The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
295 km from Estavayer-le-Lac to Estavayer-le-Lac, about 4 h 39 of riding. It goes by way of Lavaux, Port and back through Lavaux. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,150 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Scenic road chapters
Route des Grandes Alpes
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For 65 km this is Route des Grandes Alpes, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
Length
65 km
Named road
Route des Grandes Alpes
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Les Grèves
Reeds, mostly. That is the first thing you notice when you roll down to Les Grèves on the southern shore of Lake Neuchâtel: a soft wall of reed and willow between the fields and the water, with the Jura sitting long and blue on the far side of the lake. This stretch between Portalban, Gletterens and Chevroux belongs to the Grande Cariçaie, the biggest lakeshore marsh in Switzerland, and it only exists because people once moved an entire lake level.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Les Grèves is where the day begins. Next is Lavaux.
2. Lavaux
From the shore of Lake Geneva the vineyards of Lavaux climb almost vertically, terrace upon terrace, held up by stone walls, to villages perched on the slopes above. Monks from Cistercian abbeys began shaping these hillsides in the Middle Ages, and generations of winegrowers have rebuilt the walls ever since, carrying soil back up when rain washes it down. The result is one of the most striking wine landscapes in the world, stretching about thirty kilometres between Lausanne and Montreux, and listed by UNESCO in 2007. Locals like to say that the vines here enjoy three suns: the one in the sky, its reflection off the lake and the warmth stored in the stone walls.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Lavaux comes up 65 km in. Next is Port.
3. Port
Lake Geneva, which the locals call the Leman, is the largest lake in western Europe, and its southern shore, curving between Geneva and the French border, is where the river Rhone leaves the water. The little places of Corsier-Port and Anieres lie on the left bank, among villas, vineyards and gardens that slope down to the water, and they are among the most elegant addresses in the canton. The French shore across the lake rises into the mountains of Chablais, and on a clear day the whole range of the Mont Blanc can be seen to the south-east, a white line above the water.