European Heritage Days 2025: Discover the Caux Palace

Celebrate with us the European Heritage Days at the Caux Palace on Saturday, 13 and Sunday, 14 September 2025! Come and discover this jewel of the Belle Époque, recently classified as a historic monument of national importance, enjoy its breathtaking view from the heights of Montreux in the village of Caux, and discover our cultural programme and activities for young and old!

Welcome to the Caux Palace

The Caux Palace, one of the largest Belle Époque hotels in Switzerland, is opening its doors to reveal its architectural evolution from the XXᵉ to the XXIᵉ century.

Once a refugee center during the Second World War, it became in 1946 a space for dialogue and peace, and now also hosts a hospitality school.

Unique in Switzerland, it has preserved its original architecture and today serves as a meeting place committed to a just and sustainable world.

Through guided tours, a lecture and a round table discussion, you will be able to explore the building's transformations: the gradual integration of bathrooms, the conversion of the ballroom into a theatre, and changes to the lobby.

A journey to the heart of a living heritage. 

GENERAL INFORMATION

• Dates & Opening Hours: 13 & 14 September 2025 (9:30 - 18:30)
• Venue: Gardens & Terrace of the Caux Palace, Rue du Panorama 2, 1824 Caux 
• Food & Beverages: on site
• Wheelchair accessible and PRM toilets. Find out more  
• Families are welcome!

PROGRAMME

Discover our exhibitions, historical guided tours, workshops, a lecture and a roundtable conversation and enjoy the show by Bombe Divine Super Merveilleuse and jazz music by L'Effet Philemon!

DOWNLOAD THE FULL PROGRAMME 

GUIDED TOURS

Thank you for your interest in our guided tours during the European Heritage Days. You can register on the Montreux-Riviera Tourist Office website.

• Participants per group: 20 max
• Duration: 1h30
• Language spoken: French (tours in other languages available on request)
• Free entry (registrations open on 26 August)
• Tours available for people with reduced mobility. Find out more.

ENTERTAINMENT

Bombe Divine Super Merveilleuse

Who needs a little hope right now? Has anyone called for help? The self-proclaimed ‘Super Wonderful Divine Bomb’ (Bombe Divine Super Merveilleuse) is coming to your rescue to help you hang in there with the help of her faithful sidekick Pogo!

Combining artistic whip dancing and humour with a touch of 80s pop, this superheroine will try to sweep your worries away with a flick of her whip and even get you humming a little Bonnie Tyler. Winner of the ‘ACT ALONE’ award at the Reykjavík Fringe Festival 2023.

The two performances at the Caux Palace are part of Six Pompes Summer Tour 2025. 

• 13 Sept at 15:25 - Caux Palace Terrace
• 14 Sept at 15:25 - Caux Palace Terrace

MUSIC

L’Effet Philemon – Jazz Groove

We all know the old saying: ‘Your father stole all the stars from the sky and put them in your eyes...’

L'Effet Philémon reproduces the same idea, but for your ears. Blending soul, exotica jazz and proto-punk disinheritance in a bowl of adulterated acid, Effet Philemon sounds like an odyssey that is at times playful, at times exploratory, offering no destination other than a jerky head movement that crescendos until your whole body vibrates!

• 13 Sept. from 5pm to 6pm  -  Gardens or Main Hall

EXHIBITIONS

"Democracy? What democracy?!"

An exhibition of press cartoons by Godfrey Mwampembwa (Gado), from Nairobi, Kenya, and Nadia Khiari, alias Willis from Tunis.

Location: The Galleries (4th floor), Caux Palace – Rue du Panorama 2 – 1824 Caux

The press cartoons take a sharp look at recent events and show how democracy has become a concept emptied of its original meaning, distorted, flouted, reinterpreted or exploited. Like freedom, democracy is becoming a hackneyed term, its deeper meaning lost in the twists and turns of an increasingly elusive global political chessboard.

This exhibition is organised in collaboration with Freedom Cartoonists - Dessins pour la liberté.

______________________________________________________________________________________

"Dialogues on Humanity"

An exhibition produced thanks to a partnership between the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, the International Committee of the Red Cross and Photo Elysée - Lausanne.

Location: Esplanade in the gardens of the Caux Palace – Rue du Panorama 2 – 1824 Caux

How can photography help us understand humanitarian principles? A photographic exhibition on humanitarian values: various themes such as nature, digitalisation, values, etc. are interpreted by a professional photographer and photographs from the ICRC archives, offering different perspectives on issues that concern us all.

More about the artists and the exhibitions.

Access to the Caux Palace

Adresse: Rue du Panorama 2, 1824 Caux

• By train: "Caux" train stop on the Montreux-Rochers de Naye train
• By car: from Montreux drive up to Glion / Caux
• Parking: Carpark available nearby

ATTENTION:

Please note that rail traffic between Lausanne and Vevey will be interrupted all day on 13 and 14 September 2025 due to scheduled works on the line. Train cancellations, as well as changes to timetables and routes, are to be expected, with the possibility of transfers via other modes of transport or alternative routes. Travellers are strongly advised to check the updated timetables online to plan their journey to Caux accordingly and avoid inconvenience.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL PROGRAMME