Interactive map of musical places

Statue

Statue de Freddie Mercury

Place du Marché, Montreux

The famous three-metre bronze statue of Freddie Mercury is the work of Czech sculptor Irena Sedlecká. Unveiled in November 1996 by the soprano Montserrat Caballé, in the presence of Brian May, Roger Taylor and the singer’s family, it shows Freddie in his iconic stage pose, fist raised towards the lake. The Queen singer, deeply attached to Montreux where the band owned Mountain Studios, said of the town: “If you want peace of mind, come to Montreux.” It is today the most visited musical pilgrimage site on the Riviera. Flowers, messages and fans from all over the world follow one another all year long, particularly around 5 September, his birthday, during the Freddie Days.

Related artists :Freddie MercuryQueen

Bust

Buste de Miles Davis

Quai de Vernex, Montreux

The work of Montreux sculptor Bernard Bavaud, this bust was donated in 1996 by the Association of Friends of the Montreux Jazz Festival for the festival’s 30th edition. It faces the bust of Richard Strauss by the same sculptor: jazz and classical music look at each other by the lake. Miles Davis is one of the major figures in the festival’s history, performing there many times up to his final concert in July 1991, a few weeks before his death. One of the festival’s halls, the Miles Davis Hall, bears his name. The festival had made him guest of honour in the 1990s.

Related artists :Miles DavisBernard Bavaud

Bust

Buste de Richard Strauss

Quai de Vernex, Montreux

Unveiled in 2013, this bust of the German composer Richard Strauss is the work of Montreux sculptor Bernard Bavaud, donated by the association of Friends of Richard Strauss. It stands on the Quai de Vernex, in front of the Auditorium Stravinski, facing the bust of Miles Davis by the same sculptor. Strauss stayed regularly in Montreux, like many great classical musicians drawn by the mildness of the Riviera. He notably worked during his stays at the Montreux Palace.

Related artists :Richard StraussBernard Bavaud

Sculpture

Hommage à Adolphe Sax

Quai de Vernex, Montreux

This giant saxophone with colourful psychedelic patterns was installed on the quays in 2014, for the bicentenary of the birth of Adolphe Sax, the Belgian instrument maker born in Dinant in 1814 who invented the king of jazz instruments. An inscription at the foot of the work recalls the anniversary. A joyful nod in the town of the Montreux Jazz Festival: with the busts of Richard Strauss and Miles Davis close by, it forms on the Quai de Vernex a musical promenade between jazz and classical, at the water’s edge.

Related artists :Adolphe Sax

Bust

Buste de Wilhelm Furtwängler

Port du Basset, Clarens

The great German conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler, a legendary figure of twentieth-century conducting and long-time director of the Berlin Philharmonic, chose Clarens, on the lakeside west of Montreux, to live out his final years, from 1945 until his death in 1954. His bust stands near the Port du Basset, a few steps from the lake he loved to contemplate. A discreet reminder of the appeal the Riviera held for the greatest classical musicians. The bust was unveiled on 28 August 2016.

Related artists :Wilhelm FurtwänglerBernard Bavaud

Statue

Statue d'Igor Stravinski

Devant l'Auditorium Stravinski, Montreux

Igor Stravinsky lived in Clarens in the early twentieth century: it was there that he composed most of “The Rite of Spring” (1912-1913), the work that caused a scandal in Paris before revolutionising twentieth-century music. His statue stands in front of the Auditorium Stravinski, the great Montreux concert hall inaugurated in 1993 and the heart of the Montreux Jazz Festival, which bears his name in tribute to those creative years spent on the Riviera. The statue, the work of Russian sculptors Nikolai Kuznetsov and Natalie Plouromskoya, depicts him in profile.

Related artists :Igor Stravinski

Bust

Buste de B.B. King

Jardin du Fairmont Le Montreux Palace, Montreux

The bust of B.B. King shows him with Lucille, his legendary guitar. The work of sculptor Marco Zeno, it honours one of the greatest regulars of the Montreux Jazz Festival: the king of the blues performed there countless times, and a street-art mural also pays tribute to him in town. Like the other busts in the Palace garden, it was donated by Barbara J. Riley to Claude Nobs, the festival’s founder.

Related artists :B.B. KingMarco Zeno

Bust

Buste d'Aretha Franklin

Jardin du Fairmont Le Montreux Palace, Montreux

Microphone in hand and arm raised, the queen of soul sings for eternity in the garden of the Montreux Palace. This bust of Aretha Franklin, sculpted by Marco Zeno and donated by Barbara J. Riley to Claude Nobs, recalls her concert of 12 June 1971 at the Casino de Montreux, the last she gave with King Curtis and the Kingpins. The first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, she remains one of the most influential voices of the twentieth century.

Related artists :Aretha FranklinMarco Zeno

Bust

Buste d'Ella Fitzgerald

Jardin du Fairmont Le Montreux Palace, Montreux

This bust of the “First Lady of Song” is the work of sculptor Danièle Lauffer, installed in 2007 in the Palace garden thanks to Barbara J. Riley, donor of several of the garden’s tributes. Ella Fitzgerald left her mark on the history of the Montreux Jazz Festival from 1969: her concert that year, immortalised on record, ranks among the great moments of the fledgling festival.

Related artists :Ella Fitzgerald

Bust

Buste de Carlos Santana

Jardin du Fairmont Le Montreux Palace, Montreux

Arms raised to the sky, a huge smile and his guitar held close: the bust of Carlos Santana, sculpted by Marco Zeno and unveiled in July 2012, breathes the joy that characterises the guitarist on stage. A regular of the Montreux Jazz Festival and a friend of Claude Nobs, Santana gave some of his most memorable concerts there. The work was donated by Barbara J. Riley to the festival’s founder.

Related artists :Carlos SantanaMarco Zeno

Bust

Buste de Ray Charles

Jardin du Fairmont Le Montreux Palace, Montreux

Head thrown back in laughter, hands on a bronze keyboard: the bust of Ray Charles captures the genius of soul in his element. The work of Marco Zeno, donated by Barbara J. Riley to Claude Nobs, it recalls the four concerts “The Genius” gave at the Montreux Jazz Festival: on 13 July 1978 and on 16 and 17 July 1991 at the Casino, then on 19 July 1997 at the Auditorium Stravinski. His name is engraved on the keys of the keyboard.

Related artists :Ray CharlesMarco Zeno

Bust

Buste de Quincy Jones

Jardin du Fairmont Le Montreux Palace, Montreux

Arms raised like a conductor, the bust of Quincy Jones salutes one of the greatest producers in the history of music, sculpted by Marco Zeno. A long-time partner of Claude Nobs, “Q” co-produced the 1991 edition of the Montreux Jazz Festival, the one with Miles Davis’s final concert. The producer of “Thriller” and dozens of classics, he has been part of the festival family for decades. Quincy Jones also produced the three albums that made Michael Jackson pop’s greatest star, “Off the Wall” (1979), “Thriller” (1982) and “Bad” (1987). The statue stands in the garden of the hotel where Jackson stayed in 1997, in the suite that now bears Quincy Jones’s name.

Related artists :Quincy JonesMarco ZenoMichael Jackson

Statue

Statue de Claude Nobs

Jardin du Fairmont Le Montreux Palace, Montreux

Harmonica to his lips and torso thrown back, this life-size statue of Claude Nobs (1936-2013), the work of Andreas Altmann unveiled in 2017, watches over the Palace garden and its busts of legends. The founder of the Montreux Jazz Festival happily played the harmonica on stage with his guests. He is shown among those he brought to the Riviera: B.B. King, Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, Santana and Quincy Jones.

