A key attraction during Belle Epoque period, the flowers, also known as “May snow”, are ideally admired during unaccompanied walks or guided tours along marked trails. Wild narcissi bloom in April and May and transform the meadows above Montreux and Vevey into immaculately white, perfumed landscapes, a phenomenon described by writer Ernest Hemingway.
Wild narcissi bloom in April and May and transform the meadows above Montreux and Vevey into immaculately white, perfumed landscapes, a phenomenon described by writer Ernest Hemingway.
As soon as the snow melts, the leaves of the narcissi (narcissus radiiflorus) shoot out of the earth and unfold the energy stored in their bulbs to burst into bloom precociously.
A magnificent didactic and marked trail dedicated to narcissi starts from Les Avants village. Several other marked trails start at Pléïades, Glion, Caux and Mont-Pèlerin stations. These trails cross the most beautiful meadows and the most breathtaking landscapes.
In the Belle Époque, the narcissus festival indicated the end of the high season. Between 1897 and 1957, splendid narcissus festivals with prestigious processions of floral floats signified the end of the tourist high season in Montreux. Affluent winter visitors and one-day visitors took boxed narcissi home with them. An extensively used flower to promote Montreux Riviera.
