CERN, Nyon, Chillon, Aigle, Gruyères, Thun, Oberhofen, Bern & St. Beatus

Switzerland was spectacular. Our first two days unfolded in French-speaking Switzerland, kicking off at CERN where we geeked out over the Large Hadron Collider exhibit and the original Tim Berners-Lee web server. From there we hugged the north shore of Lake Geneva past terraced vineyards to storybook castles like Château de Nyon and the fairy-tale Château de Chillon, before overnighting in Villeneuve. Day two began amid vines at the 12th-century Château d’Aigle, continued to hilltop Gruyères for its castle and cheese factory. We then ventured to the capital of Bern to see its famous bears, Thun and Oberhofen lakeside castles, and the waterfall-laced St. Beatus Caves with serious Rivendell vibes.

Itinerary

This two day itinerary is based on our 2025 Switzerland trip August 20-21. It rained both days so we added ☔️ rain friendly activities as backup plans as well as adjustments for weather. The castle interiors and museums were great rainy weather activities. Scott recently got diagnosed with celiac, and we’ve included 🌾 gluten-free (GF) notes for the restaurants we visited.

🏰 Day 1 – Geneva → Montreux (Science + Wine + Castles)

• 🛬 7:30 AM – Arrive in Geneva, collect luggage, and pick up rental car (1h)
  • 📲 Get Wifio hotspot from airport post office ($44.76 for 2 weeks)
  • 💵 Get CHF cash from ATM (💡 Don’t use Travelex)
  • 🚗 Hertz is located in the main terminal (Swiss side), Arrivals Level, with cars located at P51 car park (5m walk)
• 🚗 8:50 AM – Drive (7m) to CERN
• 🔬 9:00 AM – Visit CERN Science Gateway (opens 9 AM, free entry, ~1h)
  • ☕ Optional: Coffee at CERN café, shop/reception
• 🚗 10:15 AM – Drive (30m) to Nyon
• 🏰 10:45 AM – Explore Château de Nyon (CHF 8, ~1h)
• 🖼️☔️ Optional: Visit Musée du Léman (lake & nature museum, free w/Montreux Riviera Card)
• 🥪 11:45 AM – Lunch at Pizza Leggera in Nyon (Dedicated GF pizza crusts with separate prep, Italian chain; known for GF safety standards).
• 🚗 1:00 PM – Drive (1h) to Chexbres
  • 🏰 Optional: Scenic drive-by of Château de Vufflens (private estate)
  • 🏃‍♂️ Optional: Visit to Olympic Museum (Lausanne)
• 🍷 2:00 PM – Chexbres wine tasting and vineyard exploration at Lavaux Vinorama (walk-in tastings welcome, 20% off w/Montreux Riviera Card)
  • 🎬 ☔️ Optional: Watch Lavaux winemaking documentary (~20m runs continuously)
  • 🚗 Optional: Drive (4m) to Domaine Bovy for glass of wine & lake views (open 9 AM – 12 PM, 2 – 6 PM, ⏰ time/weather permitting)
• 🚗 3:00 PM – Drive (20m) to Villeneuve 
• 🎭☔️ Optional: Visit Chaplin’s World (50% off w/Montreux Riviera card, ~1.5h)
• 🏨 3:30 PM – Check in to Hôtel du Port (2 PM earliest check-in)
• 🚶‍♂️ 4:30 PM – Walk (~25m, 1.4 mi) to Chillon (💡🅿️ Parking at Chillon is extremely limited so we recommend transiting in)
  • ⛴️ Backup: Ferry – Villeneuve → Chillon (5:00 PM, 10m via CGN, free 2nd class w/Montreux Riviera Card)
  • 🚊 Backup: Train (4m every 10m)
  • 🚗 Backup: Drive (2m)
• 🏰 5:00 PM – Tour Château de Chillon (open 9 AM – 7 PM, last entry 6 PM, 🎟️ BOOK onsite – 50% off w/Montreux Riviera Card, 1.5-2h)
  • 🧜‍♀️ Inspiration for The Little Mermaid
  • 📲 Mobile App Tour: Use the Chillon app (BOUGHT for $3) for 1h self-guided tour
• 🎶 ☔️ Optional: Queen – The Studio Experience (Montreux Casino, free, open until 9 PM)
• 📷 ☔️ Optional: Musée de Montreux (local history, free w/Montreux Riviera Card)
• 🚌 Bus: Veytaux, Château de Chillon → Montreux, Escaliers de la Gare (10m every 10m until 11:48 PM)
  • 🚊 Backup: Train: Veytaux-Chillon → Montreux (4m hourly at xx:51)
  • 🚶‍♂️ Backup: Walk (45m, 2.1 mi) to Montreux (weather/time permitting)
• 🍽️ 7:45 PM – Dinner @ Safran (🎟️ RESERVED, 🌾 GF labeled menu)
• 🚊 9:03 PM – Train: Montreux → Villeneuve VD (4-7m every 30m at xx:03/:30)
• 🛏️ Return to Hôtel du Port

