By Gemma Tedaldi | Published: 20 February 2026 | Updated: 20th February 2026
Gruyères is known outside of Switzerland for its delicious cheese, but this area is also a haven for hiking, medieval castles, chocolate and a rather nice spa too! Located in the Pre-Alps canton of Fribourg, this area is often overlooked by visitors to Switzerland, but is an area we think is well worth a visit to.
So, if you are thinking about a trip to this wonderful area but are not sure what to do or where to go, then this Gruyères itinerary is just for you.
📍 Gruyères Itinerary Day 1: Gruyères, Chateau du Gruyères & La Maison du Gruyères
📍 Gruyères Itinerary Day 2: Maison Cailler, Les Bains de la Gruyères & Charmey Hike
📍 Gruyères Itinerary Day 3: Gastlosen / Lake Gruyère / Cheese Dairy Path / Le Moléson
Gruyères Itinerary Map
The Perfect Gruyères Itinerary: 1 to 3 Days
Below we have put together itinerary options from 1 day up to 3 days, including to locations that you just can’t miss in the area, to make sure that you can make the most of your time in Gruyères.
As with any itinerary, we create it is worth noting that your experience may differ depending on the time of year you are visiting, with lovely warm sunny weather in the summer and snowy landscapes during the winter, (the Christmas Markets in Gruyères are one of the prettiest in the region). During our visit at the end of the summer, we had incredibly warm weather during the day, but it got cold at night!
Also, before setting out on any hikes or mountain trips in the area, be sure to check the weather and any hiking trail statuses of the routes you may take. You really don’t want to be caught out in bad weather or on a route that is impassable. You can find the hiking trail statuses for the Fribourg region here.
Gruyères Itinerary Day 1: Gruyères, Chateau du Gruyères & La Maison du Gruyères
For the first day of the Gruyères itinerary we are of course exploring the medieval town of Gruyères with its cobbled street and beautiful chateau as well as stopping by La Maison du Gruyères to get your Gruyères cheese fix. You can’t visit Gruyères and not try some of the cheese lets be honest!
If you are driving there are three car parks at the entrance to the hill top village that you can park in, the one nearest the top fills up first so if you don’t want to walk up the hill be sure to get there early.. If you are coming via public transport, there is a regular bus from the train station which takes 5 minutes and comes roughly every 20 minutes, or you can walk from the station instead which takes around 15 minutes.
Once in the town of Gruyères, assuming you have arrived early, be sure to grab some breakfast from one of the cafes before setting off exploring. Cafe Restaurant des Remparts do rather nice croissants, coffee and fruit juice, all whilst you have views over the cobbled main street. Around the back of here you will also find remnants of the medieval town walls which have impressive views over the area surrounding Gruyères.
Then simply wander along the main street towards the Chateau taking in the pretty shops and restaurants and a museum of two. If you are a fan of the film Alien then there is a coffee shop and museum dedicated to the artist behind the idea, but for full transparency we did visit and although the Alien related works were interesting, everything else was a bit much and very X-rated, so we wouldn’t necessarily suggest it for everyone. Next door there is a Tibetan museum which is much nicer and full of historic artefacts and artworks.
Continuing along the Rue du Chateau, be sure to stop at the Grand Tour photo spot for a picture of the Chateau from below, before continuing up to entrance. The Chateau de Gruyères is one of the most beautiful Chateaus we have visited in Switzerland, with incredible restored rooms, wonderful views and pretty flower gardens too. Following the map around the Chateau from number 1, not only do you learn about the history of the area and the Chateau, but also the role that tourism has played in Switzerland over the years, turns out the Chateau has been through a lot!
We won’t go into all the details, but at some point in the history of Chateau de Gruyères, it was taken over by a group of artists, so expect to see works of art and sculpture where you wouldn’t normally in a medieval building!
The chateau is open every day from 9am to 6pm April to October, and 10m to 5pm November to March. It costs from CHF 13 per adult and CHF 5 per child, (6 to 15), for entry into the Chateau, (which can only be bought at the Chateau not in advance online), however with the Swiss Coupon Pass you can get 2-for-1 entry. The Swiss Coupon Pass is also useful for a few other locations on this Gruyères itinerary so it is well worth purchasing as you will make your money back easily in two days!
