Montreux Jazz Festival

Montreux Jazz Festival is the grand dame of music festivals. Founded in 1967 on the shores of Lake Geneva, it has hosted everyone from Miles Davis to Prince, Nina Simone to Radiohead. Despite the name, Montreux long ago expanded beyond jazz to embrace soul, rock, pop, electronic, and world music. The festival runs for over two weeks in July, with paid concerts at the Montreux Music & Convention Centre and free open-air stages along the lakefront. The setting is breathtaking — the Swiss Alps across the lake, medieval Chillon Castle nearby, and immaculate Swiss infrastructure. Montreux is small and expensive (it is Switzerland), but the quality is unmatched. Intimate venue sizes mean you are close to the artists. The Stravinski Auditorium (capacity 4,000) has perfect acoustics. Getting there: Geneva Airport (GVA) is 90 minutes by train. Zurich is 2.5 hours. Swiss trains are punctual and scenic. Montreux station is a 5-minute walk from the venue. Pro tip: The free stages along the lake are worth it even without paid concert tickets. Jazz Café and the Park stage have surprise performances and late-night jam sessions.