Lavaux Vineyard Terraces

While staying in Montreux we went to visit the Lavaux Vineyard Terraces. They are another UNESCO World Heritage Site. The terraces have been in existence since the 11th century when they were owned by monasteries and they span a 30km stretch along northern Lake Geneva from Montreux to Lausanne. This area has become a UNESCO site for several reasons, taken from the UNESCO website here:

The Lavaux vineyard landscape is a thriving cultural landscape that demonstrates in a highly visible way its evolution and development over almost a millennia, through the well preserved landscape and buildings, and also the continuation and adaptation of longstanding cultural traditions, specific to its locality. It also illustrates very graphically the story of patronage, control and protection of this highly valued wine growing area, all of which contributed substantially to the development of Lausanne and its Region and played a significant role in the history of the geo-cultural region; and, has prompted, in response to its vulnerability next to fast-growing settlements, exceptional popular protection.

Tourists are permitted to drive on roads through the vineyards and the small towns spotted throughout the vineyards, as well as walk through the vineyards on well-kept (mostly paved) paths. There are also, obviously, many opportunities for wine tasting although most places do not begin tastings until 5pm (which was too late for us). There are 2 places who start around 11am though so we hit up one of those after touring the vineyards.

So our day started with lunch at 'Le Deck', which was a bar/lounge/restaurant set high in the hills overlooking Lake Geneva, the mountains, and the vineyards. Gorgeous views. Here we are sitting at Le Deck with the vineyards spread out behind us. It was a little cloudy and hazy this day so our pictures aren't all that spectacular but you get the idea:



Another view from the restaurant:



Here are my parents posing at 'Le Deck' with the lake and mountains behind them. There is a nice outdoor lounge here where you can sit and have a drink or light snack and enjoy the view, which is probably an amazing cocktail spot when the sunset is good. It was so hazy that the mountains, lake, and sky all blend together:



After lunch we went for a walk through some of the vineyards. We started down a ladder from the street and went right into the vineyards for awhile:







Most of the time we were on paved paths like this for our walk (not sure we should have been traipsing through the vineyards in the beginning):







After our walk we drove through the vineyards for a bit and then headed to Vinorama, where we each did a wine tasting of 5 different wines (except Martin, who was DD which is maybe why he looks cranky in this picture). There are 8 regions in Lavaux, each producing a distinct wine due to the different types of soil found in the hills. It was interesting to learn about them all and try them out and to find some Swiss wines we actually enjoy!



The view from Vinorama:



Oh and did I mention that the clouds were super neat this day? So here are some clouds-over-vineyards pics:









After wine tasting we wandered around the town of Vevey a bit to try to find some shopping. We were unsuccessful as it was 5pm on a Saturday and places were already closed up but we found a fork in the lake and Martin sat by it. I show this picture mainly because you can finally distinguish the mountains from the lake!