Claude Nobs is a true Montreux legend – a local music lover who
founded and ran Montreux Jazz Festival from 1967 until his death in
2013. A music royalty hangout since the 1960s, brimming with
top-drawer memorabilia, this wood-panelled cocktail bar with plush
booths has welcomed such luminaries as Stevie Wonder, Ella
Fitzgerald and Prince over the years. If you time your visit right,
the cocktail masterclasses are a highlight: listen to the talented
bartenders sharing stories about visiting musicians while whipping
up creative concoctions like the award-winning, whisky-based
sasori.

During the summer months, La
Maladaire is one of the coolest restaurants on the Montreux
Riviera, with a low-key lakeside setting, a young female chef and
plant-forward menu. In the less-touristy winter months, the
restaurant is converted into a ravishing yet rustic sauna and
wood-fired hot tub complex where locals and clued-up holidaymakers
can leap into the pristine lake, cosy up in the sauna or hot tub,
and top it all off with tea and baked treats in the clubhouse.

The steep, striking terraces of the Unesco-stamped wine region
of Lavaux are an absolute must-visit for wine lovers and
gastronomes. During the summer, it’s straightforward to reach each
of the wineries by rail and wander, glass in hand, from one
family-run vineyard to the next. But during the quieter (and
arguably more charming) winter months, we suggest enlisting the
help of a fabulous local wine guide, such as Anne Tardent of
Croc’Nature. She’ll rustle up a cosy, wine-fuelled
itinerary that includes a tasting at wine bar and boutique Les 11 Terres
and a hearty lunch at the renowned Auberge de
l’Onde in the medieval village of St-Saphorin.

Brunch always has the potential to be the most decadent meal of
the day, and it is certainly so at the Fairmont Montreux Palace.
Built in 1906, the hotel is one of the finest examples of Swiss
belle époque architecture and, thanks to the Montreux Jazz
Festival, has in its time welcomed guests including Miles Davis,
Aretha Franklin, David Bowie, Freddie Mercury and Quincy Jones, who
still stays every year. Lingering over Sunday brunch with a jazzy
piano soundtrack and views over Lake Geneva is the perfect way to
savour Montreux’s star appeal.

The way to the heart of a city is through its coffee shops, and
Brew Society is Vevey’s best-loved new-generation café. With
superfood bowls and plant-based burgers on the menu, as well as
excellent single-origin coffee, Vevey’s freelancers can (and do)
spend entire days here.

At what is one of the most picturesque Christmas markets in
Europe, some 170 merchants, craftspeople, chefs and producers line
the lakeshore of Lac Léman in wooden chalets throughout December.
We can’t think of a better way to get into the festive spirit than
by sipping a vin chaud (try a distinctly Swiss white chasselas
mulled wine) and eating fondue in a glowing chalet, before doing
your Christmas shopping in the most picture-perfect and chore-free
manner possible.

Sure, the Montreux Riviera has plenty of musical and literary
history, but don’t be fooled: nearby universities, academies and
hospitality schools flood this region with a youthful population,
too. On our visit, we were struck by the new community project
Mosaic Room, a food laboratory, chef’s residency and art space
(complete with a sewing bar) run by Shakyla Hussain. Cookery
classes and workshops are put on by a rotating roster of
international chefs – Eritrean, Afghan, Iranian and Thai – and it’s
a valuable community space for young food lovers, artists and other
creatives.

This medieval island castle is Switzerland’s most-visited
historical monument. By turns a fort, a summer home and a prison,
it has dazzled a long list of venerable tourists through the
centuries, among them Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Victor Hugo and Mary
Shelley. Lord Byron penned The Prisoner Of Chillon in 1816 after
his visit. Across the road is the equally fascinating Fort de Chillon, a 20th-century military fortification
that has only been open to the public since 2020, and one of the
most unlikely and memorable places to have brunch in Montreux. The
sites are walkable from town via a picturesque lakeshore path that
winds through a spectacular display of summer blooms. The
free-to-access Plage du Château de Chillon, open June to September,
is the perfect spot for a dip, too.