Lake Geneva and Lavaux: A Gentle Guide to Switzerland's Vineyard Shore

There are places that ask you to climb, queue and hurry. Lavaux is not one of them. On the northern shore of Lake Geneva, between Lausanne and Montreux in the Swiss canton of Vaud, the hillside falls towards the water in thousands of stone-walled vineyard terraces — and almost everywhere you stand, the view does the work for you.

Below the vines, the lake curves away in a long blue crescent, with the French shore and the snow-topped Alps on the far side. Little villages of stone houses sit tucked into the slope, each with a church tower, a fountain and a cellar or two. Steamboats with paddle wheels glide past far below, slow enough to watch all the way across.

Lavaux has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2007, and it is a kind landscape for travelers who prefer comfort to effort. You can see the very best of it from a boat deck, a train window, a funicular car or a bench — and still feel you have been somewhere extraordinary.

A little history

Vines were almost certainly grown on these slopes in Roman times, but the terraces you see today began to take shape in the 11th century, when Benedictine and Cistercian monasteries held much of the shoreline. Generation after generation, farmers cut into the hillside and built dry-stone walls to hold the earth in place.

The result is one of Europe's most remarkable man-made landscapes: roughly 30 kilometres of vineyard stretching from the edge of Lausanne eastwards towards the Château de Chillon, with hundreds of kilometres of stone walls and thousands of narrow terraces, covering some 800 hectares.

Local growers like to say their vines ripen under "three suns": the sun in the sky, the sun reflected off the lake, and the warmth stored all day in the stone walls. That microclimate is why Chasselas, a delicate white grape, does so well here. Two of the slopes — Dézaley and Calamin — carry Grand Cru status, the highest distinction in the canton of Vaud.

The Lavaux vineyard terraces in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland.

What to see

The village string: Lutry to St-Saphorin

The pleasure of Lavaux is the villages, strung along the shore and the slope: Lutry, Cully, Riex, Epesses, Rivaz and St-Saphorin, with Grandvaux and Chexbres higher up. Most are small enough to see in half an hour of gentle strolling — a square, a fountain, a church, a cellar door open for tasting. St-Saphorin, with its tall church tower and vines pressing right up to the houses, is the one most people photograph.

Chexbres, the balcony above the lake

Chexbres sits high on the hillside and is nicknamed the balcony of Lake Geneva. It has its own small railway station, so you can arrive by train and be at a wide-open viewpoint within a few flat minutes. From here the lake looks enormous and the Alps on the far shore line up beautifully.

Lavaux Vinorama at Rivaz

Right on the lakeside road at Rivaz, this modern discovery centre is built into the rock. It shows a film following a year in the vineyard and offers tastings drawn from a few hundred Lavaux wines, including many Chasselas. It is level, cool and sheltered — an ideal stop on a hot or rainy afternoon.

Lausanne and the port of Ouchy

Lausanne itself is steep, but its lakefront district of Ouchy is flat, green and lined with benches and cafés. The city's metro runs from the main railway station down to the water, so you can enjoy the shore without tackling the hills.

St-Saphorin and its vineyards above Lake Geneva.

The most comfortable ways to enjoy the scenery

From the deck of a boat

CGN, the lake's navigation company, has been sailing here since 1823 and still runs a fleet of Belle Époque paddle boats, several of them genuine steamers. Scheduled services link Lausanne-Ouchy, Cully, Vevey and Montreux, so a one-way crossing with a train back is easy to arrange. Boarding is level, there are indoor and outdoor seats, and most boats have a restaurant on board. Seen from the water, the whole terraced hillside opens up at once.

By scenic train

Regional trains along the shore stop at tiny village stations between Lausanne and Vevey, and the stretch gives you lake views from your seat for a very modest fare. Higher up, the little "Train des Vignes" climbs from Vevey through the vines to Chexbres and Puidoux in under twenty minutes. For a longer outing, the GoldenPass route from Montreux up towards Gstaad is one of Switzerland's great panoramic rides.

Tourist trains through the vines

Two road-going tourist trains tour the narrow vineyard lanes in the warmer half of the year: the Lavaux Express from Lutry and Cully, and the Lavaux Panoramic from Chexbres. Circuits last roughly one to two hours, usually with a tasting stop. They take you to places cars cannot easily go, with no walking at all.

Up the funicular to Mont-Pèlerin

From Vevey, a funicular climbs through vineyards to Le Mont-Pèlerin in about ten minutes. At the top, a television tower has a lift to a high viewing platform with a sweeping panorama from the Alps to the Jura. Lovely on a clear day.

Along the Corniche by car

If you are driving, the Route de la Corniche between Chexbres and Lutry is the classic run — a narrow, winding balcony road through the terraces with several marked pull-offs. Go slowly, and let the local traffic pass.

