Stopping at Chillon Castle, Montreux, Switzerland

We set out from Zermatt toward Lausanne but made a brief pit stop in Montreux, Switzerland to visit Chillon Castle. It was far enough that it wouldn't have been worth it to backtrack after arriving in Lausanne so we hopped off our train, checked our backpacks in the train luggage lockers, and hopped a bus toward the castle.

I didn't know about Chillon Castle until we were planning this trip so if you aren't familiar either it's a medieval castle on Lake Geneva that goes back to 1000! I didn't realize how large Lake Geneva is but it is huge. Chillon Castle was the residence of the House of Savoy and then was a prison.

Fun fact: In high school I read a short story by Henry James entitled Daisy Miller and part of it is set at Chillon Castle. Now I might have to reread it! 

Even more fun fact: Do you recognize this? Walt Disney was inspired by the castle for Prince Eric's castle in The Little Mermaid! How neat is that?

Anyway, at Chillon you can take a tour, do an audio tour, or just wander around. We wandered around and walking through all the rooms was spectacular. 

The architecture was so impressive. I felt like Sansa Stark would be strolling through at any moment talking with Lord Baelish.

The scale of Chillon Castle was something to see. This was one of the fireplaces. I guess you need a huge fire to warm a space so large!

I love visiting medieval places because the history and time passage blows my mind. You feel transported back and envision how you would be if you lived back then. This sounds weird but I felt the history of these stairs and all the people who had used them before. 

And this room as well.

In one of the rooms there was an exhibit of all the trunks people like the Savoys would use to travel. Could you imagine traveling with these trunks these days? Maybe the Queen still does it but I'll stick with my backpack!

They looked so heavy. I couldn't imagine carrying one. Though I'm sure the Savoys had people carry the trunks for them!

We then explored the outside and climbed the tallest tower to see the view below.

I loved exploring all the passageways. Seriously, I felt like I was in Game of Thrones.

And the view of Lake Geneva was really calming. I could have sat there with a book and enjoyed the whole day.

After we were done exploring Chillon Castle we grabbed our bags from the station and continued onto Lausanne!

Chateau de Chillon is I think a must see if you happen to in or near Montreux!