Montreux
The origin point of the entire European longevity-clinic category — and the most expensive week on this atlas.
Why here
The case for Montreux
- Clinique La Prairie was founded here in 1931 by Dr Paul Niehans and effectively created the idea of "going to Switzerland for rejuvenation". Whatever you think of the founding therapy, the institution is old and the medicine practised there today is licensed medicine.
- It operates as a licensed clinic with a medical centre, a medical spa and a hotel, reportedly employing over fifty physicians across around twenty-five disciplines.
- A week buys diagnostic depth that is genuinely hard to assemble at home in under six months: imaging, cardiopulmonary testing, full metabolic panels, sleep study, and consultants who then sit in one room and agree a plan.
- Lake Geneva does the rest. The programmes leave a lot of free afternoons, and the lakeside walking and the Lavaux vineyards are what fills them.
Checkable, not adjectival
- Clinique La Prairie was founded in 1931 by Dr Paul Niehans, the pioneer of cellular therapy.
- It sits at Clarens, Montreux, on the Swiss Riviera, combining a medical centre, medical spa and hotel.
- Reported to employ over 50 physicians and specialists across a wide range of disciplines.
- The Revitalisation programme remains the flagship, alongside in-depth medical check-ups, nutrition, dermatology and medical imaging.
- The Montreux Jazz Festival saturates the town in July.
When to come
The months that actually work
Late spring and early autumn give the lakeside walking and the Lavaux vineyards at their best, which matters because the programmes leave a lot of free afternoons. July is the Jazz Festival and the town is full. January is quiet and heavily discounted if a grey lake does not bother you.
Book: April, May, June, September, October.
| Destination | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MontreuxSwitzerland | Jan: perfectly good | Feb: perfectly good | Mar: perfectly good | Apr: book this | May: book this | Jun: book this | Jul: we would talk you out of it | Aug: perfectly good | Sep: book this | Oct: book this | Nov: we would talk you out of it | Dec: perfectly good |
Average daytime high, °C
- 5J
- 7F
- 11M
- 15A
- 20M
- 23J
- 25J
- 25A
- 20S
- 15O
- 9N
- 6D
The Lavaux shore has its own microclimate — mild, and warmer than the altitude suggests. The lake moderates everything, and the vines are the proof.
Getting there
Flights, routings and the transfer
Getting there
Geneva GVA
Geneva — an hour along the lake by train
- London & the UK
Direct to Geneva, very frequent from five UK airports.
1h50 - Continental Europe
Direct to Geneva, or the TGV from Paris in three hours.
1–3 hours - The Gulf & India
Direct to Geneva or Zurich from Dubai, Doha and Delhi.
6–8 hours - North America
Direct to Geneva from New York and Montreal; otherwise via Zurich.
8–9 hours
- Transfer
- An hour from Geneva airport by direct train — the station is under the terminal and the line runs along the water the whole way. We book it with the flight.
- Worth knowing
- Geneva airport has a direct rail platform beneath arrivals and a free transport ticket dispenser before customs. It is one of the few airports in Europe where the train genuinely beats a private transfer, and we will say so rather than sell you a car.
On request
What else there is in Montreux
Arranged on request and quoted separately. Each one carries when to take it — because a good day out on the wrong day of a treatment course is not a good day out, and no excursions list anywhere else will tell you that.
- NatureHalf day
The Lavaux vineyard terraces
UNESCO-listed since 2007: eight hundred years of dry-stone terracing above the lake, with a marked path from Lutry to Saint-Saphorin and a cellar door every kilometre.
Any time - CultureHalf day
Château de Chillon
The most-visited historic building in Switzerland, on its own rock in the water, and worth the crowd. Byron carved his name on a pillar in 1816 and it is still there.
Any time - NatureHalf day
The Rochers-de-Naye railway
A cog railway from Montreux to 2,000 m in an hour, with the whole lake and Mont Blanc behind it. There are marmots at the top and an alpine garden.
On a rest day - CultureTwo weeks in July
The Montreux Jazz Festival
Since 1967, and half of it is free on the lakeside stages. If you are here in the first fortnight of July, it is not avoidable and should not be.
Any time - FoodFull day
Gruyères and the cheese
Forty minutes into the Fribourg hills for a medieval hilltop village, the dairy, and a fondue that outclasses anything on the lake.
On a rest day
Add nights either side
The half of the trip a wellness agency cannot sell you. These are booked on the same invoice as the programme, with the flights routed to suit them.
- The Bernese Oberland3 nights · After
Two hours by rail to Interlaken, Grindelwald and the Jungfrau. The Swiss postcard, and the trains make it effortless.
- The Glacier Express2 nights · After
Zermatt to St Moritz across the country, eight hours, panoramic carriages. The great alpine rail journey.
- Geneva & the lake’s far shore2 nights · Before
Évian, Yvoire and the French side, then the old town in Geneva.
Practical
The unromantic part
- Getting there
- Geneva (GVA) then an hour by train along the lake. The station is in the centre of Montreux.
- Before you come
- Send existing bloodwork and imaging. Repeating tests you had six weeks ago is waste that you are paying for.
- Afterwards
- You need a doctor at home to take the file to. A diagnostic week can surface incidental findings and the clinic will not manage them for you.
- Insurance
- Almost never covered. Treat it as a discretionary purchase, because that is what it is.