Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. 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.
A 337 km round trip from Estavayer-le-Lac - roughly 4 h 37 in the saddle. The stops in between: Lavaux, Port and back through Lavaux. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,150 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
Scenic road chapters
Route des Grandes Alpes
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 88 km this is Route des Grandes Alpes, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
Length
88 km
Named road
Route des Grandes Alpes
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Village
The label is simply Village, which tells you the scouts did not have a better name, so this entry is really about the shore of Lake Neuchâtel between Estavayer-le-Lac and Cortaillod. Here the lake is wide and calm, a long sliver of water set between the Jura mountains to the northwest and the rolling Fribourg country to the southeast. The southern shore is special. A broad belt of reeds, marsh and woodland runs along it, known as the Grande Cariçaie, which is the largest lakeshore wetland in Switzerland and a refuge for many birds, dragonflies and amphibians.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Village 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 about 80 km into the recorded legs. 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.