The Canton of Vaud, the place to visit for nature lovers

With its combination of lakes and mountains, the region is ideal for exploring on foot or by bike, enjoying the gentle hills or attacking the mountain passes.

If you love cycling, and whether E-bikes, mountain bikes or road bikes are your preference, there’s a wide selection of listed, marked trails to choose from and prepare your favourite route. The fittest will take on the Vaud Alps tour, a 130 km loop starting from Aigle, in the heart of the Rhône Valley vineyards. The route passes through the region’s main resorts -Leysin, Les Mosses, Château-d’Œx, Les Diablerets, Villars and Gryon - offering a whole variety of unforgettable scenery, like the gypsum pyramids of the Col de la Croix, the view from the Kuklos above Leysin or the eternal snows of the Diablerets glacier.

In the same spirit, but with less of a change in height, there is also the “Bike Tour Parc Jura Vaudois” cycling route. A two or three-day cycling route in the heart of the Vaud Jura Park, with luggage transfers included. Dotted with cheese farms and alpine snack bars, this 120 km route passes through the mediaeval town of Romainmôtier, famed for its abbey church, as well as forests and alpine pastures intersected by typical dry-stone walls. Another route that can be done without training is the 50 km “Route du Cœur” taking you from Lavaux and its vineyard terraces, a UNESCO world heritage site, to the mediaeval town of Romont.

There are also many options for walkers. Here, you can soak up the verdant landscape of the two regional nature parks with their contrasting scenery. One the one hand, there’s the natural wide-open spaces of the Vaud Jura Nature Park, with its 523 km of marked trails through charming villages, meadows and chalets offering traditional products. While in the Gruyère-Pays-d’Enhaut Regional nature Park, the landscape is more alpine, with vast alpine meadows of cows grazing, buildings with typical shingle roofs and stunning views of Lake Geneva lapping at the foot of the mountains. As from the month of May, the card grants free access to the mountain railways of Villars and Leysin and to all the facilities of the partner resorts for the winter season.

Finally, there’s nothing like a day trip to the Arboretum if you want your fix of green. Overlooking the La Côte wine area, between Morges and Nyon, these 200 hectares of landscaped grounds have almost 3,000 trees from temperate climates for you to discover along four themed paths. This year, the park is celebrating its 50th anniversary, with themed exhibitions, guided tours and celebrations.

There are lots of other routes on the Lake Geneva Region Tourism Office website. To find the best route for you, use the tool to select destination, difficulty, distance or preferred mode of transport.