Would like to stop in Switzerland to see this Castle and Lake Geneva but seems sooo expensive. Is there somewhere in France to stay close by that is cheaper yet nice? Is it worth seeing?
Posted by
Keizer, Oregon, USA
588 posts
I loved Chateau de Chillon, Montreaux, Vevey, and Lausanne. It is expensive but it is worth a full day in my opinion. We stayed in Murten, Switzerland.
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
Yes, the Chateaux de Chillon is worth seeing; but yes, Switzerland is expensive. I believe the Chateaux is not close enough to any towns in France that would have accommodations whose cost would make up for the travel time and cost of staying there.
Posted by
Rochelle, IL
263 posts
I agree with Kent on the expense and beauty of Chillon. France is on the other side of the lake, transportation costs across the lake would probably eat up any savings on hotels. Don't forget one Swiss Franc is about .82-85 cents, so a hotel for 200 franc would be about $170. Chillon is on a train, boat and bus stop, so you might look at other towns like Vevey, but my guess is rooms will still be pricey.
Posted by
Knoxville, TN, USA
7209 posts
You don't have to spend the night in order to see the lake and the chateu. You can make it a day trip if you like. We did a daytrip to Chatei de Chillon all the way from tiny Muerren high in the Swiss Alps. Yes, it was a long day, but it was still very do-able.
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
691 posts
hi Lisa we loved our visit to Château de Chillon. You could stay in a bed and Breakfast near Vevey, Montreux or Villeneuve. Try this website http://www.bnb.ch/ If you have a swiss pass the entry to the Château is free.
Posted by
Bay Area
3551 posts
try a youth hostel.
Posted by
Portland
3594 posts
Yes, it's worth seeing; and you can walk from there to the town of Montreux. I suggest that you look at the websites gitesdefrance.com and logisdefrance.com. I just took a look at the Logis site, and they have many listings on the lake at well under 100 euros/night,more like 60-90. If you stay on on the French side of the lake, you can also have the most enjoyable experience of traveling on one of the boats that go from many of the towns to many of the others. (BTW, the lake is known locally as "Lac Leman," just so you don't get confused by the different name.)
Posted by
Newton, MA, USA
289 posts
We are spending 6 nights in Switzerland in late May. We too wanted to see Chateau de Chillon and Montreux but couldn't find a reasonably priced hotel in our price range and didn't want to do long day-trips from the alps (other 4 nights of lodging).
We decided Montreux was too expensive (there is a hostel but they didn't have private bathrooms) so we ended up in Lausanne at the Lausanne Guesthouse & Backpacker hostel. It's basic but inexpensive and allows us to see the area. It's a quick train ride to Montreux also.