Related artists :Claude Nobs

Bust

Buste de David Richards

Casino Barrière, Montreux

Producer and sound engineer at Mountain Studios for two decades, David Richards (1956-2013) shaped the sound of dozens of albums recorded in Montreux: he worked with Queen on their Montreux albums, co-produced “Made in Heaven”, and collaborated closely with David Bowie. His bust stands outside the Casino Barrière, a few metres from the studio where so much music came to life. David Richards rests in the Clarens cemetery, on the lakeside west of Montreux.

Related artists :David RichardsQueenDavid Bowie

Plaque

Plaque Smoke on the Water

Av. de Chillon 78, Territet

On 4 December 1971 the Casino de Montreux burned down during a Frank Zappa concert: a member of the audience had fired a flare into the ceiling. Deep Purple, who were due to record their album there, fell back on the former Grand Hôtel in Territet, where “Machine Head” was recorded that same month with the Rolling Stones’ mobile studio, in a corridor of the building turned into a makeshift studio. From this episode came “Smoke on the Water”: the smoke spreading over the lake, and “Funky Claude” (Claude Nobs) “running in and out, pulling kids out the ground”, as the lyrics tell it. The commemorative plaque placed by the municipality of Montreux recalls, on the spot, the birth of the most famous riff in the history of rock.

Related artists :Deep PurpleFrank ZappaClaude Nobs

Tribute wall

Queen Tribute Wall

Casino Barrière, Montreux

This tribute wall gathers the messages, dedications and drawings of Freddie Mercury and Queen fans from all over the world. A few metres from the former Mountain Studios, it extends the band’s Montreux pilgrimage: declarations of love to Freddie can be read there in every language, regularly renewed as the wall fills up. A living, moving place, constantly being rewritten. Among the messages left for Freddie Mercury are also words addressed to Michael Jackson, written by visitors following in his footsteps: the studio, and the wall, belong to both legends.

Related artists :QueenFreddie MercuryMichael Jackson

Street art

Graffiti B.B. King

Rue de la Rouvenettaz 1, Montreux

This street-art mural pays tribute to B.B. King, blues legend and a regular of the Montreux Jazz Festival, where he performed countless times. His bust also adorns the Palace garden. Created in June 2023 by urban artist NadaOne with the Yksel agency, it illustrates the way music permeates even the walls of the town, far beyond the concert halls.

Related artists :B.B. King

Memorial bench

Banc Freddie Mercury

Quai de Territet, Montreux

This silhouette bench is part of the “Rencontres & Inspiration” trail, which dots the Riviera with figures of the celebrities who found inspiration in Montreux, from Victor Hugo to Charlie Chaplin. Freddie Mercury’s invites you to sit facing the panorama of Lake Geneva and the Alps, on the Territet quay. This landscape, which the singer used to contemplate, inspired the cover of “Made in Heaven”. A photo spot much loved by fans, more secluded than the statue on the Place du Marché.

Related artists :Freddie MercuryQueen

Memorial bench

Banc Claude Nobs (Rencontres & Inspiration)

Quai du Casino, Montreux

Another stage of the “Rencontres & Inspiration” trail, this silhouette bench honours Claude Nobs (1936-2013), the founder of the Montreux Jazz Festival, a stone’s throw from the Casino whose 1971 fire brought him into rock legend through “Smoke on the Water”. Seated facing the lake, “Funky Claude” seems to contemplate the town he turned into a world capital of live music. His official statue, for its part, stands in the garden of the Montreux Palace.

Related artists :Claude Nobs

Historic site

Site de la Villa Richelieu (Tchaïkovski)

Avenue Claude-Nobs 7, 1820 Montreux (hôtel Royal Plaza)

Between 1877 and 1879, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky stayed three times at the Villa Richelieu guesthouse in Clarens, fleeing the torments of his Moscow life. It was there that, in March and April 1878, in the company of the violinist Iosif Kotek, he composed his Violin Concerto in D major in less than a month (today one of the most played concertos in the world) and worked on his opera “Eugene Onegin”. The place has changed face three times: the guesthouse became the Hôtel Continental, which was demolished and replaced in 1982 by the Hyatt, later renamed the Royal Plaza. It is that hotel which occupies the site today, to the west of Parc Vernex. The place is a reminder that the Riviera was a major creative refuge for nineteenth-century composers.

Related artists :Piotr Ilitch Tchaïkovski

Cemetery

Cimetière de Clarens

Chemin du Batailleux, Clarens

In this peaceful cemetery above Clarens, surrounded by greenery with Lake Geneva below, rests David Richards (1956-2013), the producer and sound engineer who kept Mountain Studios alive for two decades alongside Queen and David Bowie. The place is also known to literature lovers: the writer Vladimir Nabokov, a famous resident of the Montreux Palace, is buried here. A contemplative stop, to be combined with the bust of Wilhelm Furtwängler at the Port du Basset, below. Several other great figures of music also rest here: the pianist Nikita Magaloff and the violinist Joseph Szigeti, the spectral composer Horatiu Radulescu and Carlo Boller, founder of La Chanson de Montreux. Sydney Chaplin (1885-1965), Charlie Chaplin’s half-brother and the man who advised the family to settle in Switzerland, also rests here beside his wife. David Richards and the Chaplin family were in fact related by marriage: the producer had married Collette McCready, whose sister Bernadette, known as Bernie, was married to Eugène Chaplin, Charlie’s son. The two men were therefore brothers-in-law.

Related artists :David RichardsSydney ChaplinNikita MagaloffJoseph SzigetiHoratiu RadulescuCarlo BollerQueenFreddie Mercury

Public park

Parc Jean Villard-Gilles

Rue du Torrent, Clarens

This public park in Clarens honours Jean Villard, known as Gilles (1895-1982), a songwriter and poet born in Montreux. A founding figure of French-Swiss song, he wrote “Les Trois Cloches”, popularised by Édith Piaf and Les Compagnons de la Chanson, as well as “La Venoge”, an ode that became a Vaudois emblem. A cabaret pioneer with his duos Gilles et Julien and then Gilles et Urfer, he paved the way for all French-language song in French-speaking Switzerland. The park that bears his name offers a green pause a stone’s throw from the Clarens quays.

Related artists :Jean Villard-Gilles

Plaque

Plaque Claude Nobs (Petit Palais)

Avenue Claude-Nobs, près de l'entrée du Petit Palais, Montreux

In 2013, a few months after the death of Claude Nobs, Montreux renamed “Avenue Claude Nobs” the stretch of the Grand-Rue that runs past its grand hotels, where the heart of the Montreux Jazz Festival beats. The plaque was unveiled in the presence of Quincy Jones during the festival’s 47th edition, the first without its founder. It can be seen near the entrance to the Petit Palais, the Belle Époque pavilion of the Montreux Palace that today houses the Montreux Jazz Café. It recalls the man who made his town a world capital of music.

