29 July 2018
One of the highlights of our stay in Montreux is a visit to the famed UNESCO-listed Lavaux vineyard terraces that stretch for about 30 km along the south-facing northern shores of Lake Geneva from the Chateau de Chillon in Montreux to the eastern outskirts of Lausanne in the Vaud region.
Besides producing some of the best wine that is not exported out from Switzerland, this area offers some of the most beautiful scenery in Switzerland. There are many marked hiking routes that generally run parallel to Lake Geneva’s shoreline, with some criss-crossing up and down the slopes and terraces where the grapes were grown, all offering views over Lake Geneva and the Alps.
For serious hikers, there is a 11 km trail stretching from Lutry to St-Saphorin. Along the way, one could stop by small villages like Lutry, Grandvaux, Cully, Epesses, Rivaz, Chexbres and St-Saphorin, and hopefully do some wine tasting or enjoy a meal.
There are some recommended routes or itinerary that we considered prior to our trip. A popular route was to start from St-Saphorin and hike up the gentle slopes to Chexbres. Chexbres is located higher up in the hills and hence offers excellent views and good photo opportunities. From there, one could head down to the village of Rivaz and the Vinorama, where around 200 wines from many different estates may be tasted. Alternatively, take a train from Vevey to Chexbres and hike down to St-Saphorin.
Others recommend a hike from Lutry to Grandvaux and on to Cully. Wine tasting could be done in Lutry at the Terres de Lavaux.
After some research, we decided to start our visit at Lutry, walk the wine trails towards Chexbres. We could stop any time along the way once we feel we had enough of hiking, take the train to Rivaz and end our visit to the Lavaux with wine tasting at the Vinorama.
We took the 10.56 AM local train from Montreux Gare to Lutry. Along the way, we had a sneak preview of what was to come along our hike later. We saw vineyards on our right, and views of Lake Geneva on our left as our train made the 40 minutes trip towards Lutry, stopping occasionally at little villages.
Wine tasting at Terres de Lavaux, Lutry
Leaving the small train station at Lutry, we headed towards the lake and saw signage for the Terres de Lavaux. Terres de Lavaux is normally closed on Sunday, except during the summer period when we visited.
Rose wine, Red wine and White Wine that was served.
At Terres de Lavaux, there are tasting packages for tasting of 3 wines at 9 CHF/person or tasting of 5 wines at 12 CHF/person. We chose to taste 3 wines.
We sat on a terrace overlooking the stone buildings and castle of Lutry. The host was a friendly gentleman who explained each wine, its characteristic and what food to pair with it before serving us. We were first served the white wine, with a platter of cheese, cold cuts and bread sticks. This was followed by the rose wine and then the red. He also gave us a map of the Lavaux region, with information of the walking trails and told us about the Chasselas grapes that were typically grown here. The Chasselas grapes are used to produce the white wines that we tasted.
This was definitely a good way to start our visit to the Lavaux. We enjoyed the good service at Terres de Lavaux and the wines we tasted were excellent. The wines we tasted were for sale at 12.50 to 14.50 CHF per 70 cl bottle. There are many other labels for sale too. I would have bought a few bottles, if not for the fact that we would be doing some hiking later.
Lutry
After the wine tasting, we walked through the narrow alleyways of Lutry to the lakeside. The cobblestone streets and well preserved medieval buildings dating from the 15th to 18th centuries of Lutry were rather pretty.
A historic fountain in Lutry, with information board explaining its history.
The promenade at Lutry.
Café de la Poste, a popular lakeside restaurant.
A good place for a meal at Lutry would be the Café de la Poste, a popular lakeside restaurant that supposedly serves excellent filets de perche (fish and chips using fish from Lake Geneva). We had not made advance reservations and the restaurant was fully occupied.
The promenade at Lutry offered quite a nice walk. Many locals were enjoying a picnic or swimming in the lake on this rather warm and sunny day. We did not bring any towels or change of clothes with us. Otherwise, we would have gone for a dip in Lake Geneva too.
The lakeside park at Lutry is a good swimming spot with changing rooms, shady trees and sandy beaches.
Hiking the Wine Trail of Lavaux
We started our Lavaux hike at Route Petite-Corniche and followed the sign-posts that led us up to the terraces. The weather forecasted was warm and sunny so we were well prepared with hats, sunglasses, sunscreen, water and snacks.
Heading towards the wine trails along the Route Petite-Corniche in Lutry.
Within a short time, we were walking on the marked trails through vineyards, laden mostly with green Chasselas grapes. We were in the middle of the growing season and the grapes on the vines were of fairly decent sizes. For city dwellers like us, a walk through the vineyards was quite fascinating.
A train that links the villages along the shoreline of Lake Geneva.
All the walking along the marked wine trail was on paved paths or minor roads, generally only used by agricultural traffic.
We stopped often to snap photos of the stunning views.
