Vevey
Travel and Tourist Information
ABOVE: The Vevey waterfront on Lac Léman in
Canton Vaud.
By
Durant Imboden
 Vevey
is a popular holiday resort, wine-trading center, and
corporate headquarters town on the "Montreux Riviera." From its lakeside
promenade, you can enjoy beautiful views of the French Alps on the opposide side
of Lac Léman (Lake Geneva).
 The
small city of 16,000 residents has long been popular with British and European
celebrities--among them, the London-born
Charlie
Chaplin, who lived for 25 years in the neighboring village of
Corsier-sur-Vevey (where he was buried after his death in 1977). Chocolate,
baby formula, and other foods also play a role in Vevey's prosperity: Nestlé was
founded here, and the company's international headquarters in Vevey has 1,600
employees from more than 70 countries.
Sightseeing and museums
 The
Grand-Place market square and the lakefront promenade are worth a leisurely
stroll. Also take time to explore the pedestrian zone of the old town, where
you'll find more upscale shops than might be expected in a town of this
size--among them, chocolatiers and gourmet food boutiques. The Tourist Office on
the market square can supply you with an excellent map/guide to Vevey and
Montreux. (Ask about the two-hour guided tour of the two towns.)
 Museums
include the Alimentarium or Food
Museum, the Musée Junisch museum of
fine arts, the Swiss Camera Museum,
the Vevey Historical Museum,
and the museum-library of the Confrérie
des Vignerons, the organization that hosts the Festival of the
Winegrowers every 20-odd years. (The most recent fête was in 1999.) For
other museums in or near Vevey, see the English-language pages at
Museesriviera.ch.
Events
The nine-day Cully Jazz Festival
takes place on the lakefront in early April. Another popular event is the
Street Artists Festival in August, which draws some 1,200 jugglers, mimes,
puppeteers, and other performers.
Excursions from Vevey
 Take
the Mont-Pèlerin
funicular to the
Plein Ciel
Lift for spectacular lake views, or ride Le Train de Vignes
(the Wine Train) through Lavaux, a countryside of wine villages and vineyards. The
cogwheel train ride to Les Pléiades is another option. See the
MOB GoldenPass Services Web site for information on
these and other excursion trains.
If you
prefer water to rails, catch a CGN lake steamer
to the Castle of Chillon,
Montreux, Lausanne, the
Lavaux vineyards, and
other points along the lake.
Hotels
 The
Hôtel
Des Trois
Couronnes & Spa, which was built in 1842, is the dowager empress of hotels in
Vevey. Indoors, the hotel--whose corridors face a three-story atrium--combines
vintage comforts with a stylish modern spa. The Trois Couronnes is surprisingly
cozy by grand-hotel standards, since it contains only 71 rooms and suites, and
the location next to the lake and town center is hard to beat.
To see photos, descriptions, and rates for other (and less expensive)
accommodations, see our hotel partner's secure reservations site. Listings
include photos and reviews by paying guests:
Restaurants
Vevey has a good assortment of eating places,
including the restaurants of the Hôtel Les Trois Couronnes (see
above).
 I
had an excellent meal of lake perch with pommes frites in the
Restaurant La
Clef at Rue du Théâtre 1 in the city
center. The traditional bistro-style restaurant was cozy and friendly, with
guests who ranged from business people to families with small children. (The
restaurant occupies a house where Jean-Jacques Rousseau lived in 1732.)
Transportation
 Vevey
is on the main railway line that runs from Geneva to Lausanne, Montreux, and the
Simplon Tunnel. It's only about 15 minutes from Lausanne by the
Swiss Federal Railways or commuter train.
You can also reach Vevey by the No. 1 bus from Montreux, which passes the Castle
of Chillon.
If you're driving, the N9 autoroute will bring you to Vevey; by boat, take a
CGN lake steamer from other cities on
Lac Léman.
Tourist information
To plan your Vevey trip, see Switzerland Tourism's
Vevey pages.
Next page: More photos of Vevey, Switzerland
About the author:
 Durant Imboden
is a professional travel writer, book author, and editor who focuses on European
cities and transportation.
After 4-1/2 years of covering European travel topics for About.com, Durant and
Cheryl Imboden co-founded Europe for Visitors in
2001. The
site has earned "Best of the Web" honors from Forbes and The
Washington Post.
For more information, see
About
Europe for Visitors,
press clippings, and
reader
testimonials.
Top photo and train photo copyright © ST/Swiss-Image.ch.
Hotel photo courtesy Hôtel Les Trois
Couronnes.
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