Montreux: The Swiss Riviera Town Where Chaplin, Freddie Mercury and Old Money All Settled

Montreux sits on the eastern shore of Lake Geneva, in the stretch of Swiss shoreline long nicknamed the Swiss Riviera for its mild lake-effect climate and the row of grand hotels that lined it from the late 19th century onward. Unlike more overtly flashy corners of the ultra-wealthy travel map, Montreux has built its reputation quietly, one long-term resident at a time.

Chaplin's final act

Charlie Chaplin left the United States in 1952 amid political pressure and settled with his family at Manoir de Ban, a manor house above Vevey, next to Montreux, where he lived until his death in 1977. The estate has since been converted into Chaplin's World, a museum dedicated to his life and films, and remains the clearest physical link between the actor and the region.

Freddie Mercury's adopted home

Freddie Mercury recorded extensively at Mountain Studios in Montreux through the 1980s and early 1990s and kept an apartment on the lakefront, describing the town as one of the few places he could walk around without being mobbed. A bronze statue of Mercury, unveiled on the lake promenade in 1996, remains one of Montreux's most visited spots and draws fans from well beyond Switzerland.

A festival built on the same appeal

The Montreux Jazz Festival, founded in 1967 and held every July on the lakefront, has drawn major performers across jazz, rock and pop for decades and is a significant part of why the town continues to attract visiting musicians and the wider industry crowd around them each summer.

Grand hotels and older money

Montreux's Belle Époque hotel architecture, most visibly the Fairmont Le Montreux Palace on the lakefront, dates to a period when European aristocracy and later a broader international wealthy class began wintering and summering along this stretch of Lake Geneva, a pattern of long, quiet stays that has continued in a more low-key form into the present.

Traveller tips

• Montreux is roughly an hour from Geneva by train, with direct rail connections along the lake from both Geneva and Zürich.
• Chaplin's World is in Corsier-sur-Vevey, a short drive or bus ride from central Montreux, and tickets are generally worth booking ahead in peak season.
• The Montreux Jazz Festival draws large crowds each July; accommodation books up well in advance for that period.
• The lakefront promenade between Montreux and Vevey makes for an easy, flat walk past most of the town's landmarks, including the Mercury statue.