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Express
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Pass Line
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Train
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Geneva
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Lake Geneva Attractions
Lake
Geneva Cruises
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Philippe Museum
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Castle
Chillon
Castle
Aigle
Alimentarium
Vevey
Theme
Hiking Trails
Les
Diablerets
SWITZERLAND BY RAIL - REGIONS -
LAKE GENEVA
CHILLON CASTLE - MONTREUX
It is Switzerland’s most iconic, imaged and visited castle. The
Castle Chillon at the eastern edge of Lake Geneva, just 5 minutes by
train from Montreux, standing on a rocky little island outcrop at the
lake shore, offers such a vision of a romantic idyll in the mists of
the lake with the Alps peaks beyond, it has captured the imagination
of poets like Byron. The first written record of a castle at Chillon
appears in the 12th century. The castle’s heyday as a medieval
fort and residence castle guarding road along lake shore was under the
Burgundian Counts of Savoy who controlled a large portion of southwest
Switzerland along Lake Geneva, or the Vaud. The Savoy’s later lost
control to the Bernes in the 16th Century and they in turn lost their
grip in the Vaudois Revolution in 1798.
With its beautiful 15th Century turrets, the Chillon Castle is a walled
fortress from the land side, with the lake forming a natural moat crossed
by a dramatic wooden bridge to the gate. One of the dramtic views is
by the Lake Geneva cruise boats passing from Montreux to Villeneuva.
Chateau
Chillon became mostly a storage house for weapons and a prison, but the
beautiful image of the castle on the lake waters surrounded by magnificent
snow covered mountains, inspired the likes of Jean-Jacques Rousseau to
reimagine the romantic medieval legend of Abelard and Heloise, and Lord
Byron to tell the story of the monk François de Bonivard, held
captive in its stony donjon, in the epic poem “Prisoner of Chillon”.
The popularity of the Chillon castle for tourists is partly the reason
nearby Montreux became a stop on the Grand European Tour of the 19th
Century’s La Belle Age.
See Favorite Switzerland Castles.
Getting to Chillon Castle is one of the easiest in Switzeland. It has
its own railway stop on the main line from Geneva to Brig, and the Lake
Geneva cruise boats stop at the castle dock. The main highway from the
Vaud region to the Valais region of the southern Alps passes right beside
the castle, on a overpass with can spoil the pristine view a bit. The
train station requires a little walk while the rgular municipal bus (line
No 1) from Montreux stops directly at the roadside stop across a pedestrian
bridge. A Swiss Pass is valid for travel on the train line, the CGN Lake
Geneva cruise boats and the city bus, making it easy to take the boat
in one direction and the train or bus in the other. The Chateau de Chillon
is open from 9am to 6pm and sells its own exclusive wine, Clos de Chillon,
to support its upkeep. Group tasting tours can be arranged. A special
guide book for kids with the castle's dragon mascot Drako is offered
in English for family visits.
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