The city is located on Lake Geneva between Montreux and Vevey (their agglomeration counting some 80,000 inhabitants).

In the Middle Ages it was under the bishops of Sion and the counts of Geneva, until it was acquired by Savoy.

On 8 June 1476, after a heroic resistance, its inhabitants were massacred by mountain warriors from Haut-Simmental, led by the Bernese Niklaus Zurkinden.

La Tour-de-Peilz has an area, as of 2009[update], of 3.2 square kilometers (1.2 sq mi).

Of the rest of the land, 2.15 km2 (0.83 sq mi) or 66.4% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.01 km2 (2.5 acres) or 0.3% is either rivers or lakes.

[6] The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Per pale Argent and Gules, a Castle counterchanged.

[10] Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks French (8,490 or 83.0%) as their first language, with German being second most common (605 or 5.9%) and Italian being third (295 or 2.9%).

[11] The age distribution, as of 2009[update], in La Tour-de-Peilz is; 1,092 children or 10.1% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 1,233 teenagers or 11.5% are between 10 and 19.

[10] The historical population is given in the following chart:[14] The Villa Kenwin is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance.

[15] The Swiss Museum of Games is housed in the castle of La Tour-de-Peilz.

Founded in 1987, it offers a family friendly display of games from across the world.

[16] La Tour-de-Peilz is twinned with: In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SP which received 24.28% of the vote.

In the tertiary sector; 323 or 17.7% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 22 or 1.2% were in the movement and storage of goods, 125 or 6.9% were in a hotel or restaurant, 27 or 1.5% were in the information industry, 22 or 1.2% were the insurance or financial industry, 565 or 31.0% were technical professionals or scientists, 310 or 17.0% were in education and 252 or 13.8% were in health care.

[10] From the 2000 census[update], 3,859 or 37.7% were Roman Catholic, while 3,788 or 37.0% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church.

In the Vaud cantonal school system, two years of non-obligatory pre-school are provided by the political districts.

The canton's primary school program requires students to attend for four years.