While the grapes were happily growing under the warm of the three “suns”, namely the actual direct sunlight, the heat stored by the stone walls that lined the terraces and the reflection of the sun’s rays by the lake, we were melting and sweating along the way.
July is not an ideal time for hiking the Lavaux. Although the views of the lake, Alps and green vineyards were gorgeous, the weather was too warm to fully enjoy the hike. Fortunately there were a few shaded rest stops with benches along the route.
Taking a break at a shady rest stops with excellent views all round.
View from the rest stop – looking towards Lutry where we started.
One of the many information boards along the wine route.
The vines are unfenced and we could see the grapes up close.
Chasselas Grapes.
View of the Lavaux, looking eastward.
At one point, we spotted the Lavaux Express, a little tourist train on wheels that carries visitors through these vineyards.
The Lavaux Express making its way up the winding terraces.
Visitors from the tourist train enjoying the views of the Lavaux.
Heading up towards Grandvaux.
Slightly better views of the Lavaux and Lake Geneva from a higher viewpoint near Grandvaux.
Lunch at the Relais De La Poste
There were only a few cafes or restaurants along the route and the nearest one to us was the Relais De La Poste in Grandvaux. According to information in google map, this restaurant closes at 2.30 PM. We did a brisk walk to the restaurant and made it in time before the kitchen closed.
After the exertions, the first things we ordered were icy cold drinks. The friendly English speaking waitress suggested the filets de perche for our lunch which was what we wanted to try anyway.
The tiny fish fillets came with every bone removed and was delicate and sweet tasting. Surprisingly delicious for fresh water fish.
Relais De La Poste restaurant at Grandvaux.
Our lunch at the Relais de la Poste restaurant - ‘filets de perche’ with french fries as a side dish.
Excellent views of Lake Geneva and the vineyards from our table.
We completed our lunch with a nice cup of coffee on a rather hot and sleepy afternoon. We were probably the last customer that came for lunch and was the last customer to leave. It was about 3.30 PM when we left feeling recharged and rested for our walk to Cully.
Walk to Cully
Since the weather was quite warm and we had seen enough of the vineyards, we decided to end our hike at Cully instead of proceeding all the way to Chexbres.
There were a few routes that criss-cross down the terraces to Cully. We chose to hike along the Route de la Petite Corniche.
Heading towards Cully.
At a shady rest stop along the Route de la Petite Corniche.
View of Cully, a small village on the shore of Lake Geneva, from the rest stop.
Along Route de la Petite Corniche.
More grape vines along the route.
Our original plan was to hike all the way to Chexbres but decide to stop at Cully instead.
Daniel in the midst of the vines.
The famous stone terraces at Lavaux were first built by monks during the eleventh century.
Along Cote aux Vignes.
Along Cote aux Vignes where we had to watch out for the occasional car travelling on this road.
Walking down a narrow path called the Chemin de Chenaux to Cully.
View towards Riex and Epesses.
A apple tree at Cully.
Wine tasting at Vinorama
From Cully, we took the local train to Rivaz. Our destination is the Vinorama which was about a 5 minutes’ walk from the Rivaz train station.
The Vinorama is located by the side of a highway and also easily accessible by car. The place looked a little forbidding as we approached the entrance.
The tasting room is located in a cellar with no views whatsoever. This place seemed popular, with a few other groups already in the midst of their wine tasting flight when we entered the cellar.
Tasting room at the Vinorama.
There are several tasting package options and also ala carte menu where we could select to taste specific wine from a large collection.
My son and I chose the option to taste three whites wines each while my wife ordered a sweet white wine from the a la carte menu. We were served a basket of soft bread and crisp bread sticks with our wine flights.
Sample of wines tasted at Vinorama, plus Delazey.
Back to Montreux
After Vinorama, we took the local train from Rivaz back to Montreux but our Lavaux wine experience was not over yet. We stopped at the Coop supermarket and bought ourselves a bottle of white from Epesses, Lavaux.
A good way to end our day - sipping wine while watching the sun set from the dinner table in our apartment in Montreux.
Trip review
In summary, we enjoyed our visit to Lavaux. It was good to start and end our visit with wine tasting at the Terres de Lavaux and Vinorama. While the wines we tasted were excellent, I enjoyed the overall experience at the Terres de Lavaux better.
The hike on the wine terraces from Lutry to Cully was fascinating, with stunning views of the Lavaux vineyard terraces, Lake Geneva and villages in between. However, it was the hottest time of the day when we did the hike.
On hindsight, we should have started our hike earlier when the weather was cooler. In terms of route, we could have started from St-Saphorin, hike up to Chexbres to enjoy the views from higher elevation and then take the train or bus to Lutry.
At Lutry, we could enjoy wine tasting at Terres de Lavaux, have lunch at the Café de la Poste and then end the day with a dip in cool waters of Lake Geneva before taking the train back to our apartment in Montreux.