It takes around 2 hours to visit the Chateau to its full and not feel rushed, so we recommend stopping for a well deserved lunch afterwards. Auberge de la Halle is fantastic for local wine and cheese fondue, and they also have traditional meringues and cream from the area, but we were too stuffed from the fondue to try any. If like us you still want to try the local dish though, you can grab a box of meringues to go from La Chaudière Fromagerie Crèmerie, opposite the Chocolaterie de Gruyères, (another place you should stop by!), and get some cream from the next stop of the day in Gruyères, La Maison du Gruyères.
La Maison du Gruyères is only a short distance from Gruyères, we’re talking a 15 minute walk or a 3 minute drive, so it is great place to visit after spending the first part of the day in Gruyères. If you are driving there is a large car park around the back and you get 1 hours parking for free if you are visiting the cheese factory, which is all the time you will need. It is only a small place in comparison to the other cheese manufacturers you can visit throughout Switzerland, (Emmental Schaukäserei and Appenzeller Schaukaserei are both much larger and with a bit more history to the cheese), but it is still very much worth visiting La Maison du Gruyères.
La Maison du Gruyères is open daily from 9am, with cheese making demonstrations between 9am and 12:30pm, (if you want to see this you might be better off switching the day around and coming here first). It costs CHF 8 per adult and CHF 6 per child aged 12+ for entry, and again don’t forget to use you Swiss Coupon Pass to get 2-for-1 entry!
You can’t buy tickets online or ahead of time here, so you will have to just arrive and hope it isn’t too busy. We went in the afternoon around 3pm and there was only us and one other couple in there!
Gruyères Itinerary Day 2: Maison Cailler, Les Bains de la Gruyères & Charmey Hike
For the second day of the Gruyères itinerary we are heading a short distance from Gruyères and visiting the local chocolate factory, before hitting up a local mountain, with plenty of activities to do, (not just hiking), before finishing off the day at the local spa. You know all that trying of cheese and chocolate over the last couple of days can get tiring, so why not spend a few hours soaking in some warming waters!
Start of the day with a visit to Maison Cailler, one of the most famous chocolate brands in Switzerland alongside Lindt, and be prepared to eat chocolate! We spent 2 hours fully exploring the world of chocolate and tasting waaaay to much chocolate before hitting the shop at the end, (and we may or may not have come home with 5 bars of chocolate all in flavours we had never seen before…)
It takes 12 minutes via car or around 25 minutes via public transport, (bus to Broc then local chocolate train), to get to Maison Cailler from Gruyères village, (assuming you have chosen to stay there, which we would highly recommend and go into more detail on below), and with the factory open daily from 10am, (except 25th December and 1st January), you can afford to have a bit of a lie in after inevitably eating too much cheese the day before!
Entry costs CHF 17 per adult and CHF 7 per child aged 6 to 15, you can use the Swiss Coupon Pass to get 2-for-1 entry here too, but depending on when you are visiting, (the summer months can be particularly busy with European school holidays and summer visitors as can any Swiss holidays), you may want to book in advance as queues can often take hours! We waited around 45 minutes for entry, (we didn’t realise you could book in advance!), and we weren’t visiting during a peak time.
After filling up on chocolate, it’s time to walk it all off, heading a short distance to the village town of Charmey and its local mountain Vounetz. It takes around 15 minutes to drive or 30 minutes via bus to get from Maison Cailler to the Charmey gondola valley station, and the route passes by a beautiful green lake, which is quite unusual for Swiss lakes! Once at the gondola station, it costs from CHF 25 per adult return trip, CHF 22 per young adult (aged 16 to 24) and CHF 16 per child, (aged 6 to 15).
This local mountain has numerous activities that you can do, not just hiking. In the summer you can expect to find beautiful hiking trails, via ferrata routes, a ropes park, paragliding, a zip line and a toboggan trail, whilst in the winter you’ll find snowshoeing, snowtubing, sledging and of course skiing / snowboarding. In the in between months of spring and autumn, it will depend on the amount of snow there is on what activities will be on offer, but you can always check before hand on their website.
After spending as little or a long as you want exploring Vounetz take the gondola back down into Val-de-Charmey before making your way to Les Bains de la Gruyères. This is either a 10 minute walk or 3 minute drive.