 🧀 Day 2 – Montreux → Mürren via Gruyères, Bern, & Lake Thun (Castles + Cheese + Bears + Waterfalls)

• 🍳 7:30 AM – Breakfast at hotel
• 🚗 8:00 AM – Drive (2m) to Chillon for additional clear weather exterior photos/drone shots
• 🚗 8:40 AM – Drive (20m) to Château d’Aigle (🌦️ We originally planned this for Day 1 but delayed this due to weather).
• 🏰 9:00 AM – Explore Château d’Aigle exterior vineyards
  • 🎟️ Optional: Wine museum: open 10 AM – 6 PM, last entry 5 PM, purchase tickets onsite for CHF 13 – includes wine tasting and app-based 60m self-guided tour. 
• 🚗 9:45 AM – Drive (40m) to Gruyères
• 🏰 10:45 AM – Explore Gruyères hilltown (💡 Go in the morning to avoid crowds, ~2h)
  • 🅿️ Park at P1, P2, or P3 (based on lot availability)
  • 🏰 Stroll through Gruyères village
  • 🏰 Optional: Enter Chateau Gruyères (🎟️ Purchase tickets onsite,💡 There’s a free walking path along the exterior if you are short on time for an interior visit)
  • 🚗 Drive down from village and park at La Maison
  • 🧀☔️ Tour La Maison du Gruyères (🎟️ Purchase tickets onsite for indoor cheese tour with cheese-making demo until 12:30 PM, 🌾 GF-friendly restaurant)
  • 🍫☔️ Optional: Tour Maison Cailler (opens 10 AM, 🎟️ CHF 17 discounted w/Montreux Riviera Card, ~1h self-guided)
• 🚗 1:15 PM – Drive (45-75m) to Bern via Murten (optional detour)
• 🏰 Optional: Explore Murten (⏰ time permitting, ~1h, due to delaying Aigle to Day 2 we had to eliminate this stop)
  • 🏰 Walk Murten Castle walls
  • 🖼️☔️ Murten Museum (small local museum inside a historic mill)
• 🏙️ 2:00 PM – Stroll Bern’s Old Town via covered arcades (~1h)
  • 🅿️ Park at Metro Parking AG (Waisenhausplatz 19, 3011 Bern)
  • 🚶‍♂️ Walk along Spitalgasse to Tibits restaurant via arcades 
  • 🍽️ Optional: Lunch @ Tibits (🌾 Fully labeled GF buffet)
  • 🏛️ Walk along Marktgasse (covered arcades, shops, fountains)
  • 🕰️ Stop at Zytglogge (Clock Tower) – watch clock mechanism if near the hour
  • 🧠 Continue along Kramgasse (highlights: fountains, Einstein House)
  • ⛪️ Optional: Detour to Cathedral of Bern
  • 🐻 Stroll across Nydegg Bridge (Nydeggbrücke) to Bärengraben (BearPark, free)
  • 🚶‍♂️ Loop back down Rathausgasse along Bern Town Hall
  • ☔️ Optional: Visit Einstein / Bern Historical Museum (top-rated indoor museums)
• 🚗 3:00 PM – Drive (30m) to Thun
• 🏰 3:30 PM – Visit Schloss Thun and stroll Old Town (30m)
  • ☔️ Optional: Enter Schloss Thun (⏰ time permitting, 🎟️ CHF 8 after 20% off w/Berner-Oberland Pass
• 🚗 4:00 PM – Drive (10m) to Oberhofen
• 🏰 4:10 PM – Visit Oberhofen Castle along lakeside (~30m)
  • ☔️ Optional: Enter Oberhofen Castle Museum (⏰ time permitting, atmospheric rooms w/lake views & exhibits, 🎟️ CHF 12 w/Berner-Oberland Pass, ~1h)
• 🚗 4:40 PM – Drive (15m) to St. Beatus-Höhlen
• 🌊 5:00 PM – Explore St. Beatus Caves + Waterfall (9 AM – 6 PM, 1-1.5h)
  • 🎬 Inspiration for LOTR
  • 🚶‍♂️ Walk the scenic waterfall trail and take photos (45m, skip the full cave tour if short on time)
  • ☔️ Optional: Watch the cave’s intro film and full cave exploration (30m self-guided; 75m full cave tour, 🎟️ 30% off w/Berner-Oberland Pass)
• 🚗 6:20 PM – Drive (10m) to Interlaken OST to drop off luggage en route to Interlaken Hertz
• 🚘 6:30 PM – Return rental car (open until 5:30 PM, but Hertz allows after hour returns, 💡 If possible, give yourself plenty of time to get gas and drop off the rental car. We were behind schedule, and Scott had to run in order to catch our train).
• 🚆 6:40 PM – Transit: Interlaken → Mürren (1.5h, transit available every 30m until 7:04 PM, last departure 8:04 PM)
  • 🚶‍♂️ 6:40 PM – Walk (20m) to Interlaken Ost train station 
  • 🚆 7:04 PM – Train: Interlaken Ost → Lauterbrunnen (20m, every 30m at xx:04/xx:34 from 6 AM – 11 PM, 💡Sit right side for waterfall views)
  • 🚠 7:36 PM – Cable Car: Lauterbrunnen (Seilbahn) → Grütschalp (4m, every 30m at xx:06/:36 from 6:06 AM – 8:36 PM, 💡Sit front for valley views)
  • 🚆 7:43 PM – Train: Grütschalp → Mürren BLM (15m, every 15-30m at xx:13/:43 from 6:13 AM – 8:36 PM, 💡Sit right side for Alps)
  • 🚶‍♂️ 7:54 PM – Arrive in Mürren and walk (6m) to hotel
• 🏨 8:00 PM – Check in to Hotel Alpina in Mürren
• 🍽️ 8:15 PM – Dinner @ Panoramic Restaurant Alpina (🎟️ RESERVED inside by the window, 🌾 GF options marked on menu with “G.”)

