Why this ride
104 km one way from Montreux - plan on about 1 h 20 of riding. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,350 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Grand Tour of Switzerland: Montreux to Neuchatel
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 104 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 20
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Lavaux Vineyard Road
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 30 km this is Lavaux Vineyard Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 30 km
- Named road
- Lavaux Vineyard Road
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Montreux
Montreux is the Swiss Riviera in its most polished form, a ribbon of hotels, gardens and promenades stacked up the steep north shore of Lake Geneva, with the French Alps standing on the far side of the water like a stage set. The slopes behind are so sheltered that palms and magnolias survive outdoors, and the lakeside walk is lined with flowerbeds from early spring. It was a retreat for Victorian invalids and then for writers: Byron wrote about the nearby Château de Chillon, and Nabokov spent his last years in a suite at the Montreux Palace hotel, where his statue stands in the gardens today.
Read the complete Montreux write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Montreux is where the day begins. Next is Lausanne.
2. Lausanne
Lausanne tips down a steep hillside to Lake Geneva, and you feel it in your legs, your brakes and your bike's low gears. The city sprawls over three hills and a lake front, with the old town at the top and the harbour district of Ouchy at the bottom, joined by one of the world's smallest metro systems. The Gothic cathedral looks out over the roofs and the water toward the French Alps across the lake.
Read the complete Lausanne write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Lausanne comes up about 30 km into the recorded legs. Next is Neuchatel.
3. Neuchatel
Neuchâtel looks across its lake from a long, gentle shoreline, with the Jura mountains rising behind and, on a clear day, the Bernese Alps floating above the far side like a distant promise. The town takes its yellowish tint from the local limestone, a warm honey colour in evening light, and its centre is a tidy lattice of old lanes between the castle and the lakefront. The castle and the Collegiate church sit together on a small hill above the old town, and it was from here that the counts, and later the Prussian kings, ruled. Neuchâtel was under the Prussian crown from 1707 until a republican revolution in 1848, a curious detail that explains its odd, independent character.
Read the complete Neuchatel write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 104 km.
Leg by leg
Montreux to Lausanne
Montreux → Lausanne is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Lausanne to Neuchatel
Lausanne → Neuchatel is 74 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Les Roseaux and Bahnhof · 316 km
- Stations de Morges and Bahnhof · 318 km
- Les Roseaux and L’Abbaye 2 · 217 km
- Stations de Morges and L’Abbaye 2 · 219 km