Related artists :Claude Nobs

Plaque

Plaque Stravinski (Tavel)

Rue du Sacre du Printemps, Tavel, Clarens

It was in the Tavel district, above Clarens, that Igor Stravinsky lived and worked during his Montreux years. He stayed in particular at the Les Tilleuls guesthouse, where he completed “The Rite of Spring”: the score is signed “Clarens, 8 March 1913”. The street is now called Rue du Sacre du Printemps in tribute to the work, and a commemorative plaque marks the house where the composer lived. A peaceful detour, between vines and old stone, to touch one of the birthplaces of modern music.

Related artists :Igor Stravinski

Street art

Fresque d'Albin Christen (Grütli)

Café du Grütli, vieille ville, Montreux

In 2000, Claude Nobs fell for the drawings of Albin Christen: the poetic, teeming world of the Lausanne artist illustrated the poster of the 34th Montreux Jazz Festival, a round of musicians in yellow and ochre on a blue background that became one of the festival’s most recognisable posters. In the old town, the artist also painted the wall of the Grütli restaurant: a mural to be discovered along the narrow streets, far from the bustle of the quays.

Related artists :Albin Christen

Landmark structure / concert posterNot open to visitors

Viaduc de Chillon

Autoroute A9, Veytaux, Villeneuve

Opened in 1969, the twin Chillon viaducts sweep their concrete curves above the vineyards and the lake, just behind the castle: a feat of engineering that became, almost by accident, an emblematic Riviera backdrop. Shortly after they opened, they provided the setting for the poster “All Roads Lead To Knebworth”, announcing Pink Floyd’s concert of 5 July 1975 at Knebworth Park: on a retouched photograph of the motorway, with the Château de Chillon visible below and a cyclist at a standstill, the graphic studio Hipgnosis scattered bicycle parts floating in the sky. The British band had also left its mark on Montreux on 18 and 19 September 1971: the classical festival Septembre Musical programmed them at the Pavillon for an ambitious version of “Atom Heart Mother”, backed by a string orchestra and choirs brought from London, one of the boldest episodes in the town’s musical history.

Related artists :Pink Floyd

“Rencontres & Inspiration” silhouette

Silhouette de Clara Haskil

Quai Perdonnet 19, Vevey

The silhouette is part of the “Rencontres & Inspiration” trail, which dots the Riviera with figures who lived or stayed here. This one stands on the Quai Perdonnet, a few steps from the addresses where Clara Haskil spent the last eighteen years of her life. A Jewish pianist born in Bucharest, she took refuge in Switzerland at the end of 1942 and settled in Vevey: first with the Gétaz family on the Rue de Lausanne, then at the former Hôtel d’Angleterre on this very quay. She also rented a chalet in Cornaux, towards Montreux. Naturalised Swiss in 1949, she died in Brussels in 1960. Vevey honours her every two years with the Clara Haskil International Piano Competition, one of the most demanding in the world.

Related artists :Clara HaskilCharlie Chaplin

“Rencontres & Inspiration” silhouette

Silhouette de Paul Hindemith

Parc Mon Foyer, Blonay

Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) is one of the major composers of the twentieth century, and was also a violist, violinist, teacher and conductor. His music was declared “degenerate” by the Nazi regime; he left Germany in 1938 for Switzerland, then moved on to the United States. In 1951 he became professor of musicology in Zurich and, in 1953, settled with his wife Gertrud at the Villa La Chance in Blonay. Urged to return to Germany for good, he refused: this would be his anchor for his last ten years. In November 1963 he conducted the premiere of his “Mass” in Vienna, fell ill shortly afterwards and died in Frankfurt on 28 December. He was buried on 4 January 1964 in the cemetery of La Chiésaz, in Saint-Légier, very close to his home. Blonay is today the seat of the Hindemith Foundation.

Related artists :Paul Hindemith

School / place of learningNot open to visitors

Collège de Montreux

Rue de la Gare 33, 1820 Montreux

The Collège de Montreux, on the Rue de la Gare, still takes in secondary-school pupils. For the history of song it matters because a director and his son left their mark there: Camille Dudan ran it from 1926 to 1932, and his son Pierre, the future author of “Clopin-Clopant” and “Café au lait au lit”, was schooled there. It was there, with his father and his French teacher, the writer Maurice Budry, that young Pierre took to the words that would make his Paris career.

Related artists :Pierre Dudan

Island / album sleeve

Île de Peilz

Lac Léman, au large de Villeneuve

Set offshore from Villeneuve, at the eastern end of Lake Geneva and some five hundred metres from the mouth of the Eau Froide, the Île de Peilz is the smallest and the only natural island in the lake. A few dozen square metres, a monumental London plane tree planted in 1851 to replace poplars, a few shrubs: that is all. Local tradition holds that it was no more than a rock until 1797, before being covered with earth and ringed by a retaining wall, repaired in 1820, 1851 and again in 2010; a wooden house is said to have stood there in the nineteenth century, and nothing of it remains. The island belongs to the commune of Villeneuve and landing is not advised: it is admired from the shore. Its link with music comes down to an image. In 1976 and 1977, Yes were staying at Mountain Studios in Montreux to record “Going for the One”; a photograph of the island appears inside the record’s sleeve. The smallest piece of land in Lake Geneva thus slipped into one of the great albums of progressive rock.

Related artists :YesRick Wakeman

Cemetery

Cimetière de Corsier-sur-Vevey

Cimetière de Corsier-sur-Vevey, 1804 Corsier-sur-Vevey

In this small village cemetery above Vevey rest Charlie Chaplin, who died on Christmas Day 1977, and his wife Oona, who died in 1991. It is a place of quiet remembrance, not an attraction: visits should be discreet, out of respect for the site and for the families whose loved ones are buried here.

Related artists :Charlie Chaplin

Square and town hall

Place de la Palud

Place de la Palud, Lausanne

In the heart of Lausanne’s old town, the Place de la Palud is overlooked by the town hall. It was there that David Bowie married the Somali model Iman on 24 April 1992, in the greatest secrecy: the press only learned of it ten days later. A photographer from a Lausanne agency did, however, catch the couple as they arrived.

Related artists :David Bowie

Venue with memorabilia

Montreux Jazz Café

Fairmont Le Montreux Palace, Av. Claude-Nobs 2, Montreux

The official café of the Montreux Jazz Festival, at the Fairmont Le Montreux Palace, is decorated with objects, photographs and archives retracing nearly sixty years of the festival founded by Claude Nobs in 1967. Filmed concerts shown on screens, historic posters and souvenirs of the great editions accompany a menu inspired by the tastes of “Funky Claude” himself. A delicious way to immerse yourself in the festival’s legacy, a stone’s throw from the busts in the Palace garden. Among the pieces on display are a white Japanese kimono given by Freddie Mercury to Thierry Amsallem and Claude Nobs, and a painted portrait of Quincy Jones bearing his handwritten dedication (“Pour my beloved… I love you all…”), a work given personally to the producer.

Related artists :Claude Nobs

Venue with memorabilia

Funky Claude's Bar

Fairmont Le Montreux Palace, Avenue Claude-Nobs 2, 1820 Montreux (à côté de Furer)

This bar at the Fairmont Le Montreux Palace was once called Harry’s Bar: the essential meeting place for every star passing through Montreux, where the festival’s jam sessions carried on until the early hours. David Bowie, Aretha Franklin, Jimi Hendrix, Herbie Hancock, Eddie Murphy and Boy George all signed its guest book, carefully kept by Tania Gauger, who ran the place for ten years. Renamed after Claude Nobs’s nickname in “Smoke on the Water” (“Funky Claude was running in and out”), it keeps the festival spirit alive all year round with live concerts and cocktails named after artists. It is also here that the members of Queen liked to come for a drink after their recording sessions at the neighbouring Mountain Studios.