💡 Tips

• ☔️ Rain plan: Do St. Beatus Caves, castle interiors, and museum stops on wet days. Have backup options available and flex/adjust major stops (like we did with delaying Château d’Aigle and repeating Chillon exterior to the next morning with forecasted less rain). We also had to cut out Murten due to this schedule shift.
• 🚗 Navigation: Download offline Google maps for Lake Geneva, Bern, and Lauterbrunnen valleys; signal dips in tunnels and gorges.
• 🚆 Rental return: If switching from car to trains, photograph your rental car condition and fuel up before returning near Interlaken. Ensure you give yourself plenty of time for the return or you’ll be running to catch your train.
• 🎫 Pass perks vary: Montreux Riviera Card, included with our hotel stay, and our Berner-Oberland Pass covered or discounted many museums/castles.
• 🕒 Last entries: Castles often stop admitting 30-60 minutes before closing; check times so you’re not turned away.
• 🚫 Drones: They are frequently restricted near castles, UNESCO vineyards, and wildlife areas; confirm local rules before flying.
• 🎟️ Chillon strategy: Arrive at opening or the final hour to avoid crowds. Transit in because parking onsite is very limited.
• 📸 Best Chillon photo: Take the lakeside path just east of the castle for the classic water-and-turret shot. If weather/time permits, take the ferry or walk the path from Villanueve.
• 🧀 Gruyères factory: Go early to avoid crowds and ensure to see the live cheesemaking demo before it stops at 12:30 PM. Visit the hilltop village and castle after this stop.
• 🕰️ Bern’s Zytglogge show: Arrive at least 5 minutes before the hour to catch the full sequence without elbowing for space. We unfortunately missed it during our brief stop.
• 🐻 Bear Park is free and open-air; cross Nydegg Bridge for wide photos of bears with the river backdrop.
• 🧥 St. Beatus-Höhlen: It stays cool year-round so wear layers and shoes with good grip for wet walkways and stairs. It’s a great rainy weather activity as the waterfalls were gushing when we went.
• 🌾 Gluten-free travelers: Ask for “sans gluten” in French regions; confirm cross-contamination at fondue spots. Have a translated GF card in French.

📸 Pictures

🧪 CERN (Geneva)

We kicked off in full nerd-mode at CERN, home to the 27 km Large Hadron Collider that smashes particles near light speed to probe the building blocks of the universe. Exhibits made the physics approachable – fit for adults and kids alike. One surprise was the original NeXT computer on display, which hosted the world’s first website. Standing by that machine connects the dots from Berners-Lee’s 1989 proposal to the web we use today. 

🏰 Château de Nyon

Overlooking Lake Geneva, Nyon’s gleaming white castle began as a fortified house in the mid-12th century, later expanded under the Counts of Savoy and seized by Bern in 1536 during the Reformation. Today it doubles as a local history and porcelain museum with commanding lake-and-Alps views. It set the tone for our castles-and-lakes theme right out of Geneva. The walk up through the vineyard gardens with lake views was only slightly dampened by the rain.

