Tour du Léman
Overview
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Distance 58 km
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Ascent 600 m
Intro
The picturesque village of Hermance is followed by the beautiful Geneva countryside. Cologny has spectacular views of Geneva's lake basin with its fountain, which you reach before the crossing over the Petit-lac. The world's smallest metropolis boasts a wealth of delights to discover.
Description
Geneva is considered to be the most international city in Switzerland. The superb location on the large lake, set between the Jura and the Mont Blanc massif, gives the place a special charm with French panache. This stage begins at the “Genève-Cornavin” main railway station. Passing the “Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques Genève”, the largest public botanical garden in Switzerland, you soon reach Bellevue. The view of the lake and snowy mountains is undoubtedly a “belle vue”. Thanks to the wide cycle lanes, you can cycle conveniently and safely despite the busy main road.
Aircraft fly high above the lively Versoix. When walking through the pedestrian zone with its attractive rows of houses, you can observe the large birds between the plane trees. Mies does not live up to its name, which means “miserable” in German. On the contrary: the route above Lake Geneva now starts to be really fun. It leads through wine villages such as Tannay, Coppet and Founex. Stunning, it rolls past fields of sunflowers and round bales of straw, with birds of prey circling majestically overhead. At first resembling Tuscany, then becoming more and more jungle-like; this is how the landscape looks just before Nyon in midsummer.
Old-fashioned Nyon with its charming town houses from the 16th century marks the transition from Petit Lac to Grand Lac. Lake Geneva begins to widen noticeably from here. The old town of Nyon is overlooked by the imposing, whitewashed castle. Nearby, it is worth visiting the much younger baroque castle of Prangins. Built in 1748, it has housed the headquarters of the Swiss National Museum in French-speaking Switzerland since 1998. At the “Aérodrome La Côte”, it is best to turn on the turbo and pedal hard to make the ancient planes look even older.
There is no need to be afraid of the UFO just before Rolle. Even if the avant-garde cultural centre of Le Rosey boarding school can be quite blinding in strong sunlight. The four-towered castle of Rolle is equally impressive; it was built in the 13th century by the Counts of Savoy. The well-known red and white wine, the “Mont-sur-Rolle AOC”, comes from Mont-sur-Rolle. This refers to a grouping of the villages of Mont-sur-Rolle, Essertines-sur-Rolle and part of the village of Perroy. The wine village is nice and the Château de Perroy is nice too, bien sûr! Did you know? Kiwis are produced on around 20 hectares in the alluvial plains of the Aubonne estuary. You can be there live with your bike. And you can also be there live in historic St-Prex, in the café at “Porte Taillecou” or in Morges, the tulip and wine-growing town with a castle on the lake in the style of a “Carré Savoyard”. Whatever that means exactly ...
An enjoyable tour includes the careful planning of the same. Please inform yourself in advance at the local information center about the route and weather conditions. Depending on the season and weather conditions, this route may be blocked or interrupted
| Start location |
Genève
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|---|---|
| Destination |
Morges
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| Ascent |
600 m
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| Descent |
600 m
|
| Distance |
58 km
|
| Distance on tarred ways |
57 km
|
| Distance on natural surface |
1 km
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| Physical requirements |
Medium
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| Theme |
Along Water, Through a vineyard
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Quick Facts
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