Montreux town and waterfront

Montreux is the main town on the Swiss Riviera, popular because of its warmer weather and stunning waterfront promenade. The promenade goes for miles along Lake Geneva, and it graced with tropical plants, flower beds, and romantic sculptures. The views across the lake of high snow-topped mountains are incredible. Because Montreux attracts musicians, you can sometimes hear buskers playing along the path, and its blissful to sit on a bench and listen to them, as you watch the water glisten in front of you. 

A wonderful, fast ferry goes between towns on the lake, and stops at Geneva. It is super fun to ride it! The ferry dock is in the main, bustling part of the promenade.
Walk to the Freddie Mercury statue, which is really well done and resembles him! He had a recording studio and house in Montreux. You can visit Queen's recording studio, which is now inside the casino. It is free- just walk in the casino and follow the signs to the Queen Studio Experience. It's a great exhibit, with costume clothing, albums, and hand-written songs lyrics to see, and much information to learn. In a side room, it is super fun to engineer two Queen songs yourself, moving the dials to turn the vocals, drums, guitar, or other instruments louder or softer! Kids with a penchant for music will love this!
There is summer live music in Montreux, at Kiosque a Musique de la Rouvenaz. It is usually Wednesdays 7-9pm, August to early September.
Montreux was a popular vacation spot for sophisticated Europeans in the 19th century, so there are many Belle Epoque buildings. For some reason I don't like this busy, somewhat garish, architecture, but it does remind one of the French Riviera around Nice. The streets behind the waterfront promenade, where some cafes are located, are quite built up, so they don't have a quaint or tranquil feel. The town is a very expensive place to stay, but you can save money if you stay at the youth hostel, which is in a pretty location along the walking path (a twenty minute walk from town, but without any good restaurants near it), or if you stay in a nearby town such as Villeneuve or Vevey (more youthful than Villeneuve)- both have fantastic waterfront walking paths.
I have no idea where one would eat in Montreux because the downtown is overbuilt and not nice at all, and the cafes on the waterfront are too expensive. We ended up with a bad experience of everyone being hungry and having a meltdown! I think if we were to do it over again, we'd find a place slightly uphill from the downtown such as La Fontaine Italian Restaurant.
Your hotel will give you a free discount pass called Montreux Riviera Card which offers free rides on the train and bus, 30% off on the ferry, and 50% off the museums!
The train is a great way to get around. It comes very often, and is only super busy during rush hour. Use it to check out the towns of Lausanne, Vevey, Villeneuve, plus Chillon Castle. You must time your trip to Chillon Castle carefully because the train doesn't stop there as often. Also, Chillon Castle and its cafe (yucky food) close an hour earlier than stated, so be careful of that. I don't recommend the bus, because it is extremely bumpy. And walking is too far (36 minutes) since your feet are always about to fall off during a European vacation! The ferry is a fantastic way to approach the castle. Use the SBB Mobile app to find the time of the next train or ferry departure.
Chillon Castle is a must see! To go inside and see its medieval towers, dungeon, and rooms is an amazing experience you and your kids will never forget. It also looks so gorgeous as you approach it. There is a little beach next to it where kids can play. And a cafe with perfect views of the castle- the food is disgusting and the bathrooms are so musty but you can have cup of tea there.
Although Montreux has a French name, it was occupied by the German (Bernese) Swiss starting in the 15th century, so the locals aren't as warm or stylish as the French. 
I wish I had walked the dreamy lakefront path in Montreux many more times, in the early morning, and at sunset, but we stayed outside the town and ran out of time.
Montreux is on the sunny, northern side of Lake Geneva, so it attracts many people in summer who come to swim in the lake. From the promenade, they climb down on ladders or rocks into the lake, or hang out at pebbly beaches along the shore.
There are two small playgrounds for kids along the lakefront walk, near the Freddie Mercury statue to the north and south.
As you take the train north of Montreux, you pass many sweet vineyards on the foothills, and see a chateau called Chatelard at the top. The train also follows the lakeshore much of the way, which makes for a beautiful train ride to the town. 
For an incredible experience, take the comfortable cogwheel train from Montreux station up to Les Rochers de Naye. This was the most stunning place we saw on our vacation. You are at 6,600 feet, looking down on vertical drops, past patches of snow, bouquets of Alpine flowers, to the shimmering deep blue lake below. Wow! The train comes every hour, so you can hike around and then catch it back down.

Directions

The area around the ferry dock is the main area of the waterfront promenade. You can use the Freddie Mercury statue as an address on your GPS: Place du Marché, 1820 Montreux, Switzerland.

Click on map for interactive view