The real Jura mountains rise on the far northern shore as a long, wooded wall, and the whole scene has the unhurried look of a place where wine, boats and long lunches are taken seriously.
Erlach, called Cerlier in French, is one of the oldest settlements on the lake, a cluster of gabled houses climbing to a small castle, with a stone harbour and a lakeside promenade. It lies at the edge of the language border, so signs are in both German and French, and people code-switch without noticing. Offshore, the St. Peter's Island, which is really a peninsula now, was the refuge of the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau in 1765, who spent just two months there and later called them the happiest of his life. A path through the woods and meadows leads to the old monastery that stands on the island, which is now an inn.
The vineyards on the north shore, around Twann, La Neuveville and Le Landeron, produce light, crisp whites from the Chasselas grape, and the wine villages are a pleasure to explore, with narrow lanes, cellar doors and taverns. The ride around the lake is gentle: the road on the north shore threads between vines and the water with easy bends and good views, while the south shore road is flatter and a little busier. Weekends bring cyclists, walkers and visitors from Bern and Neuchâtel, so aim for a weekday or an early morning start.
The lake sits at about four hundred and thirty metres, and the mild microclimate allows vines, fruit trees and even a few fig trees to flourish. Fog sometimes lies on the water on autumn mornings, lifting by late morning to reveal the Alps on the southern horizon on a clear day.
Fuel and shops are best found in Le Landeron, where there are about four thousand people, or in Murten, twelve kilometres away, which has a perfectly preserved medieval wall that you can walk on. Erlach itself has small restaurants, and the fish from the lake, usually perch or whitefish, is the thing to order.