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Switzerland

Vaud

Riviera-Pays-d’Enhaut

Montreux

Les Avants Village

Discover

Places to see

Switzerland

Vaud

Riviera-Pays-d’Enhaut

Montreux

Les Avants Village

156 people recommended this place

Recommended by 156 hikers out of 159

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Location: Montreux, Riviera-Pays-d’Enhaut, Vaud, Switzerland

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Best Hikes to Les Avants Village

4.6

(127)

808

hikers

1. Le Cubly by Sonloup and Les Avants — loop from Chamby

9.16km

03:19

560m

Intermediate hike. Good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

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Intermediate

5.0

(6)

hikers

2. Col de Soladier and Col de Jaman — loop from Les Avants

13.4km

05:28

890m

Expert hike. Very good fitness required. Mostly accessible paths. Sure-footedness required.

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Expert

4.6

(14)

hikers

3. Sonloup Funicular – Les Avants Village loop from Les Avants (funi)

5.84km

01:58

300m

Easy hike. Great for any fitness level. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

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Easy

Tips

Paul

February 27, 2025

Les Avants

The charming village of Les Avants is located at an altitude of about 1000 meters and is part of the municipality of Montreux. It is at the gateway to the Pays d'Enhaut and the Vaud Prealps. The village was one of the first ski resorts in Switzerland and was home to the first Swiss bobsleigh run.

10 km from Lake Geneva, nestled under the Dent de Jaman and the Rochers de Naye, Les Avants is an ideal place for hiking. Many marked hiking trails, including the Daffodil Trail, attract hikers, especially in May when the hills are covered with the white flowers of daffodils.

Also to discover is the flower clock, one of the oldest in Europe, on the Place de la Gare.

Text / Source: SIA Les Avants

lesavants.ch

Translated by Google •

Paul

February 27, 2025

Les Avants

The village was one of the first ski resorts in Switzerland. In the nineteenth century, the spa town experienced a certain tourist development with the construction of the first hotels by the Dufour family. The construction of the Jaman tunnel in 1905, which provided a rail link with the Pays d'Enhaut, allowed the resort to become a strong tourist destination until the First World War, notably with the collaboration of the architect Louis Villard. Served by one of the first electrified railways, with a steep slope and no rack railways, the village is a popular destination for the English. It is also home to Switzerland's first bobsleigh run (which later became a toboggan run) and an ice rink. It was on this ice, which was actually tennis courts converted into an ice rink below the "Grand Hôtel des Avants", that the first European Ice Hockey Championship was held in 1910.

Since 1910, the Les Avants - Sonloup funicular (still in operation, with the two carriages and the historic machines renovated between June 2012 and January 2013) has been operating on the Sonloup site, allowing sledders to climb to the top of the slopes again.

The first war, especially the crisis of 1929, halted development and the large hotels gradually closed. Now competing with the many winter sports resorts created after the 1939-45 war, Les Avants was never to experience the tourist attraction it enjoyed at the beginning of the century. Ernest Hemingway had recently lived in the village for a few months in 1922 (at the "Pension de la Forêt" on the outskirts of Chamby) and wrote about his experiences and pleasures of the sled race there in several chapters of "A Farewell to Arms".

In the second half of the century, the village developed into a residential area and experienced a tourist activity such as hiking and some winter activities in the low mountain range (sledding, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, ski touring).

Text / Source: SIA Les Avants

lesavants.ch/histoire

Translated by Google •

pfälzer

November 28, 2018

Great location on the MOB panoramic route, starting point for a variety of hikes.

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Elevation 970 m

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Saturday 4 October

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Max wind speed: 6.0 km/h

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Take Me There

Location: Montreux, Riviera-Pays-d’Enhaut, Vaud, Switzerland

Les Avants Village

1. Le Cubly by Sonloup and Les Avants — loop from Chamby

2. Col de Soladier and Col de Jaman — loop from Les Avants

3. Sonloup Funicular – Les Avants Village loop from Les Avants (funi)

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