We think we want to go the Montreux Jazz Festival July 3-18, 2015 in Montreux at the east end of Lake Geneva; stay for two or three days. Prior to attending we are considering staying in northern Italy, close to Montreux, for week before we go.
Questions:
1) is the festival really worth attending?
2) where should we stay: as Montreux is only 25,000 we thought about Lausanne, only 18 miles away? maybe Geneva about 60 miles
3) ideas for northern Italy: we assume in July and w/ the dollar at parity w/ the euro, Tuscany would be a zoo of school children and tourists. We think we want a smaller town.
Ideas? Many thanks, john