Aigle sits in the Rhône valley between Lake Geneva and the Vaud Alps, a useful rail junction that turns out to be much more than a place to change trains. The old town is modest, but the setting is excellent: vineyards climb the slopes above the valley floor, mountain trains leave for Leysin, and the towers of Aigle Castle rise from the vines.
The town is best treated as a relaxed half-day stop or a practical base for the Chablais. The castle houses a wine museum, so this is one of the few Swiss towns where sightseeing naturally ends with a glass of local white. Nearby Yvorne and the villages around Ollon give the landscape its flavour: stone houses, steep vineyard lanes, and Alpine views that feel surprisingly close to Montreux and Lausanne.
Aigle is also a good connector. Trains run along the valley to Lausanne, Montreux, Sion, and Brig, while narrow-gauge lines climb towards Leysin, Les Diablerets, and Champéry. If you are heading into the Vaud Alps without a car, you are likely to pass through here anyway; it is worth stepping outside the station.