Related artists :PrinceClaude NobsDeep PurpleDavid BowieAretha FranklinJimi HendrixHerbie HancockQueenFreddie MercuryQuincy Jones

Historic restaurant

Le Museum

Rue de la Gare, vieille ville, Montreux

Founded in 1965 by Claude Nobs and Karl Iverson in the old town of Montreux, Le Museum was first a nightclub, one of the high places of Montreux nights: the artists passing through would come to carry on the party there, away from the spotlight. The address has crossed the eras keeping its warm, folkloric decor; today it is a traditional Swiss restaurant, where you come for fondue, grills and röstis, and a little for the history of its walls too.

Related artists :Claude NobsDavid Bowie

Historic venue

Le Petit Palais

Avenue Claude-Nobs 2, 1820 Montreux (en face du Millésime)

Crowned by its distinctive dome, the Petit Palais is the Belle Époque pavilion of the Montreux Palace, on Avenue Claude-Nobs. It hosted concerts in the era of the Rose d’Or de Montreux, the great international television festival that made the town shine worldwide from the 1960s onwards. It was here, on 12 May 1984, that Queen mimed four tracks from the album “The Works”. It still serves today as a stage for free concerts of the Montreux Jazz Festival. It also houses the Montreux Jazz Café. A plaque in tribute to Claude Nobs stands near its entrance. It can also be seen on the Freddie Tours, whose extended route starts at the corner of the building.

Related artists :Claude NobsQueenFreddie Mercury

Concert hall

Auditorium Stravinski

2M2C, Avenue Claude-Nobs 5, Montreux

Inaugurated in 1993 within the Congress Centre, the Auditorium Stravinski is the main stage of the Montreux Jazz Festival: the greatest names in music have performed there, and many “Live at Montreux” concerts were recorded in it. The hall is named after Igor Stravinsky, who composed “The Rite of Spring” in Clarens, and his statue watches over the entrance. Fully renovated along with the rest of the 2M2C, it welcomes the festival back when the building reopens, in the summer of 2026.

Related artists :PrinceIgor StravinskiClaude Nobs

Concert hall

Miles Davis Hall

2M2C, entrée côté Rue Alexandre-Emery, 1820 Montreux

Within the 2M2C, the Miles Davis Hall is historically the second stage of the Montreux Jazz Festival, the one for discoveries and new music. It pays tribute to the trumpeter who marked the festival’s history like few others, from his first visits to his final concert in July 1991, given alongside Quincy Jones. His bust also watches over the Quai de Vernex, a few hundred metres away.

Related artists :PrinceMiles Davis

Hall of the 2M2C

Quincy Jones Hall

2M2C, Avenue Claude-Nobs 5, 1820 Montreux

In the entirely transformed 2M2C reopening in the summer of 2026, the Quincy Jones Hall unfolds nearly 2,000 m² extended by a terrace facing the lake. It honours Quincy Jones, the towering American producer and arranger, a close friend of Claude Nobs, who was its musical director in 1991, the year of Miles Davis’s final concert, given under their joint direction. His bust adorns the garden of the Montreux Palace.

Related artists :Quincy Jones

Lakeside pier / filming location

Ponton de la Place du Marché

Place du Marché, quai du Casino, Montreux

Extending the Place du Marché out over the lake, this pier faces Lake Geneva and the Savoy Alps, a few metres from the Freddie Mercury statue. French pianist Sofiane Pamart performed “Solitude” there on a grand piano set straight onto the boards, in a recording released with the Montreux Jazz Festival. The spot is freely accessible all year round and remains, outside the festival, a quiet place to stroll.

Related artists :Sofiane Pamart

CGN landing stage / floating venue

Débarcadère de Montreux

Quai du Casino, débarcadère CGN, Montreux

The Montreux landing stage is not a concert hall: it is a point of embarkation. The CGN’s Belle Époque boats depart from this pontoon. Two musical episodes are attached to it, but neither took place on the quay: both happened on board.

Related artists :B.B. KingQueenFreddie Mercury

Church / recording location

Temple Saint-Martin de Vevey

Rue du Temple, 1800 Vevey

Between October 1976 and April 1977, the British band Yes settled at Mountain Studios in Montreux to record “Going for the One”, their first album made outside the United Kingdom. For “Awaken”, the fifteen-minute piece that closes the record, keyboard player Rick Wakeman wanted a real church organ rather than a studio instrument. So the band went down to Vevey, to the Temple Saint-Martin, whose organ was linked up to Mountain Studios for the recording. Wakeman also arranged the choral parts of the piece. The building, one of the landmarks of Vevey’s old town with its tower and its terrace overlooking the lake, can be visited freely and regularly hosts concerts.

Related artists :YesRick Wakeman

Casino / entertainment venue

Casino de Montreux

Rue du Théâtre 9, 1820 Montreux

No place concentrates the musical history of Montreux like its Casino. It was here, from 1967, that Claude Nobs held the first editions of the Montreux Jazz Festival, and here too that the Rose d’Or television contest took place. On 4 December 1971, during a Frank Zappa concert, a flare set fire to the rattan ceiling: the building was entirely destroyed. From across the lake, Deep Purple watched the smoke spread over the water and drew from it “Smoke on the Water”. The Casino was rebuilt and reopened in 1975. Inside it, Mountain Studios was set up, bought by Queen in 1979, where the band recorded until 1991; the former studio is today the free exhibition Queen: The Studio Experience. The Casino also had its nights out: the Platinum discotheque opened there in early 1979. Gaming rooms, concert halls, a legendary studio and a museum under one roof, the Casino remains the starting point of almost every story told on this site.

Related artists :Louis ArmstrongDeep PurpleFrank ZappaClaude NobsQueenFreddie MercuryThe Rolling StonesErnest AnsermetOskar JüttnerYvette GuilbertKeith HaringNina Simone

Concert venue

NED Music Club

Rue du Marché 19, 1820 Montreux

Created in 1994, the NED Music Club keeps music alive in Montreux the rest of the year, when the festival is not there. A concert hall and party venue, it champions the regional contemporary-music scene while welcoming internationally renowned artists. It is the rendezvous of ordinary evenings in a town whose summer is extraordinary.

Restaurant / music memorabilia

Riviera Café

Rue du Théâtre 9, 1820 Montreux

At the Riviera Café, on the Rue du Théâtre, the decor extends the town’s musical history: signed guitars, on loan from the Claude Nobs Foundation, hang on the walls. You eat in the company of the signatures of artists who passed through Montreux, a quiet way of keeping the festival present all year round.

Related artists :Claude Nobs

Convention centre / concert halls

2M2C, Montreux Music & Convention Centre

Avenue Claude-Nobs 5, 1820 Montreux

Opened in 1993 on the quays, the 2M2C, Montreux Music & Convention Centre, is the permanent home of music in Montreux. It is here that the Montreux Jazz Festival takes place for two weeks each July, with the Auditorium Stravinski (nearly 4,000 seats), the Montreux Jazz Lab, the Montreux Jazz Club and the hall renamed in tribute to Quincy Jones. But the building does not sleep the rest of the year: it hosts the town’s cultural season, concerts, shows, conventions and fairs, and remains, outside the festival, the main venue of Montreux musical life. It is the built anchor of a festival that is itself an event, not a place. Inside the building there is also a bust of Igor Stravinsky, a head sculpted by Montreux artist Bernard Bavaud, distinct from the statue standing in front of the Auditorium.