Les Baines de la Gruyères is a wonderful spa / baths with numerous heated indoor and outdoor pools, (if you visit in the winter you’ll be surrounded by snow!), as well as different levels of sauna and Hamams, (basically fancy steam rooms). There is also an indoor and an outdoor cafe so you can grab a drink or bite to eat should you need too. Just be aware that although you have to wear bathing suits whilst in the spa, the Finnish sauna is a nude area only.
The baths are open from 9am to 9pm in the week and until 10pm on weekends. Don’t forget to bring a towel with you or you will have to buy one when you get your entrance wrist bands!
Entrance is for 3 hours, (which is exactly the right amount of time to experience everything, we left with 10 minutes to spare), and costs from CHF 30 per adult, (CHF 32 on weekends / Swiss holidays), and CHF 16 for children aged 5 to 15. You can’t book your entry in the baths in advance so you will have to turn up and hope it isn’t too busy. When we visited it was fairly busy but with so many pools and options for sauna and steams rooms too, there was never a problem with space.
After truly relaxing after a hard day filled with eating chocolate and taking in impressive mountain views, we recommend stopping at Le Bistro in Hotel Cailler for dinner before heading back to your accommodation.
Gruyères Itinerary Day 3: Gastlosen / Lake Gruyère / Cheese Dairy Path / Le Moléson
On the final day in Gruyères there are a couple of options to choose from depending on your interests, the time of year you are visiting and what the weather is doing. As we always say for any of our Switzerland itineraries, there is no point going up a mountain if the weather is terrible! Plus, there are a few things you can do in the local area around Gruyères that you don’t actually need to go up a mountain for, which saves on the cost of things too, which is perfect if you are looking to budget your trip through Switzerland.
🧀🥾 Gruyères Cheese Dairy Path – Gruyères is known for its cheese, so why not head out on the dedicated Cheese Dairy Path connecting La Maison du Gruyère with the cheese dairy in Moléson-sur- Gruyères. At 13km it is a great loop day hike, with a trip up Le Moléson in the middle and plenty of cheese tasting along the way!
🏔 Le Moléson – Only a short drive from Gruyères village, this iconic mountain in the Fribourg Alps is the perfect place to spend a day, in the summer months you can go hiking, mountain biking or even take to one of the mountains Via Ferrata, whilst in the winter you can go sledging, snowshoeing, skiing and ice skating. You can also learn about traditional alpine cheese making on the mountain too.
🛶 Lake Gruyère – Lake Gruyère or Lac de la Gruyère as it is known in French, (which is actually Switzerland’s longest reservoir at 13.5km), is home to a variety of water sports in the summer months, as well as an incredible hiking trail along the lakes edge, all 43 km of it! It also has a historic island in the middle, Ogoz Island with medieval towers and chapel that are well worth a visit, which can be reached on foot every spring when the reservoir is emptied by the melting snow.
🏔 Gastlosen – Also known as the Swiss Dolomites, the tall peaks of the Gastlosen are a wonderful place to visit and at only 40 minutes’ drive from Gruyères, they make a perfect day trip too. Not only are the Gastlosen a climbers paradise but a hiking paradise too, with a 12km long route around the mountain peaks. With a couple of mountain inns to stop at along the route, and a kick scooter transport option back to the valley, what more could you want!
Best Tours To Gruyères
If you are not staying in Gruyères, but instead want to take a day trip there then these are our top picks that cover the best things to do in Gruyères:
Best Day Trips From Gruyères
If you have more time to spend in Gruyères, or the surrounding area, then these are some locations that we would highly recommend you add as a day trip to your Gruyères itinerary:
📍Chateau d’Oex – 40 minutes by train, with a change in Montbovon
📍Lausanne – 1 hour 30 minutes train, with a change in Palézieux, (there are quicker trains, but they have more change overs)
📍Bern – 1 hour 25 minutes train, with a change in Bulle
📍The Chocolate Train – the Chocolate Train combines a trip to Gruyères with Montreux, as well as visiting the town of Gruyères, and both the cheese and chocolate factories too.
