As part of our new series of adventures where we focus on a particular city and things to do while visiting, we decided to start with Vevey. This beautiful city is now part of the Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut District and is located in the French-speaking area of Switzerland.
We've picked our favourite activities as a suggested itinerary below.
Saturday morning l Chaplin's World
We embarked on an extraordinary adventure across time and through the magical world of cinema. We have been moved by one of the most surprising artists of the 20th century.
The house was beautiful, crammed full of interesting things to look at, lots of information and life sized wax figures of some of Charlie Chaplin’s famous friends. The Albert Einstein model is amazing (take a careful look at the mirror in front of him) and we all really enjoyed the visit.
We ran back to the studio through the torrential rain and waited for the next entry to the film which is shown at intervals of 10/15 minutes. We were amazed that the children remained transfixed through the film which taught us lots of interesting facts about Chaplin’s life.
From there it was into the studio which was a brilliant place for the children who loved examining these parallel worlds including a prison and a bank with props for the children to try.
There are smart gift shop attached to be ticket office selling lots of nice things and one of the things that really impressed us what that the staff we encountered were all amazing.
Every single one was helpful and kind, offering unobtrusive assistance and they really enhanced the experience. I read that the grounds of the house are worth a look too but we didn’t see much of them for ourselves this time.
If for any reason you aren’t sure whether it’s worth a visit, we can assure you that it is! We really had a great time.
Saturday afternoon l Mirador Resort & Spa *****
We have often drooled over the Instagram account of the Le Mirador Resort & Spa in Vevey and promised ourselves that we would go there as a special treat if ever we had the occasion and this seemed like the perfect time.
We booked a junior suite and the hotel were very accommodating in organizing beds for Jude and Alba so that we could all sleep in the same room. The driveway leading up to the hotel is impressive but we were completely bowled over when we walked into the reception area and are greeted by huge windows looking out onto the mountains, lake and the towns below. It’s spectacular!
Our suite was beautiful too and they had thought of everything we might need including slippers and robes for Alba and Jude and they had little toiletry kits each which Alba immediately set about trying to eat :-/.
After we had settled in, we headed down to the swimming pool which enjoys the same amazing views and is a wonderfully relaxing place. The water was warm and we all enjoyed a nice swim before heading back to the room to get ready for our evening activity.
All the staff we met were lovely, very friendly and welcoming to us all but especially attentive to the children which was wonderful. There are lots of facilities we didn't try this time including a spa, gym and lots various restaurants so we’ll have to start saving up to go back!
I think it's safe to say to we would recommend Le Mirador without hesitation. It's certainly an extravagance but for a really special break in the lap of luxury, it’s hard to beat.
We are fairly simple people, we don't spend a lot of money on clothes, furnitures and cars but we do really appreciate being able to enjoy this kind of really exceptional break from reality every now and then, and Le Mirador certainly lived up to our expectations.
https://www.mirador.ch/fr/page/homepage
Saturday evening l Les Pléiades
We walked through the forest by the light of kerosene lanterns at an altitude of 1'400 meters. Magical experience!
There weren’t many people doing this shorter walk so it was a really peaceful, magical experience. The moon was almost full and the snow glittering in the moonlight was really beautiful. It was a fairly easy path and Jude did a great job of keeping up with us - he really enjoyed the experience and didn’t complain once which pleasantly surprised us.
At the end of the walk, we stopped at the restaurant for our fondue which was included in the price of the tickets. It was a typical mountain style restaurant and very busy but relatively efficient and the fondue was good.
Tickets for the lantern walk include the train, snow shoes and meal. Reservation is mandatory for this experience and the walks are running every Saturday until 2nd March so there is still time to book.
We came home late and tired and on the train back we were dreaming of sinking our sleepy heads into fluffy pillows on our wonderful big beds.
http://www.goldenpass.ch/en/goldenpass/offer/view?id=30
Sunday morning l Nest Museum
The entrance to the building is a short walk from the car park. It’s a huge modern, airy space and we were immediately impressed with the design of the reception area. We paid chf27 for two adults (children under 6 are free) and were given handheld audio devices and earphones to follow the tour - we could choose which language we preferred and there was a special version for children.
We headed to the first part of the tour where the doors are opened every 5 minutes to control the amount of people in each room. We arrived at 10.15 and were the only ones in our batch following the tour which was brilliant! I won’t spoil it as part of the fun was discovering what lay beyond each door, but it was really a fantastically engrossing experience charting the early years of Nestlé, very interactive, amusing and interesting.
Upstairs is a children’s area call mini-fabrique where there children can put on construction hats and play at moving around, scanning and weighing soft boxes which kept Alba and Jude busy.
They have a beautiful looking café where they serve Sunday brunch but it was sadly full today.
Definitely a good way to pass an hour !
Sunday afternoon l Alimentarium Museum
We embarked on an educational and interactive gourmet journey around the world of food and nutrition, with numerous layover activities to choose from. Amazing Museum !
The Alimentarium enjoys an impressive position overlooking the water so it’s easy to combine a visit with a stroll around the town where there are lots of lovely little shops.
Inside, the building feels like a nice hotel and the thing that stood out the most was how interactive the museum is. At the ticket desk we were given a special key to open boxes placed around the rooms which contained extra puzzles for the children which they really enjoyed and Jude and Alba took turns at being the key keeper.
The visit started beautifully as we began in a wonderful room with screens on all sides featuring motion sensor pictures which displayed further information when we swiped our hands in front of them.
Jean was really impressed with the screen showcasing new social media phenomena such as the term ‘food porn’ or the use of hashtags. From the biggest cities in the world #food, #foodporn or #pasta reflect our culinary discoveries and cravings. However, as it says on the wall, the silence from certain parts of the world reveals other realities and food boundaries. It was a good reminder of how fortunate we are and that we should try to remember that in the way we treat (and waste) food in our own homes.
The last part of the visit is upstairs and we arrived in a dark room where we wandered through the pathways of the brain dotted with giant neurons to discover how our five senses work. It was really fun to do the experiments like eating a sweet and analyse it with your eyes and mouth. The smell experiment was really fun too!
It’s a really interesting, really fun way to spend a couple of hours in Vevey.
Discover our coming adventures on Instagram !