Short, gentle walks

The full waymarked Terraces of Lavaux path from St-Saphorin to Lutry runs about 11 to 12 kilometres and takes roughly four hours; most of it follows smooth, paved vineyard lanes, but there are long sustained slopes. The gentler approach is to walk one section between two stations — Rivaz to St-Saphorin, or Epesses to Cully, each around 30 to 50 minutes — and ride the train or boat back. Even quieter: take the train up to Chexbres or Grandvaux and simply walk a level kilometre along the lanes, then turn around.

Lavaux and Lake Geneva seen from the train window.

A day trip nearby

The eastern end of the lake, known as the Montreux Riviera, is 20 to 40 minutes away by train or a little over an hour by boat from Cully.

Montreux has a famously mild climate and a long, flat lakeside promenade planted with palms and flowers — probably the easiest beautiful walk on the whole lake. A little further along the shore stands the Château de Chillon at Veytaux, a medieval castle built on a rock in the water, reachable by boat, bus or a level shoreside stroll from Montreux. Inside there are stairs and uneven floors, but the courtyards and the lakeside setting reward even a short visit.

For mountain air without effort, the cogwheel railway from Montreux climbs to the Rochers-de-Naye at just over 2,000 metres in about an hour, with the lake dropping away beneath you the whole way. Pack a warm layer: it can be chilly up there even in summer.

The Alps rising behind Lake Geneva on a clear winter day.

Honest advice for comfortable travel

• Lavaux is a hillside, and gravity is real. Village lanes are often steep and cobbled, and railway stations like Epesses and Rivaz sit well below the upper vineyards. Plan to go downhill on foot and uphill by train, bus or tourist train.
• Stay low and central. Lausanne-Ouchy, Cully, Vevey or Montreux put you on flat ground beside the water, with boats and trains at the door. Hotels in the hill villages have charm but usually mean slopes and steps.
• There is almost no shade in the vines. Mid-summer afternoons can be genuinely hot on the open terraces. Walk before 11am or after 4pm, carry water, and wear a hat.
• Use the public transport, it is excellent. Trains, buses and scheduled CGN boats are frequent, punctual and step-free in most places; a Swiss Travel Pass covers them and simplifies everything.
• Many guest cards are generous. Hotels in the region often give free local transport to their guests — ask when you check in.
• Shoes matter more than fitness. Flat, grippy soles are enough; the lanes are paved but can be slippery when damp.
• Tastings are small and civilised. Cellars generally pour modest measures, but if you are driving the Corniche, Switzerland's drink-driving limits are strict — let someone else drive, or take the train.
• Book boat restaurant tables and Sunday lunches ahead, especially in September and October.

What to eat

Vaud cooking is hearty, rustic and very good with a glass of local white.

• Filets de perche — small perch fillets, lightly fried and served with lemon and potatoes, the signature lakeside dish. Ask whether the fish is from the lake; genuine local perch is scarce and costs noticeably more.
• Papet vaudois — a soft, comforting stew of leeks and potatoes, traditionally served with a smoked saucisse aux choux, the cabbage-and-pork sausage that has protected status here. A winter-into-spring dish.
• Malakoffs — deep-fried cheese fritters, usually on a round of bread. Delicious, and richer than they look; one each is plenty.
• Cheese from the nearby pre-Alps, and fondue in the cooler months.
• Chasselas from Lavaux: light, dry, faintly flinty, low in alcohol and made to be drunk young. Red Pinot Noir and Gamay are grown here too, and a few cellars still make the rare local Plant Robert.

Many growers open their cellars for tasting, and village cafés often serve a simple plate of cheese and cured meats to go with the wine.

Getting there

A CGN paddle steamer on Lake Geneva, seen from the Lavaux vineyards above Epesses.

Our verdict

Lavaux is one of those rare destinations that gives more than it asks. The scenery is world-class, the distances are short, the transport is faultless, and almost every great view has a bench or a boat deck attached to it.

Come for a few unhurried days in late spring or early autumn. Sleep beside the water in Cully, Vevey or Ouchy. Take the boat one way and the train back. Spend an hour on a tourist train through the terraces, another on the Mont-Pèlerin platform, and the rest of your time sitting with a glass of Chasselas, watching the light move across the lake.

If you want the beauty of Switzerland without the altitude and the effort, this is where we would send you first.

Lavaux vineyards and Lake Geneva near Riex, with Alpine summits beyond.

“Here the hillside steps down to the water like a staircase built for looking, not for climbing.”

Photo credits

• Lavaux Vineyard Terraces on sunset: Luca Casartelli, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
• Lavaux Switzerland: Lorenz Poffet, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
• View on St-Saphorin at Lac Geneva: JoachimKohler-HB, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
• Geneva lake 2: Londo Mollari, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
• Lake Geneva and Alps: Matias Senger, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
• Lavaux vineyard and Lake of Geneva seen from Epesses: Foto-Falk, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
• Lavaux and Lake Geneva: Zacharie Grossen, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons