Switzerland is not a big country but with 1484 lakes and 451 mountains, there is plenty to see, do and explore. We take the opportunity to do explore as many new places around Switzerland especially when we have people visiting. When I found out it was possible to do a boat ride from Lausanne to Evian (Yes like the famous bottled water Evian!), I thought that would be a perfect day trip we could do.
Lake Geneva is considered the largest Swiss lake with an area of 581sq km (though its southern shore is in France). Lausanne is a city along the shores of Lake Geneva situated 62km northeast of Geneva and is the capital and biggest city of canton Vaud. It is known for hosting the International Olympic Committee and for being a wine-growing region – a future trip I would still like to do would be one of the walks through the Lavaux vineyard.
It was a 2 hour drive from Basel to Lausanne, the city which faces the French town of Evian-les-Bains where we took the boat to.
Famous for being a spa town that has been visited by royalty for over two centuries, the Evian springs was found to contain curative qualities by a scientist in 1807 and from then, the waters began to be used for medicinal purposes.
The first thing we did upon arrival was walk up to the source of the famous water and started filling up our water bottles.
We had a lovely lunch at a Moroccan restaurant, went back up to refill our water bottles again and then had a lazy walk around the little town before sitting along the lake enjoying the magnificent views.
On our way back to Basel, we made a quick stop in the 800-year old little town of Murten in canton Fribourg. This medieval town sits on the language border between French and German (which enviably makes its residents bilingual – likely trilingual with English) on a slight hill above Lake Murten.
The first time we went about 5 years ago, we had a picnic by the lake on a beautiful sunny day before heading on to Montreux and later to Maison Cailler, the chocolate factory in Broc, near Gruyères and Bulle. The second time we tried going, it was the one day when it was the Slow-up Muttensee event whereby 32km of roads around Lake Murten are car-free for the use of cyclists and inline skaters.
Murten is the only Swiss town with a wall encircling it which visitors can walk around and take in the views of the lake and the roofs of the Old Town. We had a great time there where we enjoyed a relaxing “kaffee und kuchen” (coffee and cake) stop.
