to indulge in music and food festivals, including the world-famous Montreux Jazz Festival, local wines, outstanding museums and more.

All three towns hug the shores of picturesque Lake Geneva, just one hour by one of the efficient Swiss trains from the bustling big city of Geneva, but – really – a world away.

Lausanne – With the Summer Olympics coming to Los Angeles in 2028 and the Winter Games returning to Salt Lake City in 2032, this is an ideal time to whet the appetite of your clients with a visit to the Olympic Museum. Each step up to the hillside location from the lakeside is engraved with a timeline of the modern games. Displays include golden trophies awarded from 1896 to 1920, a room of Olympic torches with videos of the athletes carrying them, and uniforms and clothing that competitors wore, many of them autographed, such as Rafael Nadal’s tennis shoes from the 2008 games in Beijing.
www.olympics.com/museum

The Beaux Arts former Casino is now an entertainment center including a movie theater and a restaurant with an extensive list of local wines. My choice for dinner was a red from the nearby Chateau Rochefort et Torevittis vineyard, to accompany another local favorite – beef bourguignon made with beer instead of wine.
www.lausanne.ch/vie-pratique/loisirs/salles-et-refuges/casino-montbenon.html

Montreux – The 59th annual Montreux Jazz Festival in July features both free and ticketed events featuring international stars. A perfect spot for lunch or dinner before or after a concert is the Montreux Jazz Café, filled with posters of past festivals and their performers, with excellent food and impeccable service.
www.montreuxriviera.com/en/Z13938/calendar-of-events
www.montreuxjazzcafe.com/fr/locations/montreux

Lesser known is the annual celebration of Freddie Mercury, lead singer of Queen, who lived here for a time, and whose statue on the lakeside promenade is popular for selfies copying his iconic stance. Freddie Days in September also includes both free and ticketed events. Devoted clients can stay in the Freddie Mercury Hotel, with modern décor that includes Freddie posters and photos in the lobby and in rooms.
www.montreuxriviera.com/fr/P33447/freddie-celebration-days
www.thefreddiemercuryhotel.ch/en/Home

A Montreux must-see any time is the historic Castle of Chillon, which inspired Lord Byron to write his classic poem, Prisoner of Chillon, and a plaque in the dark and dank dungeon memorializing both the real prisoner and the literary event. More impressive to me, though, is the huge Coat of Arms Hall, which features dozens of original paintings documenting the local mobility from 1536 to1669.
https://www.chillon.ch

Vevey – Look for the giant stainless steel sculpture of a fork in the lake, which marks the location of the Alimentarium, a museum of the history of food, in a Beaux Arts mansion which belonged to the family which founded Nestle here. My favorite sections were the displays of ancient food gathering implements, products and kitchen gadgets from my youth, and clips of films and documentaries about food.
www.alimentarium.org/en

There are more film clips at Chaplin World. The iconic film star retired here after leaving Hollywood in 1954. His house is filled with memorabilia, including family photos and those of other legends like Orson Welles who visited him here, and a magnificent view of Lake Geneva he cherished. But it is the recent addition of the “studio” that is the real draw for most visitors. This is a wonderland of recreated walk-though sets, original costumes, his Oscars, and film clips. I watched a grade-schooler giggle with delight at his timeless pratfalls and other sight gags which defy generations. Your clients should expect to spend a half-day here, more if they are Chaplin devotees and picture perfect lakeview sunsets.
www.chaplinsworld.com/en

For anybody who has ever taken a photo – which is all of us – the small, unpretentious Swiss Camera Museum is a fascinating snapshot (pun intended) tracing film and digital history from early 1800s Daguerreotypes to the first videorecorder in 1981 and modern livestream technology. It is just off the lakeside pedestrian square.
www.cameramuseum.ch

Lausanne, Montreux and Vevey are within the Canton of Vaud – a Canton is the Swiss version of a state or province – also famous for its vineyards, most of which hug terraced hillsides up from the lake. These are no ordinary vines, since they are protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site from development into tract housing, and also because they produce some of the best wines in Switzerland.

There are hundreds of small family-owned vineyards polka-dotting the area known as Lavaux, and every restaurant throughout Vaud proudly features local wines, so there’s ample opportunity for your clients to taste test.

While there are small local wine and food festivals in individual villages in late summer and early autumn, narrow winding roads through historic villages pretty much preclude participation for visitors driving. Best bet to sample the ample Vaudois food and wine is at the region’s farm store in downtown Lausanne, which features sausages and cheeses, wines, herbs and herbal teas and fresh pastries, fruits and veggies. Look for the giant cow sculpture out front.
www.myfarm.ch/en/farm-shops/lausanne/terre-vaudoise-farm-store-la-halle_A5sCpxm

For more information please visit: www.myswitzerland.com