse landscape
of Interlaken is perfect
for a wide range of
sports, making it the
adrenaline centre of
Switzerland
PHOTOGRAPHS: COPYRIGHT, GOLDENPASS PANORAMIC; INTERLAKEN TOURISMUS / SWISS-IMAGE.CH; MONTREUX RIVIERA TOURISME