A Visit to Montreux and the Freddie Mercury Statue
This article covers a visit to the Swiss lakeside resort town of Montreux and its statue of Freddie Mercury on the shores of Lake Geneva.
A visit to Montreux
Following a short and comfortable journey on the train from Geneva, I had arrived in Montreux.
Located on the shores of Lake Geneva, Montreux is one of Switzerland’s best known lakeside resort towns, having multiple historic grand hotels.
The town is also famous for its casino, the annual Montreux Jazz Festival, and its links with Queen’s famous frontman Freddie Mercury.
Historians, civil and naval seafarers, and geopolitical analysts are likely familiar with the town due to the 1936 Montreux Convention, which regulates free maritime passage through Turkey’s Bosphorus and Dardanelles.
Plenty of things therefore to discover for me in this Swiss town!
Into the city centre
Although I only had a stopover of a few hours in between trains in Montreux, I was eager to get the most out of my limited time.
Sadly, the weather wasn’t playing ball, as it was raining cats and dogs when I arrived.
Travelling light with only a small rucksack on my trip to Switzerland, I didn’t even have a proper raincoat with me, let alone an umbrella.
I therefore had no choice but to limit my time in town to a bare minimum.
Fortunately, the train station of Montreux is located in the heart of town, and it’s just a short downhill walk to reach the main street and lakeside promenade.
Grand hotels
Montreux is a major lakeside resort town and especially in summer it attracts many tourists from Europe and beyond.
Affluent tourists often choose to stay in one of the town’s numerous luxury grand hotels, such as the Fairmont Le Montreux Palace, Grand Hotel Suisse Majestic, Eden Palace Au Lac, and Grand Lac Excelsior.
Most of these grand hotels are located directly on the lakeshore, offering great views over the French Alps across the lake.
Even if you are not staying in one of these hotels, it’s well worth to take a walk across them or to perhaps have a drink or meal inside.
Freddie Mercury statue
A top attraction in Montreux is the statue of Freddie Mercury, the renowned lead singer of the British rock band Queen, who passed away on 24th November 1991 after prolonged AIDS-related illnesses.
The epitaph on the statue is actually written by Queen guitarist Brian May, and reads: “Freddie Mercury, lover of life – singer of songs”.
Freddie Mercury, who was born as Farrokh Bulsara on the island of Zanzibar, lived a few years in Montreux during the later stages of his life.
Around Freddie’s birthday on September 5th, Montreux organises the Freddie Celebration Days to commemorate the life of Queen’s frontman.
Queen recorded some of its albums at the Mountain Studios in Montreux, most notably Innuendo, the last album released in Freddie Mercury’s lifetime.
The Mountain Studios, located at the Montreux Casino, is now a museum-exhibition dedicated to Queen and can be visited free of charge.
Even prior to Queen’s arrival at the recording studios in the Montreux Casino, the venue had already gained notoriety in rock history.
The old Montreux Casino completely burned down on 4 December 1971 during a Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention concert when a flare gun fired by a fan ignited the venue.
Following the fire, the entire complex was reconstructed.
English rock band Deep Purple was in Montreux at the same time to record an album (Machine Head) and witnessed the fire, which became the source of inspiration for their hit song “Smoke on the water”.
Lakeside promenade
On sunny days, it’s a joy to walk along Montreux’s tree-lined lakeside promenade, and the views over Lake Geneva and the French Alps at the opposite shore are gorgeous.
Sadly, there was none of that today, as due to the pouring rain I could only see the contours of the mountains at the other side of the lake.
Other sights in Montreux
There are a number of other sights you explore in Montreux, such as the Marché Couvert – the covered market hall.
Outside of town, you can enjoy the scenery of the hillside vineyards overlooking Lake Geneva, as well as a couple of castles such as Château des Crêtes and Château du Châtelard.
In the municipality of Veytaux just south of Montreux you can visit Château de Chillon, a stunning lakeside castle.
Back to the station
Montreux is the starting (or finish) point of the Golden Pass, a scenic Swiss train route from Montreux to Zweisimmen, Spiez, Interlaken and Lucerne.
I would be travelling the entire length of this route, starting with a journey with the Montreux Oberland Bernois Railway (MOB) between Montreux and Zweisimmen.
I’ll detail this epic train journey in the next chapter of this trip report.
Conclusion
Montreux, famous for its historic grand hotels and sweeping views over Lake Geneva and the Alps, makes for a pleasant destination to visit on your trip through Switzerland.
This lakeside resort town is also well-known for its links with Queen singer Freddie Mercury, who lived here for a couple of years during his life.
Together with his fellow band members, Freddie Mercury recorded some of their best albums at the Mountain Studios in Montreux, which is nowadays a museum-exhibition dedicated to Queen.
You can pay your respect to Freddie Mercury at the lakeside statue erected in his honour.
As the starting or ending point of the Golden Pass, one of Switzerland’s most scenic train routes, Montreux also attracts railway enthusiasts exploring Switzerland by rail.
Trip report index
This article is part of the ‘Scenic Trains Around Switzerland and the Italian Lakes‘ trip report, which consists of the following chapters:
1. Bergamo: A Visit to Lombardy’s Beautiful Hilltop Town
2. Travelling From Bergamo to Milan by Train
3. From Milan to Varenna and Tirano By Trenord Regional Train
4. A Varenna Visit: A Day Trip to Lake Como’s Most Beautiful Town
5. Tirano: The Italian Gateway to the Bernina Railway
6. Bernina Express Train: Guide to Switzerland’s Most Scenic Railway
7. Review: Swiss InterCity (IC) Train Chur to Zurich and Basel
8. From Zurich to Geneva on a Swiss ICN Tilting Train
9. Cheap Geneva Hotel: Stay Across the Border in Annemasse!
10. Around Lake Geneva by Train: From Geneva to Montreux
11. A Visit to Montreux and the Freddie Mercury Statue (current chapter)
12. Golden Pass: Guide to a Scenic Railway Route Across Switzerland
13. Swiss Chique: The MOB GoldenPass Belle Époque Train
14. From the Mountains to the Lake: Zweisimmen to Spiez by Train
15. Spectacular Spiez: A Visit to a Scenic Swiss Town
16. Spiez to Interlaken by Train: A Trip on the Lake Thun Railway Line
17. Review: Interlaken to Lucerne by Zentralbahn Train
18. Lucerne: Exploring One of Switzerland’s Most Beautiful Cities
19. From Lucerne to Locarno: By Train Across the Gotthard
20. A Visit to Locarno and the Sanctuary of Madonna del Sasso
** rest of the chapters to follow soon **
Enjoyed your Montreux trip report. Picked up some pointers for next time I visit (w/o kids). The Lake Geneva region is great if you can spend more time there. We spent a few summer days there with our family, based in Lausanne. My recommendations are Lausanne: Bellerive-Plage (public pool), Olympic Museum, take a ferry boat on Lake Geneva – we stopped in Vevey and Montreux for walkabouts. Vevey is famous for Charlie Chaplin museum (we did not visit).