We landed in Geneva airport at around 8 am and took a train into downtown Geneva. There was a free ticket machine at the airport that made it easy. The first thing we did at the Geneva main station was buy a swiss pass for the next 4 days. This cost us around 250 USD per person, but would give us unlimited rides on trains, buses, and most cablecars. Our first agenda for the day was to walk around Geneva, before heading to Montreux.
We walked along a promenade in the Jardin Anglais (English garden) and took some pictures with the jet.
Jet D’eau |
Then, we walked to the old town part of Geneva. We climbed up a hill to the St. Peter’s cathedral, which looked pretty nice from the outside.
Church in old city, Geneva |
There did not seem to be much else in old town (seemed pretty dead to me), so we headed back to the station, getting some lunch at Starbucks, on the way. On the whole, Geneva seemed pretty boring to me, and if I were to plan again, I would skip it.
Collecting our bags, we took a one hour train to Montreux, which is on the eastern end of Lake Geneva. The train ride passed through the Lavaux wineyards, which were pretty.
Dropping our bags off in lockers at Montreux station, we took a bus to Castle Chillon. This was a 20 min bus ride. At the castle, we also bought an audio tour in English, which I think really enhanced our visit.
It was dinner time once we were done at the castle, so we headed back to the station, via bus. We found a buffet place for dinner, collected our bags from the lockers, and took a bus to our hotel for the night, Hotel Tralala. The room was small, but clean. The hotel seemed like a hip spot, and they had music and dancing at night. Fortunately, the sound did not carry over to our room on the top floor. They even offered us free drinks when we came in.
Lake Geneva from the promenade in Montreux |
Hotel Tralala in Montreux |
Compared to the rest of our trip, this was the least interesting day, but a good warm up, since we were jet lagged.
Tomorrow, we head to Interlaken, via the Golden pass!