Geneva; Sunday, 09 May, 2004

Sunday dawned...grey and miserable with the cloud possibly looking heavier than it had the previous day.

We decided to try and spend the day doing things where we wouldn't get wet and the most obvious was to visit the fairy-tale castle of Chillon at the other end of the lake. We got the train from the main station to Montreux, which took just under the hour, and then had a quick wander round the town and down to the lake including past the statue of one of Montreux's most famous residents - Freddie Mercury, who died in the town - before stopping for an early lunch.

After lunch we got the trolley bus along the edge of the lake to Chillon and visited the castle.

The castle, although being quite compact, has lots to explore including large areas underneath the main buildings and all the original walkways. In the end we spent almost two hours wandering round the site in the dry (with the occasional dash through open courtyards avoiding the rain)

By the time we left the rain had stopped and looking down the lake towards Geneva there were just the faint signs of sunlight on the water.

We got the trolley bus back into Montreux and decided to get the cogwheel railway up to Glion, a town directly above Montreux in the mountains. The railway climbs through twisting tunnels and winding tracks up the side of the mountain reaching Glion in about 10 minutes. From there we got spectacular views over the lake and the Rhone valley.

The even quicker way down from Glion is the funicular railway which took us to the bottom of the hill in about 2 minutes and from there we caught the Trolley bus back into the centre of Montreux and the train home.

After dropping some souvenirs and guide books back at the hotel we caught the tram out to Carouge, one of Geneva's suburbs to eat in a recommended restaurant.