Related artists :Claude NobsQuincy JonesBernard BavaudIgor StravinskiKeith Haring

Church / recording location

Temple Saint-Vincent

Rue du Temple 30, 1820 Montreux

Perched on its terrace above the lake, in the Les Planches district, the old town of Montreux, the Temple Saint-Vincent is the historic church of the commune. It holds a small place in the discography recorded on the Riviera: in the spring of 1977, during the sessions for “Rick Wakeman’s Criminal Record” at Mountain Studios, the Yes keyboard player had his album’s choirs recorded here. The record credits mention an “Église de Planches”: it is indeed this church, referred to by the name of its district. The building can be visited freely and its forecourt offers one of the finest views over the roofs of Montreux and Lake Geneva.

Related artists :Rick Wakeman

Nightclub

Le Millésime

Avenue Claude-Nobs 2, 1820 Montreux

Set within the Fairmont Le Montreux Palace, on the avenue named after Claude Nobs, Le Millésime is the hotel’s nightclub. Opposite the Petit Palais and the Montreux Jazz Café, it carries the district’s musical buzz late into the night, especially during the Montreux Jazz Festival, when the town lives to the rhythm of concerts until the small hours.

Bar & club

Why Montreux

Grand-Rue 92, 1820 Montreux

Set on the Grand-Rue, close to the lake, Why Montreux is a cocktail bar and club where DJs follow one another. Together with Le Millésime, it is one of the addresses that keep Montreux’s nightlife alive, in a town where the music readily carries on until the small hours.

Theatre and cabaretNot open to visitors

Théâtre de l’Alcazar

Territet, dans l’ancien Grand Hôtel de Territet, Montreux

At Territet, in one of the buildings of the former Grand Hôtel, the Théâtre de l’Alcazar was one of the high places of Riviera nightlife. The decorator Dad Régné set up there a restaurant, a museum for his collection of carriages and a performance hall, which hosted dinner-shows, parties and concerts. Two fires, in 1984 and then in 2012, marked its eventful history.

Music venue

La Scène des Planches

Rue du Pont 24, quartier des Planches, 1820 Montreux

In the Planches district, La Scène des Planches is a place devoted to music and the stage. Run by the team of the Ateliers Tous en Scène, it hosts concerts, singing lessons and workshops, keeping the local music scene alive in the heart of Montreux’s old town.

Music school

Conservatoire de Montreux

Rue du Pont 32, 1820 Montreux

In the heart of the old town of Montreux, on the Rue du Pont, the Conservatoire de Montreux has trained the Riviera’s musicians since 1964. Founded on the initiative of Montreux musician Marcel Debluë, it introduced a jazz section as early as 1982, one of the first in French-speaking Switzerland, in a town the festival had already put on the world jazz map. Since 2002 it has been part of the Conservatoire de Musique Montreux-Vevey-Riviera (CMVR), born of the merger with the Vevey conservatory.

Stadium / major venue

Stade de la Pontaise

Stade Olympique de la Pontaise, route des Plaines-du-Loup 4, 1018 Lausanne

Michael Jackson never sang in Montreux itself. His Swiss concerts took place a little further west, at the Pontaise stadium in Lausanne: three times in nine years, for three world tours. The stadium, built for the 1954 Federal Gymnastics Festival, remains one of the few venues in French-speaking Switzerland able to host shows on that scale.

Related artists :Michael Jackson

Mountain resort

Leysin

1854 Leysin, Alpes vaudoises

An hour’s drive from Montreux, on a sunny terrace of the Vaud Alps, Leysin was first a health resort before becoming a holiday and winter sports destination. It is here that Michael Jackson’s Swiss story begins, in February 1979: on the 14th and 15th, The Jacksons filmed segments for two television shows and presented their album “Destiny” against a backdrop of snow and chalets. On the evening of the 15th the group came down to play at Geneva’s Victoria Hall. Leysin would later host its own rock festival, in the 1980s and 1990s.

Related artists :Michael Jackson

Vanished nightclubNot open to visitors

Le Platinum

Casino de Montreux

Opened at the Montreux Casino in 1979, closed in 1994.

Related artists :Freddie MercuryPatrick JuvetKeith Haring

Pontoon

Ponton du Casino

Quai du Casino, Montreux

A pontoon on the lake, in front of the Casino. It once carried the sign of the Ski Nautique Club; today it houses Water Sports Montreux.

Related artists :The Rolling StonesQueenFreddie Mercury

VenueNot open to visitors

Théâtre Rialto

Territet, Montreux

A hall in Territet, east of Montreux. What became of it since is not known.

Related artists :The Rolling Stones

Vanished clubNot open to visitors

La Dolce Vita

Lausanne

A concert hall and club in Lausanne, opened in the 1980s, which became a landmark of rock, punk and the beginnings of hip-hop in French-speaking Switzerland.

Related artists :Keith HaringCarlos Leal

Exhibition

Queen: The Studio Experience

Casino Barrière, Rue du Théâtre 9, Montreux

Housed in the authentic Mountain Studios, at the heart of the Casino de Montreux, this free exhibition supported by the Mercury Phoenix Trust brings the Queen years back to life. The band acquired the studio in 1979 and recorded seven albums there, from “Jazz” (1978) to “Made in Heaven” (1995), the final album completed around Freddie Mercury’s last vocal sessions. But the story of the place goes beyond Queen: opened in 1975, the studio counted the Rolling Stones among its very first clients, saw “Under Pressure” born with David Bowie in 1981 and Iggy Pop’s album “Blah Blah Blah” in 1986. Yes, AC/DC, Chris Rea, Status Quo and Michael Jackson, who came to mix “Blood on the Dance Floor” in 1997, also worked there. Inside you will find the original recording console, stage costumes, handwritten lyrics and a moving documentary. Open daily, free admission.

Related artists :QueenFreddie MercuryDavid BowieMichael JacksonThe Rolling StonesIggy PopDavid RichardsYesRick WakemanAC/DCChris ReaStatus QuoEmerson, Lake & PalmerMagnumSamaelRoger TaylorThe CrossNile RodgersPatrick JuvetEugène ChaplinBoy George

Museum

Musée de Montreux

Rue de la Gare 40, Montreux

Housed in former winegrowers’ houses in old Montreux, the local history museum tells the extraordinary fate of this wine-growing village that became a world capital of tourism and then of music. Its collections cover the development of Belle Époque hotel-keeping and devote a section to musical heritage: the RIAA gold record awarded for the million copies sold of Deep Purple’s single “Smoke on the Water”, displayed alongside historic festival posters (the 1968 to 1970 editions and a poster by Keith Haring), as well as documents and objects linked to the Montreux Jazz Festival and to the artists who made the town a legend.

Related artists :Deep PurpleIgor StravinskiPierre DudanAndré de Ribaupierre

Shop

Bazar Suisse

Grand-Rue, Montreux

On the Grand-Rue, a stone’s throw from the Place du Marché and the Freddie Mercury statue, the Bazar Suisse is a Montreux institution: it offers one of the town’s finest selections of items devoted to Queen and Freddie Mercury, from classic souvenirs to collectors’ pieces. A natural stop before or after the pilgrimage to the statue, to leave with a piece of Montreux. In January 1997, during his stay in Montreux, Michael Jackson shopped here: according to the press, he bought a Barbie doll and a pair of handcuffs.

