Visit Chaplin’s World — a museum in the house where Charlie Chaplin lived with his family near Vevey on Lake Geneva in Switzerland.
Chaplin’s World is an entertaining museum and interactive experience center on the life and work of Charlie Chaplin. Chaplin lived the final 25 years of his life in the large house Manoir de Ban in Corsier-sur-Vevey on the slopes overlooking Lake Geneva and the Alps. His family home was turned into a museum, while a separate studio area allows visitors to experience his movies and moviemaking as active participants. Visitors can take spectacular photos with wax figures and several movie sets. Buy time-slot reservation tickets online in advance for skip-the-line admission on busy days.
Chaplin’s World in Switzerland
Charlie Chaplin (Charles Spencer Chaplin, 1889 – 1977) was one of the greatest comedians and filmmakers of the mid-20th century. He was the master of the silent film but also found great success with sound films. The Great Dictator was his biggest commercial success. It is still considered one of the all-time greatest and most influential satirical comedies ever made.
Chaplin’s World allows visitors to discover the man and the artist. Charlie Chaplin lived here for his final 25 years, while his movies and especially his moviemaking techniques continue to influence filmmaking to the present. The entertaining museum explains both the private life of Chaplin as well as the movies that brought him international fame.
Around 30 wax figures of people closely associated with Chaplin are on display and perfect for interesting photos. Chaplin is portrayed as various characters, including The Tramp. Other famous visitors, such as Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, and Sophia Loren, also appear in person.
Visiting Chaplin’s World in Vevey
A visit to Chaplin’s World is split into three distinct areas: the manoir, the studio, and the park.
The Manoir — Charlie Chaplin Museum
Manoir de Ban is the large house where Charlie Chaplin lived the final 25 years of his life. Here, he could give his children the family life he never enjoyed as a child himself. His wife, Oona, and some of their children lived in the house long after Charlie’s death on Christmas Day 1977.
The house is a museum on the life of Charlie Chaplin, with several rooms recreated as they would have been when he lived there. The themes covered range from simple family life to the devastating price of McCarthyism. In Switzerland, and in Croisier-sur-Vevey in particular, Chaplin was able to enjoy a reasonably normal life. He could participate in society without all the baggage that came with Hollywood fame.
Many items from Chaplin are on display, while wax figures add some entertainment and opportunities for cool photos. Albert Einstein surprises in the bathroom.
The Studio
The separate studio area is used for special exhibitions, as well as permanent media displays of famous Chaplin films. Visitors may enter and photograph on several sets with famous scenes from Chaplin movies, such as the barber’s chair from The Great Dictator and the street from The Kid.
Films are shown in the small theater. Many further movies, interviews, and clips are available on smaller screens for individual searches and interests.
The main themes covered are Chaplin’s childhood in London, the beauty of silent movies, the film studio, the production studio, and Hollywood Boulevard.
The Parc
Chaplin’s house is inside a 70-acre park of mostly grass and mature trees with incredible views of the Alps. It is easy to see why he loved living here. For the children, it must have been a wonderful garden to grow up in.
The garden occasionally hosts special events, including the Chaplin Circus show, Halloween decorations, and Christmas lights.
Chaplin’s World Visitor’s Information
Opening Hours of Chaplin’s World
The Charlie Chaplin Museum is open year-round, daily from 10:00 to 18:00, but closing already at 17:00 for much of the winter.
It is open on most holidays, except New Year’s Day, and on Christmas Day, it only opens in the afternoon. The museum usually closes for two weeks during mid-January.
Tickets for Chaplin’s World Museum
Tickets for Chaplin’s World are around CHF30 for adults, CHF22 for children aged 6 to 15, and are free for children younger than 6 years old. Seniors (60+) and students receive small discounts. Family tickets are CHF88 for four. Discounts are sometimes offered when buying in advance.
Buy time-slot reservation tickets online, but on quiet days, tickets may also be sold at the door.
The Swiss Museum Pass is not accepted.
Admission is fairly expensive, but this is a privately funded museum and is worth the price for visitors who fully engage in all the activities offered, especially in the studio area.
Transportation to Chaplin’s World
Driving is the easiest way to reach Chaplin’s World, Rte de Fenil 2, 1804 Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland. Use exit 14 Vevey from either the Autoroute A9 or A12. A large parking lot (charged but with a small discount if visiting the museum) is just down the road from Chaplin’s World.
Walking from Vevey train station or the Vevey funicular base station should take around half an hour, but it is a steep uphill walk at times. Using bus 212 to the bus stop “Chaplin” is simpler from Vevey train station, which is only a few minutes’ walk from the lake boats landing. Travel time is around 15 minutes.
Other Chaplin Sights in Vevey
A few further sights in Vevey associated with Charlie Chaplin:
The grave of Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977) and his wife Oona Chaplin (1925-1991) are in the small Cimetière de Corsier-sur-Vevey, Sur le Crêt 3, 1804 Corsier-sur-Vevey — very close to the base station of the Vevey-Mont-Pèlerin funicular or a 15-minute walk from the train station. The English actor James Mason (1909-1984) is also buried here.
Don’t confuse this cemetery with the Parc Charlie Chaplin — a small landscape park around halfway between the lake and Chaplin’s World.
A statue of Charlie Chaplin as the Little Tramp character is on the lakefront promenade in front of the Alimentarium and The Fork sculpture in the lake, around halfway between the ferry boat landings of Vevey-Marché and Vevey-La Tour. A further interesting small museum in Vevey is the Swiss Camera Museum, just off the large Place du Marché.