A visit to the Marchés folkloriques in Vevey is a wonderful way to get a real sense of the Lavaux region, its culture, history and people. A trip to the market makes a great outing for the whole family and can be combined with different activities such as a visit to the highly interactive Swiss Camera Museum and wine tasting – every Saturday (10.00 – 13h00) until 30 August there are wine tastings for the public at “La Grenette” in the market square.
Magic Lantern shows have a timeless appeal.
Buy a tasting glass for CHF 10 and then push and shove your way through the milling tasters clustered around the various stands or find one of the little wagons that are pulled around the market by volunteers. Tasting these famous Lavaux wines – produced in the world heritage vineyards – is always a pleasure. This year, there’s an added incentive, if you buy a tasting glass then you get a free entry ticket to the Swiss Camera Museum situated across the market square. If you want to do some serious wine tasting, you can also park the kids at the museum where they can enjoy a magic lantern show (11h00 to 12h00) for CHF 5 each (reservations recommended).
There are plenty of options for lunch around the market square. Restaurants with shaded terraces under trees, cafés, and sandwich shops abound. Or if the weather is agreeable, picnic by the lake on local produce you’ve bought at the market.
After lunch, pay a visit to the Camera Museum and its film laboratory where staff will help you to develop your own photograph – a souvenir of what really will be a lovely day (there is an extra charge to visit the laboratory). This is really popular so reserve in advance as places are limited.
And to finish off there’s a great ice cream place at the entrance to the museum.
Getting there is easy. The market square is close to the railway station, there is plenty of public parking nearby and, for the most fun, take a CGN boat which drops you right at the market.
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