Related artists :Freddie MercuryQueenMichael Jackson

Shop

Montreux Jazz Shop

Avenue Claude-Nobs 2, 1820 Montreux (à côté du coiffeur du Montreux Palace)

On the avenue that bears the name of the festival’s founder, the official Montreux Jazz Festival shop extends the experience all year round: historic posters of the great editions, records and vinyl from the “Live at Montreux” collection, clothing and objects bearing the festival’s image. The ideal place to take home a souvenir of the most famous musical gathering on Lake Geneva, a stone’s throw from the Montreux Jazz Café and the Petit Palais.

Related artists :Claude Nobs

Painting

Portrait dédicacé de Quincy Jones

Montreux Jazz Café, Fairmont Le Montreux Palace, Av. Claude-Nobs 2, Montreux

On display at the Montreux Jazz Café, this large portrait of Quincy Jones was painted by Franck Bouroullec, who gave it to him personally, and bears the producer’s handwritten dedication: “Pour, my beloved… I love you all…”. An intimate and unique piece, which says everything about the producer’s affection for Montreux and for the festival of his friend Claude Nobs, of whom he was one of the most faithful companions.

Related artists :Quincy Jones

Exhibited item

Le kimono de Freddie Mercury

Montreux Jazz Café, Fairmont Le Montreux Palace, Av. Claude-Nobs 2, Montreux

Freddie Mercury gave two Japanese kimonos to Thierry Amsallem and Claude Nobs, without saying which was for whom: the white one is shown here at the Montreux Jazz Café, at the heart of the Fairmont Le Montreux Palace; the black one is kept at the Le Picotin chalet, in Caux. Cranes, pines and waves are finely embroidered on the silk.

Related artists :Freddie MercuryQueen

Castle museum

Château de Chillon

Avenue de Chillon 21, Veytaux (Montreux)

A medieval fortress set on a rocky islet on the shore of Lake Geneva, the Château de Chillon is Switzerland’s most visited historic monument; Byron immortalised it in “The Prisoner of Chillon”. Its link to Montreux’s musical history lies in an album sleeve. On 15 June 1968 the Bill Evans Trio (with Eddie Gómez on double bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums) played a concert at the Casino de Montreux that was recorded live. Released as “Bill Evans at the Montreux Jazz Festival”, it won the 1969 Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group. Its cover is illustrated with a photograph of the Château de Chillon by Gene Lees, tying this jazz landmark to the shores of the lake. The castle is also among Charlie Chaplin’s first Swiss sights: he visited it at the end of 1952, a few weeks before moving into the Manoir de Ban, having just learned that the United States had revoked his re-entry permit. Today the castle can be visited as a museum: run by an independent foundation, it opens some forty rooms all year round, from the underground vaults cut into the rock to the lordly chambers and the parapet walk, and hosts temporary exhibitions and concerts, including those of the Septembre Musical.

Related artists :Bill EvansCharlie ChaplinRichard Wagner

Museum / Charlie Chaplin’s home

Chaplin’s World, Manoir de Ban

Route de Fenil 2, 1804 Corsier-sur-Vevey

At Corsier-sur-Vevey, a quarter of an hour from Montreux, the Manoir de Ban was Charlie Chaplin’s home for his last twenty-five years. The estate is today the Chaplin’s World museum. Its link with the Riviera’s music runs through his son Eugène, a sound engineer at Mountain Studios.

Related artists :Eugène ChaplinMichael JacksonCharlie ChaplinClara Haskil

Vinyl record shop

Montreux Records

Avenue des Alpes 82, 1820 Montreux

For anyone who wants to leave Montreux with a record rather than a souvenir, Montreux Records is the address: a vinyl shop, new and second-hand, on the Avenue des Alpes. A natural extension, at record-crate scale, of a town that has seen so much music recorded.

Recording studioNot open to visitors

Hana Road Studios

Avenue du Casino 32, 1820 Montreux

Founded in 2010, Hana Road Studios carries on in Montreux the recording tradition opened by Queen’s Mountain Studios. A Dolby Atmos-certified music production studio, alongside a photo and video studio, it hosts songwriting camps, film scores and podcasts. The place is not open to visitors: it works by appointment.

Shop

La Griffe Ausoni

Grand-Rue 20, Montreux (en face du passage piéton)

A ready-to-wear house on the Grand-Rue, a stone’s throw from the Place du Marché and the Freddie Mercury statue.

Related artists :Freddie MercuryQueen

Restaurant and gallery

Le Palais Oriental

Quai Ernest-Ansermet 6, Montreux

A restaurant and gallery of Persian and oriental carpets, on the Montreux quays.

Related artists :Freddie MercuryThe Rolling Stones

Interior design

Viquerat Décoration

Rue du Lac 107, Clarens

Interior architects based in Clarens, with a large showroom on the Rue du Lac.

Related artists :Freddie Mercury

SchoolNot open to visitors

Gymnase du Bugnon

Lausanne

A secondary school in Lausanne, where the artist Pierre Keller — later director of ECAL — taught.

Related artists :Keith HaringDavid Bowie

Museum

Collection de l’Art Brut

Avenue des Bergières 11, Lausanne

Opened in 1976 around the collection assembled by Jean Dubuffet, the Collection de l’Art Brut brings together the works of self-taught creators, outside any market. Living on the Riviera, David Bowie discovered Art Brut here and brought Brian Eno along. “Switzerland also allowed me to discover Art Brut, which had a very strong impact on my life and my creativity,” he told L’Hebdo on 6 June 2002.

Related artists :David Bowie

Market hall

Freddie Tours

Place du Marché, Montreux

The great metal hall on the Place du Marché, one of the symbols of the Montreux lakeside, stands a few metres from the Freddie Mercury statue. It is from here that the Freddie Tours set off, the guided walks in the footsteps of the singer and of Queen.

Related artists :Freddie MercuryQueen

Festival / 2M2C convention centre

Montreux Jazz Festival

2M2C, Montreux Music & Convention Centre, Avenue Claude-Nobs 5, Montreux

Founded in 1967 by Claude Nobs, the Montreux Jazz Festival was born at the Casino with three evenings of jazz and a handful of spectators. Today, for two weeks each July, it occupies the 2M2C (Montreux Music & Convention Centre) a vast building set on the quays that brings together the Auditorium Stravinski (nearly 4,000 seats), the Montreux Jazz Lab, the Montreux Jazz Club and the hall renamed in tribute to Quincy Jones. This explains why a single festival has so many addresses: the stages have changed name and building over the decades (the Casino of the early years, the Pavillon, the Miles Davis Hall) but the event itself has never left the lakeside. The word “jazz” has stayed; the programming has not: rock, soul, pop, electronic music and hip-hop all found their way in from the 1970s onwards. The festival’s audiovisual archives, which preserve almost every concert filmed since 1967, are inscribed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World register.

