Chillon Castle — Attraction in Le Léman (VD)

Chillon Castle (Château de Chillon) is an island castle located on Lake Geneva (Lac Léman), south of Veytaux in the canton of Vaud. It is situated at the eastern end of the lake, on the narrow shore between Montreux and Villeneuve, which gives access to the Alpine valley of the Rhône.

Chillon is amongst the most visited medieval castles in Switzerland and Europe. It now belongs to the State of Vaud and is classified as a Swiss Cultural Property of National Significance. The Fort de Chillon, its modern counterpart, is hidden in the steep side of the mountain.

The castle of Chillon is built on the island of Chillon, an oval limestone rock advancing in Lake Geneva between Montreux and Villeneuve with a steep side on one side and on the other side the lake and its steep bottom. The placement of the castle is strategic: it guards the passage between the Vaud Riviera, which allows access to the north towards Germany and France, and the Rhone valley, a quick route to Italy, and offers an excellent viewpoint over the Savoyard coast on the opposite side of the lake. A garrison could thus control (both militarily and commercially) access to the road to Italy and apply a toll.

Chillon Castle in its current form is the result of several centuries of construction and redevelopment.

The excavations carried out from the end of the 19th century, particularly those led by archaeologist Albert Naef (1862-1936), indicate that the site has been occupied since the Bronze Age.

The rocky island on which the castle sits constituted both a form of natural protection and a strategic positioning to control passage from the north to the south of Europe. The castle took on the oval shape of the genuine island upon which it was built. It is approximately 100m long and 50m wide. It also took its name from the rock, the word "Chillon" meant "rocky platform" in an ancient language.

The history of the castle is marked by three great periods: those of the Savoy family, the Bernese bailiffs and the Canton of Vaud.

Some photos courtesy of...

Disappointing Customer Service and No Costume on Private Tour as Advertised — Beautiful Castle, but Little to See Inside

On July 15, 2025, my elderly father—who has mild cognitive challenges and limited English—purchased three tickets for our friends, unaware that they all had valid Swiss Travel Passes. When we politely requested a refund at the ticket counter, the lady staff was unhelpful and skeptical. Only two of us were present at the time, which she could clearly see, as the rest of our group had not yet arrived. Nevertheless, she insisted we show all three passes immediately. Fortunately, I had my mother’s pass with me, which resolved the issue.

However, the CHF 6 audio guide fee—something my father never asked for—was not refunded. When we returned to explain the situation, we also informed her that our friends had already arranged and paid for a private tour in advance. Despite our clear and respectful explanation, the lady staff laughed at us and responded rudely. No refund receipt was provided, and no refund has appeared on our credit card.

To be clear, CHF 6 is not a significant amount to us. What mattered was the dismissive attitude and lack of professionalism.

Additionally, we were told the private tour would include a guide in medieval costume, but our guide arrived in regular modern clothing. While the guide was knowledgeable, this did not match what was advertised and left us feeling let down. The castle itself is beautiful, but the rooms look empty, and there is not much to see inside.

Overall, our visit was affected by poor customer service and unmet expectations, which unfortunately took away from what should have been an enjoyable experience at a...

The Chateau de Chillon (Chillon castle) was built in the 13th century by the Counts of Savoy and is situated near Montreux. The castle was made famous thanks to Lord Byron and his poem “The Prisoner of Chillon”. It is Switzerland’s most visited historical monument. I visited the caste with my family in February 2019 and it was simply spectacular. We took a train from Lausanne to Montreux. From Montreux station, you have buses (15 minutes) that stop in front of the castle. You have brochures with maps, special guide for children and also audio guides for rent in many languages. There are also guided tours for groups available in 10 languages. I preferred the physical brochure (see attached pictures); the brochure with map suggests an itinerary (with direction of the visit) that you can follow (navigating in numerical order) to discover the castle. The visit of the castle should take around 2 hours. The well-preserved medieval castle is clean and also well-maintained. My young daughter received a book (with 23 pages-see attached pictures), ‘My book of medieval recipes’. I felt this book was an excellent idea to take children through an educative, as well as interesting tour of the castle as they move from room to room in the castle and follow the instructions provided in the book. I particularly liked the medieval furniture, weapons (crossbows and arrowheads) and armour. I would say that the external view of entire castle against the backdrop of Lake Geneva and the body armour were the highlight of the visit. My family liked the castle so much that we plan to visit again...