📍The Fondue Train – the half day Fondue Train combine a trip to Gruyères with a fantastic train journey to the nearby Pays-d’Enhaut, all with traditional fondue and the locally famous meringues and cream on board.
Where to stay in Gruyères
During our visit we actually stayed at a campsite just outside of Gruyères itself, Camping Haute Gruyères, as it was a last minute trip, (and an easy drive down from Basel with the tent!). This is a great option for those camping around Switzerland; however, there are also plenty of accommodation options in Gruyères and nearby Charmey that we would highly recommend, (and would have stayed at had we planned in advance!). You can also check out the map below for all the accommodation options in the area:
🏨 Budget – Hôtel de Ville (located within Gruyères village)
🏨 Mid-range – Le Saint Georges (also located within Gruyères village, with modern chalet style rooms, and a hotel restaurant serving local dishes)
🏨 Mid-range – Romantik Hôtel l’Etoile, Charmey (based in Charmey, this is another modern chalet style hotel, with a fantastic restaurant serving seasonal cuisine).
🏨 Luxury – Hôtel Cailler & Bains de la Gruyère, Charmey (yes that Cailler! You also get access to Les Bains de la Gruyère and breakfast included, so it may be a little more expensive but it is worth it).
Gruyères Itinerary FAQs
Where is Gruyères?
Gruyères is located in western Switzerland in the canton of Fribourg.
How to get to Gruyères / How to get around Gruyères
Depending on where you are coming from in Switzerland it may be easier to get to Gruyères via car or via train. Switzerland is known for its great public transport, and Gruyères is no exception, with Gruyères train station located just a short walk from La Maison du Gruyère, where local buses 260, 263 and N22 then connect you to all the sights in the local area.
By train:
🚃 Geneva to Gruyères via train – roughly 2 hours, with changes in Romont and Bulle
🚃 Interlaken to Gruyères via train – roughly 2 hours 30 minutes, with changes in Bern and Bulle
🚃 Basel to Gruyères via train – roughly 2 hours 30 minutes, with changes in Bern and Bulle
🚃 Lucerne to Gruyères via train – roughly 2 hours 30 minutes, with changes in Bern and Bulle
🚃 Zurich to Gruyères via train- roughly 2 hours 30 minutes, with changes in Bern and Bulle or Fribourg and Bulle
By car:
🚐 Geneva to Gruyères via car – around 1 hour 40 minutes, 120km
🚐 Interlaken to Gruyères via car – roughly 1 hour 30 minutes, 125km
🚐 Basel to Gruyères via car – around 2 hours, 165km
🚐 Lucerne to Gruyères via car – around 2 hours, 170km
🚐 Zurich to Gruyères via car- around 2 hours 30 minutes, 220km
Best time to visit Gruyères
There isn’t really a bad time to visit Gruyères, but we would suggest avoiding the peak summer months, end of June through to end of August as it is one of the busiest times of year to visit.
Is Gruyères worth visiting?
Gruyères is famous for its cheese, chocolate and its medieval village, so it is very much worth visiting!
What language do people in Gruyères speak?
Officially locals in Gruyères speak Swiss-French, but you can get by with English, in most places too.
How many days are enough in Gruyères?
If you just want to see the village of Gruyères and maybe visit the cheese or chocolate factory, then a couple of days would be enough time. If however you also want to take a trip up a local mountain as well then, we would recommend staying a little longer.
Is Gruyères a feasible day trip from Montreux?
If you wanted to take a day trip to Gruyères from Montreux, it is only a 1 hour 20 minute train ride, which after a change over in Montbovon, can be on the Golden Pass Belle Epoque train, or even on the Chocolate Train.
Conclusion: The Perfect Gruyères Itinerary: 1 To 3 Days
So there you have our Gruyères itinerary, with 3 days in Gruyères spent exploring the medieval village, hiking in the local area and eating all the cheese and chocolate! We really loved our time in Gruyères, especially as it is somewhere in Switzerland that is slightly off the radar for a lot of tourists.
Gemma Tedaldi
Gemma is the owner and author of The Travelling Tedaldi, a travel blog helping travellers to discover the best road trips and travel itineraries throughout the UK and Europe. When she isn’t writing about her favourite travel destinations, she can often be found out exploring local hikes or planning future trips.