Thu evening out, Tue back, remote-work Fri & Mon from a friend's place in Besançon. Bike stays inside the car (front wheel off, zero range penalty), a lakefront castle, UNESCO vineyard terraces, and swimming in Lake Geneva — with an honest look at what Switzerland costs.
Same pattern as the Savoie/Lyon trips: a free place to crash breaks a long haul into two manageable legs and turns Friday and Monday into free remote-work nights instead of paid ones. This itinerary is built around a friend's place in Besançon, which sits almost exactly on the route east and leaves a short, very manageable 150 km final hop into Switzerland. If your friend is in Belfort instead, the structure is identical — Belfort → Montreux is 248 km, about 2h50, roughly an hour longer than from Besançon, via Montbéliard and the same Vallorbe/Col de Jougne crossing into Vaud.
The Swiss Riviera is a genuinely odd landscape to find within a weekend's reach: palm trees and a mile-long flower-lined lakefront promenade, a moated medieval castle standing directly in Lake Geneva, and UNESCO-listed vineyard terraces climbing the hillside behind town, all wrapped around water clean enough to swim in. It's also the most expensive stretch of this whole trip series — Swiss prices are roughly double French ones — so this itinerary leans hard on free swimming, free lakefront walking, and one paid overnight instead of two, saving the splurge for the castle and a proper fondue.
The bike travels inside the Model Y with the front wheel off, exactly as in the Car Camping, Food & Bike Guide — no roof or hitch rack, no aerodynamic penalty, no separate item on the charging budget below. The payoff on this trip is the ride up into the Lavaux terraces on Sunday: narrow paved lanes wind between vine rows with the lake dropping away below, one of the most scenic short rides in this whole series. Expect real gradient — it's a working hillside, not a greenway — so treat it as an out-and-back at your own pace rather than a full loop.
Standard French autoroute run, no charging needed for a Model Y with realistic range in the 330–370 km bracket — but top up before leaving if you're not starting at 100%, since the next leg (Fri/Sat) crosses a border and options thin out. Arrive Besançon around 10–11pm, free night at your friend's.
Full remote workday from your friend's place. If you skipped the Vauban citadel on a previous Besançon trip, an evening walk there is a nice way to close out the day. Free night again.
Short, scenic morning drive — through the Jura up to the Col de Jougne border crossing, then down into Vaud on the A9. Well within a single charge from Besançon. First stop: Château de Chillon, right on the lakeshore in Veytaux just south of Montreux — one of Switzerland's most-visited monuments, 46 numbered points of interest across three courtyards and the underground dungeons made famous by Byron's "Prisoner of Chillon." Adult entry CHF 15 (~€16). Afternoon: walk the free lakefront promenade through Montreux (palm trees, the Freddie Mercury statue, mountain views across the lake), then swim — Vevey-Corseaux-Plage or the smaller, free, pebble Maladaire beach tucked between Vevey and Montreux.
Morning ride up into the Lavaux UNESCO World Heritage vineyard terraces above Vevey/Rivaz/Épesses — narrow lanes between stone-walled vine rows, with Lake Geneva and the French Alps across the water as the view the entire way. Stop at Lavaux Vinorama in Rivaz for a tasting: the standard flight is 5 wines (3 whites, 2 reds) for CHF 22 (~€24); if you'd rather ride the vines than pedal them, the Lavaux Panoramic mini-train does 3 tasting glasses in the vineyards for CHF 18. Afternoon swim at Moratel beach in the heart of Lavaux — small, quiet, terraced-vineyard backdrop. Tonight's splurge: fondue moitié-moitié (Gruyère/Vacherin) at one of Montreux's old-town restaurants — figure CHF 30–40pp (~€32–43).
Same overnight as Saturday — free Vevey quai spot after 7pm, or the Maladaire campsite if you want a second shower.
Work the morning from a lakefront café in Vevey — good connectivity, and worth the last swim before packing up. If your charge is getting low, the Bussigny Supercharger near Lausanne (14 stalls, 130 kW, 24/7, ~25 km north) is the nearest real Tesla fast-charging option in this corner of the Riviera — Swiss Supercharger pricing runs roughly CHF 0.30–0.53/kWh depending on time of day, noticeably more than France. Drive back to Besançon after logging off. Free night at your friend's.
Home in time for Wednesday.
| Category | How it's calculated | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Tolls (France) | Meudon↔Besançon round trip, A6/A36, ~€39/leg | ≈ €78 |
| Swiss motorway vignette | CHF 40, one-time, valid 14 months — €0 if already purchased this cycle | ≈ €43 |
| Charging | ~1,130 km × ~0.165 kWh/km, France legs @ ~€0.40/kWh, Swiss leg @ ~€0.44/kWh | ≈ €77 |
| Lodging | 2 nights at Camping de la Maladaire, ~€21/night | ≈ €42 |
| Château de Chillon entry | CHF 15 adult | ≈ €16 |
| Lavaux wine tasting | Lavaux Vinorama, 5-wine flight, CHF 22 | ≈ €24 |
| Groceries (4 self-cooked days) | ~€11/day, Swiss supermarket prices are higher than France | ≈ €44 |
| Fondue splurge | Fondue moitié-moitié, ~CHF 35pp | ≈ €38 |
| Misc | Parking, showers, tourist tax | ≈ €15 |
| Total (paid campsite both Swiss nights) | €377 | |