A day trip to Vevey

Last Saturday, we took a half-day trip to Vevey, which is a Riviera-like town set on the shore of Lake Geneva. It may be a bit in the shadow of the more famous Montreux, but this picturesque town is definitely worth visiting. In this post, I´d like to give you some tips, how you can spend a gorgeous day in this town.

How to get there

One hour drive from the capital Bern, you can fully enjoy the pleasant atmosphere of the Swiss Riviera town Vevey.  We parked in the parking lot Coindet (Migros) but next time, I´d prefer parking closed to the old town and lake promenade (e.g. in Parking couvert Panorama). From here, we set on the walk towards the lake.

Walking along the lake embankment

We started our tour along the embankment at Quai de l´Arabie and continues along the Quai Maria-Belgia.

Here we came across a Czech trace: the Memorial of Jan Palach – he was a Czech student who in January 1969 committed self-immolation as a political protest of the Russian invasion to former Czechoslovakia in 1968. The memorial was revealed in 1997.*

Then we strolled along the flower adorned promenade…

…until we reached the gigantic silver fork that sticks out of the water.

But before, we passed the place where you can rent paddle boats. We would´ve tried it, hadn´t our daughter been too small for this kind of adventure.

Visiting museums

Swiss Museum of Games

We strolled to the neighbor town La Tour-de-Peilz and visited this museum that is situated in the 13th-century mansion (you can read my original post here). Don´t forget to climb the tower to enjoy breathtaking views of the Alps on the other side of the lake.

Alimentarium

Since the food giant Nestlé has its headquarters in Vevey, hence this museum was funded by this company and presents various aspects of human nutrition. 

In front of the Alimentarium, you can find (apart from the giant fork) a statue of Charlie Chaplin. This famous Hollywood star of the silent era spent 25 years in the nearby village Corsier-sur-Vevey, where you can visit Chaplin´s museum in his former home Manoir de Ban.

Vevey History Museum

Another of the museums we’ll be visiting next time. When we arrived, it was unfortunately closed. My fault, we should´ve planned to spend here more than half a day. But who could´ve known how much interesting places were here to see ?! That´s why I highly recommend you to reserve a whole day for visiting Vevey!

Walking through the Old Town

An interesting thing that I noticed while wandering through the narrow paved streets of the old town (“La Vielle Ville”) was, that its borders are marked by hanging blue shields. Pretty nice, don´t you think?

In the picturesque old town, you´ll find countless boutiques or shops with local food.

Have a picnic

If you are tired and hungry, you can have your meal in countless bistros and restaurants, but you can also have your own picnic in picnic areas. While you prepare your meal, your children can spend their time on the playground (picnic areas and playgrounds are next to each other). I spotted at least three places: in the park near Quai de l´Arabie, Jardin du Rivage and Jardin Roussy (basically this place is located in La Tour-de-Peilz, but who cares :))

At the time of our visit, the circus was on the square Place du Marché.

You can also have a typical Swiss ice cream Mövenpick.

So, these were my tips on how to spend a day in Vevey. As I said before: this town may be in the shadow of the more famous Montreux, but this fact bears one great advantage: it is not so crowded with tourists! So take your family to Vevey and enjoy your day here!

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*Source: http://www.janpalach.cz/cs/default/mista-pameti/vevey