🍇 Lavaux Vinorama (Rivaz)

Even under gray skies, the UNESCO-listed Lavaux terraces were cinematic, stair-stepping down to Lake Geneva. The Vinorama center helped us decode the region’s wine culture and taste our way through Chasselas, and we learned the terraces trace back to monastic cultivation in the 11th century. We explored the gushing waterfall and vineyard terraces, and are looking forward to a sunnier return for more vineyard walks. 

🧜‍♀️ Château de Chillon

Floating like a fairytale on Lake Geneva, Chillon rose to global fame after Lord Byron’s 1816 visit and poem “The Prisoner of Chillon.” Many fans say its lakeside turrets inspired Prince Eric’s castle in The Little Mermaid, which made my movie inspired dress a perfect touch for our visit. Beyond the romance, the fortress reveals centuries of Savoyard power and evocative prison chambers. 

Drone video

🌊 Villeneuve (Lake Geneva)

We overnighted at Hôtel du Port in Villeneuve at the very east end of the lake, a quiet town with more than 800 years of history with easy access to Chillon and the Lavaux vines. The rain softened the views, yet watching clouds shuffle across the water from our balcony was its own kind of calm. It felt like the pause between big sights before day two’s sprint. 

🍇 Château d’Aigle

Day two opened in the vines at Aigle’s 12th-century stronghold, now a museum dedicated to wine, vine-growing and an extraordinary archive of historic labels. The setting is pure storybook, with turrets rising above neat vineyard rows backed by Alps. It is a perfect stop to bridge castle lore with living Swiss wine culture. 

🧀 Gruyères

The hilltop town pairs cobbles, murals, and a castle whose story spans eight centuries, from the Counts of Gruyères to Fribourg’s bailiffs. We wandered through the quaint village and explored the castle ramparts and garden for panoramic views. We then headed down to La Maison du Gruyères to nibble 3 different cheese samples while watching giant wheels be molded in the cheesemaking factory. The town’s blend of cheese heritage and medieval architecture made it a spectacular stop. 

🐻 Bern

We followed the arcaded spine of Marktgasse through Bern’s UNESCO-listed Old City, where 15th-century covered arcades and 16th-century fountains line roughly 6 km of limestone streets. At the center we admired the iconic Zytglogge 1530 astronomical clock. Continuing along Kramgasse, we stopped for coffee near Einstein-Haus, where Einstein lived from 1903–1905 during his Bern years. A short detour led to the Bern Minster, Switzerland’s tallest church tower. We then crossed the Nydeggbrücke to the free Bärengraben – a modern bear habitat opened in 2009 by the historic pit. The city of Bern is closely associated with the bear, represented throughout the city in flags, fountains, buildings, and the BearPark. We then looped back via Rathausgasse past the 600-year-old Town Hall.

🏰 Schloss Thun

Schloss Thun anchors Lake Thun with mountain views and a skyline punctuated by its four-towered castle. Built by the Dukes of Zähringen around 1200, the fortress holds one of the best-preserved medieval Knights’ Halls in Switzerland and a museum spread over five tower floors. We made a quick stop along our drive and later returned via ferry when it wasn’t raining. En route to the castle we saw surfers riding the “Monster” wave on the Aare River at the Mühleschleuse.

🏰 Schloss Oberhofen am Thunersee

Schloss Oberhofen is the postcard dream, its keep and romantic lakeside turret seeming to grow out of Lake Thun. The core dates to the early 13th century, with later Bernese expansions, and a 19th-century makeover by the Pourtalès family that added neo-Gothic flourishes and even a Turkish smoking room.

🌊 St. Beatus-Höhlen Caves and Tolkien Ties

Walkways trace waterfalls and karst caverns high above Lake Thun at St. Beatus, a site wrapped in legend about a saint who drove out a dragon. The cave complex is one of Switzerland’s notable show caves, with museum exhibits that bring its geology and lore to life.

J. R. R. Tolkien visited the St. Beatus Caves in 1911 during a walking tour of Switzerland, passing Interlaken, Lauterbrunnen, and St. Beatus before heading toward Mürren and the mountains. Many scholars believe his time here inspired parts of Middle-earth. The St. Beatus Caves are thought to have influenced his vision of the Glittering Caves of Aglarond, described in The Two Towers. Their vast chambers, shimmering rock formations, and underground rivers strongly parallel his descriptions. The dragon legend of St. Beatus also ties neatly into Tolkien’s world-building, echoing the dragons of Middle-earth such as Smaug. His journey to St. Beatus and Lauterbrunnen Valley with their dramatic waterfalls and cliffsides likely fed into the imagery of Middle-earth’s geography, notably Rivendell.