Cruising Lake Geneva

Making the most of the lake
Noteworthy for: Lake Geneva has attracted writers, artists, poets and musicians for centuries, the many who settled here including Charlie Chaplin, Audrey Hepburn and Freddie Mercury.

Talk of the town: Lake Geneva was the inspiration for the Deep Purple song Smoke On the Water, written after the band witnessed a fire at Montreux's lakeside.
Lake Geneva is more than just a stunning backdrop to the city, it's also a watersports hub and busy aquatic highway packed with windsurfers, pleasure boats and workaday ferries. With views of Mont Blanc and the surrounding mountains from the water better than anything in the city, it's both worthwhile and easy to find a boat heading out on a sunny day.

You can board cruising boats run by the Lake's Compagnie Générale de Navigation at 4 points in the city centre, including their main site on the Quai Du Mont Blanc just before the bridge. Itineraries range from brisk one hour jaunts past Geneva suburbs, to day long trips around the lake's whole edge, with some routes running in winter too. Be warned, however, that the CGN run so many different routes that their online timetable can seem rather complex.