Lake Geneva has a gentle northern shore and a steep one, and Bellerive lies on the quiet side. Collonge-Bellerive is a village on the Geneva side of the lake, a few kilometres from the city, with lawns running down to the water, old villas and a small harbour where sailing boats bob. Some five thousand years ago, people built houses on piles in the shallows here, and what remains of that settlement lies below the surface, protected as part of the Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps, listed by UNESCO in 2011. There is nothing to see from the shore except the lake and the Alps, so the visit is about the setting.
The setting is good. On a clear day the Mont Blanc massif shows in the far south-east, white and enormous, and in the evening the light on the lake turns copper. Bellevue and Corsier, the neighbouring villages, are small, wealthy places with cafes and walks, and Geneva itself, with its famous fountain and old town, is only fifteen minutes away.
The ride list pairs this with Lavaux, the terraced vineyard slope between Lausanne and Vevey, which UNESCO listed in 2007. Monks began the terraces in the twelfth century, and today about eight hundred hectares of stone-walled vineyards climb from the lake to the hills, producing Chasselas, a delicate white wine. The road through the villages, such as Cully, Epesses and Chexbres, is narrow, winding and lined with walls, and it is best taken slowly, on a quiet weekday, with stops for a glass of wine in a cellar.
Between the two, the lakeside road runs west to east along the water, with plenty of traffic around Lausanne and Geneva, so leave early and avoid rush hours. Fuel is easy everywhere, though Swiss prices are high, and you need a vignette for the motorway. Spring and autumn are lovely, with autumn the best, when the vines turn gold and the grape harvest fills the villages with festivals. Summer is warm and crowded, with swimmers on every landing stage, and winter brings the cold bise wind from the north-east.