Rochers-de-Naye

The cogwheel line out of Montreux was built in the 1890s to carry hotel guests above the lake, and it still climbs through vineyards, forest and pasture to a station just below the summit at a little over two thousand metres. The peak is a limestone edge and the drop on the lake side is abrupt: Lake Geneva lies below in its whole length, with the far shore opposite, the Rhone valley running inland to the left and, on a clear day, the Mont Blanc massif closing the end of it. Just below the summit a small alpine garden grows several hundred mountain species on terraces cut into the slope, and marmots live in an enclosure beside it.

What you actually see

• The summit edge - the lake almost two thousand metres directly below.
• The alpine garden - several hundred mountain species on terraces near the top.
• The cogwheel railway - an hour of climbing from the lake shore through vineyards and forest.
• The Rhone valley - the trench running inland with the high Alps at its head.

When to go

June to October, when the garden is planted out and the paths are clear; flowering peaks around late June and July. The railway also runs in winter for sledging and snowshoeing, though the summit is often in cloud then. Dry, clear days after a northerly wind give the long view towards Mont Blanc.

Honest expectations

The fare is high for an hour's ride, and cloud sits on this edge more often than on peaks further inland, so the lake shore can be sunny while the summit is in fog. The summit area is small, with a restaurant and little shelter from the wind. The alpine garden is modest and only worth timing for in early summer.

Nearby

Montreux and the lake shore below, with the Lavaux terraces west and Gruyeres over the hills.