Related artists :Claude NobsQuincy JonesMiles DavisRag'n'Bone ManSofiane PamartDeep PurpleB.B. KingBill EvansElla FitzgeraldAretha FranklinRay CharlesCarlos SantanaHerbie HancockDavid BowieEtta JamesStevie Ray VaughanNile RodgersKeith HaringIggy PopPrinceNina SimoneYes

Classical music festival

Septembre Musical Montreux-Vevey

Av. Claude-Nobs 5, 1820 Montreux

Founded in 1946, the Septembre Musical is the classical side of Montreux musical life, twenty years older than the Montreux Jazz Festival. It has brought the continent’s great symphonic and chamber orchestras to the Riviera, and ranks among the oldest festivals of its kind in Switzerland. Its programme today spreads across five emblematic venues, the Auditorium Stravinski at the 2M2C, the Château de Chillon, the Caux Palace, the Fairmont Le Montreux Palace and the Théâtre Le Reflet, combining, under the name Classic & Lab, major ensembles with more exploratory formats. It was this festival that, in September 1971, programmed Pink Floyd at the Pavillon: a boldness that remains famous for an institution devoted to the classical repertoire. The conductor Josef Krips, who lived in Territet, was one of its first major donors and conducted it seven times between 1952 and 1971.

Related artists :Josef KripsCarl Schuricht

Show / festival

Montreux International Guitar Show

Casino Barrière, Rue du Théâtre 9, 1820 Montreux

The Montreux International Guitar Show (MIGS) brings together every spring, at the Casino Barrière, luthiers, exhibitors and artists from around the world around the guitar, with concerts and showcases. A must for lovers of the instrument, in a town that has seen the greatest guitarists pass through the Montreux Jazz Festival.

Festival

Rock Tribute Festival

Casino Barrière, Rue du Théâtre 9, 1820 Montreux

Each June, the Rock Tribute Festival turns the Casino Barrière into a temple of rock: three evenings of tribute concerts to the greatest names in rock and song, played by hand-picked bands before packed houses.

Festival

Freddie Days

Place du Marché, 1820 Montreux

Each year, around 5 September, Freddie Mercury's birthday, the Freddie Days bring together fans from all over the world in Montreux. Free and without tickets, the festival unfolds around the statue and the covered market, on the Place du Marché: tribute band concerts, encounters with people close to the singer, exhibitions and lake cruises.

Related artists :Freddie MercuryQueen

Historic hotel

Fairmont Le Montreux Palace

Avenue Claude-Nobs 2 / Grand-Rue 100, Montreux

Opened in 1906, the Montreux Palace is the Belle Époque grand hotel of the Riviera and the address of visiting stars for more than a century. Richard Strauss stayed there regularly. In January 1997, Michael Jackson settled for two weeks in the Tower Suite while finishing “Blood on the Dance Floor” at the neighbouring Mountain Studios, greeting fans from his balcony. The hotel is today home to the Montreux Jazz Café and Funky Claude’s Bar, and its garden hosts the busts of the festival’s legends. The writer Vladimir Nabokov, for his part, lived there permanently for sixteen years. The hotel also dedicates tribute suites to its most emblematic guests: the Quincy Jones, Freddie Mercury and Claude Nobs suites, which cannot be visited but can be booked.

Related artists :Michael JacksonRichard StraussClaude NobsSofiane PamartFreddie MercuryQueenKeith Haring

Private residenceNot open to visitors

Les Tourelles

Rue de Bon-Port 15, Territet

It was in this elegant Belle Époque building of 1900, set on the lakeside promenade in Territet, that Freddie Mercury owned his Montreux apartment: a duplex attic where he spent his last stays in the region, a few minutes from Mountain Studios. The apartment was sold at auction in 2020. The building is a private residence that cannot be visited, but the quayside promenade passes right in front of it and the Freddie Mercury bench of the “Rencontres & Inspiration” trail is a few steps away.

Related artists :Freddie MercuryQueen

Private residenceNot open to visitors, but available to rent

Duck House

Bord du lac, Clarens

Freddie Mercury rented this lakeside house in Clarens during his stays in Montreux. Queen nicknamed it the “Duck House” because of the wooden ducks the owner had scattered throughout the house. Freddie stayed here on several occasions, in the years when Queen were recording at the Casino. The house appears on the cover of “Made in Heaven”. It is today a private property: it cannot be visited, but it can be rented. The “Rencontres & Inspiration” trail records one detail of those stays: the band members regularly went water-skiing on Lake Geneva, from this shore.

Related artists :Freddie MercuryQueenEmerson, Lake & PalmerBoy George

Themed hotelNot open to visitors, but available to rent

The Freddie Mercury Hotel

Rue de la Rouvenettaz 7, Montreux

Opened in the heart of Montreux with direct access from platform 1 of the station, this four-star hotel pays tribute to Freddie Mercury throughout its decor: each space evokes his cities, his passions and his songs. Run by the [Swiss Education Group](https://www.swisseducation.com/en/news/industry/new-freddie-mercury-building-in-montreux-4037/), it also serves as a training ground for hospitality students. An enjoyable themed stop for fans, a stone’s throw from the B.B. King mural and a ten-minute walk from the statue on the Place du Marché.

Related artists :Freddie Mercury

Private residenceNot open to visitors

Chalets de Claude Nobs

Caux, sur les hauts de Montreux

Perched at Caux, above Montreux, Claude Nobs’s chalets (Le Picotin, Le Grillon and L’Éclisse) rank among the most singular places in the history of music. From 1982 onwards, the founder of the Montreux Jazz Festival welcomed his guests there around fondues that became legendary: Aretha Franklin, David Bowie, Prince, Quincy Jones and so many others admired the view over Lake Geneva amid a unique collection of jukeboxes, records and archives. Now maintained by the Claude Nobs Foundation, the chalets are private property and cannot be freely visited. Among the treasures kept there is a black Japanese kimono embroidered with cranes, pines and waves, one of two that Freddie Mercury gave to Claude Nobs and Thierry Amsallem; the other, a white one, is on display at the Montreux Jazz Café.

Related artists :Claude NobsRag'n'Bone ManFreddie MercuryDavid BowieQueenNina Simone

Private residenceNot open to visitors

Maison d'Hubert Giraud

Quartier du Casino, Montreux

Hubert Giraud (1920-2016), composer of “Sous le ciel de Paris” immortalised by Édith Piaf, but also of hits for Dalida, Mireille Mathieu and Nana Mouskouri, had chosen Montreux as his home base: he lived there for more than thirty years, until his death in January 2016. His house is a private property that cannot be visited, but his presence is a reminder that French song, too, has its roots on the Riviera.

Related artists :Hubert Giraud

Private residenceNot open to visitors

Maison de Patrick Juvet

Vallon de Villard (point affiché : restaurant Le Montagnard), Villard-sur-Chamby

Patrick Juvet (1950-2021), born in Montreux, went from French-Swiss pop to the heights of global disco with “Où sont les femmes?” and “I Love America”, produced with Jean-Michel Jarre and then in the United States. The house linked to his family stands in the Villard valley, above Montreux, a green setting between meadows and forests. Out of respect for the privacy of the current owners of the house, the point shown on the map corresponds to the restaurant Le Montagnard, the valley’s historic inn opened in the 1920s, and not to the exact location of the house.

Related artists :Patrick Juvet

Private residenceNot open to visitors

Clos des Mésanges (chalet de David Bowie)

Chemin de Sainte-Croix 18, Blonay

In 1976, David Bowie settled at the “Clos des Mésanges”, a chalet on the heights of Blonay, above Lake Geneva, a few kilometres from Montreux. It was his main residence until 1982: the years when he recorded “Lodger” at Mountain Studios and prepared his trilogy with Brian Eno. He later left Blonay for the Château du Signal in Lausanne, while remaining faithful to the region and to the Montreux studio until the 2000s. The chalet is a private property and cannot be visited.

