Train from Vevey to Puidoux-Chexbres Through the Vines

What it is

The Train des Vignes, the vineyard train, is a short regional line that climbs from Vevey to Puidoux-Chexbres through the upper part of Lavaux. It is not a tourist train: it is a commuter train on the RER Vaud network, with an ordinary ticket, but the journey runs almost entirely between vine terraces with Lake Geneva below. That makes it one of the cheapest and simplest ways to see the vineyard from above, and the best way to go up before walking down.

The line is 7.83 km long, single track, and opened on 2 May 1904. It climbs with gradients of up to 4.4%, steep for an adhesion train, and has been electrified since the early 1940s.

The journey

You leave from Vevey station. The train stops at Corseaux-Cornalles, with a limited service, and at Chexbres-Village, and ends at Puidoux, at Puidoux-Chexbres station. Since December 2024 the R7 line has continued to Palézieux. It runs roughly once an hour and takes about 12 minutes from Vevey to Puidoux-Chexbres.

Take a seat by the window on the lake side: the journey is short and the view goes by quickly.

Tickets

An ordinary Swiss rail ticket is valid, which you buy on the app or at the station machines. Like any regional train, it is covered by the Swiss Travel Pass, the GA travelcard and the Half Fare Card.

What to do when you arrive

The usual thing is to get off at Chexbres-Village and walk down through the vines to Rivaz or Saint-Saphorin, beside the lake, to return by train on the lakeside line. At Rivaz you have the Lavaux Vinorama, with tastings from CHF 17, and a station and CGN landing stage. At Saint-Saphorin the terraces walk from Lutry ends, which you can also do partly in reverse.

Another option is to go up by train, look around and return to Vevey without walking: just over half an hour in all.

With children, pushchairs and bikes

It is an easy plan with small children: short, seated and with views. If you have a pushchair or wheelchair, check the accessibility of each stop on the Swiss rail app. For the walk down from Chexbres, a baby carrier is better than a pushchair, because the vineyard paths are steep.

When to go

It runs all year. To see the vines at their best, go from May to October; in September and October, with the grape harvest, the landscape changes colour. In winter the vines are bare, but the view of the lake and the Alps is still there.