Related artists :David Bowie

BirthplaceNot open to visitors

Maison natale de Jean Villard-Gilles

Avenue des Alpes 90, Montreux

It was in this building on the Avenue des Alpes that Jean Villard, known as Gilles (1895-1982), one of the fathers of French-Swiss song, was born on 2 June 1895. The author of “Les Trois Cloches”, immortalised by Édith Piaf and Les Compagnons de la chanson, and of “La Venoge”, which became a Vaudois emblem, he was also a cabaret pioneer with his duos Gilles et Julien and then Gilles et Urfer. A plaque placed in 1984 marks his birthplace: “Here was born on 2 June 1895 Jean Villard-Gilles, Vaudois poet and songwriter”.

Related artists :Jean Villard-Gilles

Former grand hotel / recording locationNot open to visitors

Grand Hôtel de Territet

Avenue de Chillon, Territet (Montreux), aujourd’hui Résidence des Alpes

Adjoining the Hôtel des Alpes and completed in 1888, the Grand Hôtel de Territet was the first grand hotel in Montreux. Empress Elisabeth of Austria, Sissi, occupied its first floor four times between 1893 and 1898. But it was an altogether different episode that wrote it into rock history: in December 1971 the hotel stood empty, closed for the season, when Deep Purple took refuge there after the Casino fire. The band set up their equipment at the end of a corridor leading off the lobby, lined the walls with mattresses to deaden the sound, and parked the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio in front of the main entrance. Reaching the truck meant walking through bedrooms and across balconies: the trip was so arduous that the band gave up listening back to their takes and simply played until they were satisfied. “Machine Head” was recorded there from 6 to 21 December 1971. The building, restored identically after a ten-year project, is today the Résidence des Alpes, a private condominium that cannot be visited; the “Smoke on the Water” plaque stands a few steps away, on the quay.

Related artists :Deep PurpleThe Rolling Stones

Belle Époque grand hotel / concert venue

Caux Palace

Rue du Panorama 2, 1824 Caux

Built in 1902 at a thousand metres above sea level, clinging to the mountainside above Montreux and served by the Montreux, Glion, Rochers-de-Naye railway, the Caux Palace is one of the great witnesses of the Riviera’s hotel golden age. Its elongated silhouette, its galleries and its hundreds of windows earned it early on a comparison that has stuck: the young pianist Arthur Rubinstein, who stayed there around 1905 when the establishment was only three years old, saw in it “a motionless ocean liner”. The hotel has never stopped hosting music: it is today one of the five venues of the Septembre Musical and receives concerts each autumn, including those of the Émergences musicales. The building, home of Initiatives of Change (IofC), can be visited during the themed days organised by the foundation.

Related artists :Arthur RubinsteinFelix Mendelssohn

Historic hotelNot open to visitors

Hôtel des Crêtes

Chemin des Crêtes 1, 1815 Clarens

On the heights of Clarens, the Hôtel des Crêtes welcomed Maurice Ravel in the spring of 1913, who had come to work with Igor Stravinsky, lodging close by at the Hôtel du Châtelard, on the orchestration of Mussorgsky’s “Khovanshchina” for the Ballets Russes. Clarens was then a genuine workshop of twentieth-century music: it was in the village that Stravinsky was completing “The Rite of Spring”. The building still stands and recalls that lakeside season when two of the century’s greatest composers were neighbours.

Related artists :Maurice Ravel

Historic villaNot open to visitors

Villa Dubochet

Villa Dubochet 10, 1815 Clarens

Villa Dubochet, in the remarkable listed villa quarter of Clarens, was the home of Dad Régné, a figure of the Riviera’s nightlife. He had installed his private discotheque there and welcomed the stars passing through Lake Geneva: the Rolling Stones, the artist Keith Haring, the comedian Thierry Le Luron, the singers Julien Clerc and Véronique Sanson, and Grace Jones, with whom he had a relationship. The villa keeps the memory of those years when the Riviera drew, away from the spotlight, part of the musical jet set.

Related artists :The Rolling Stones

Gourmet restaurant

Le Pont de Brent

Route de Blonay 4, 1817 Brent (Montreux)

On the heights of Montreux, in the hamlet of Brent, Le Pont de Brent is a renowned gourmet restaurant of the Riviera. Freddie Mercury, who valued the region’s discretion, was among its regular guests, far from the bustle of the stage.

Related artists :Freddie Mercury

BrasserieNot open to visitors

La Bavaria

Avenue Nestlé 17, 1820 Montreux

A few steps from the Casino and Mountain Studios, La Bavaria brasserie was one of Freddie Mercury’s favourite tables in Montreux, above all for its rösti. Open for over 130 years, it went through a deep transformation between 2008 and 2010: the whole building, topped by the Élite hotel, was demolished to make way for a new complex. The historic brasserie found a place there again, and the frescoes by the Basel artist Heussler that adorned the original room were faithfully reproduced in the new premises. Renamed Le Bis, the address has since closed.

Related artists :Freddie MercuryQueen

Mountain resort

Gstaad

3780 Gstaad, Oberland bernois

Gstaad is not on the Riviera, but it is its natural extension: the Montreux Oberland Bernois (MOB) train climbs there directly from Montreux, a ninety-minute panoramic journey through the Lavaux vineyards, the Pays-d’Enhaut and the Oberland passes. It is this line, rather than the motorway, that explains why visitors to Montreux so often end up in this Bernese resort, and why artists staying by the lake made a habit of it.

Related artists :Michael JacksonDavid Bowie

Restaurant

La Rouvenaz

Rue du Marché 1, Montreux

A stone’s throw from the covered market and the lake, La Rouvenaz is an old-town table dear to visiting musicians. Since 1990 it has displayed one of Miles Davis’s trumpets, which fans come to admire — even though the trumpeter himself never dined there. Many others did: Charles Bronson, John Lennon, David Bowie and Freddie Mercury, who sat at table 19. The Rolling Stones dined at table 1 — and had to be called to order, for they ate with their feet on the table. The restaurant has since welcomed George Clooney, Yannick Noah and Jakob Hlasek.

Related artists :Freddie MercuryQueenMiles DavisDavid BowieThe Rolling Stones

Wine-growing village

Saint-Saphorin

Saint-Saphorin, Lavaux

A small wine-growing village clustered around its church, in the heart of the UNESCO World Heritage Lavaux terraces, about twenty minutes from Montreux by train.

Related artists :PrinceFreddie Mercury

Vanished restaurantNot open to visitors

Restaurant Denis Martin

Rue du Château 2, Vevey

Denis Martin’s gastronomic restaurant, first in Yvorne then in Vevey, now closed.

Related artists :Freddie MercuryQueen

HouseNot open to visitors

Le Grand Chalet de Rossinière

Rossinière, Pays-d’Enhaut

One of the largest wooden chalets in Switzerland, built in 1754, in Rossinière, on the panoramic railway line linking Montreux to Gstaad. The painter Balthus spent his last decades there with his wife Setsuko. Private property.

Related artists :David BowieBalthus

Hotel

Hôtel Eden Palace au Lac

Rue du Théâtre 11, Montreux

A Belle Époque hotel on the Rue du Théâtre, a step from the Casino and the lakeside.

Related artists :Keith HaringThe Rolling StonesQueenFreddie Mercury