Blog: Chillon Castle, Geneva and Yvoire

Blog: Chillon Castle, Geneva and Yvoire

It was with more than a hint of sadness that I hopped on the coach on the final morning of my "Best of Switzerland" tour with Trafalgar. The tour was actually an eight day tour but I was finishing up in Geneva on day 5 as I had to fly home that night. There was still a full day of fun to be had, though.

After taxi-ing back to Tasch from Zermatt (a car-free town), we re-boarded the coach and set off for Geneva. For much of the journey we passed hillsides covered in vineyards - the Valais region is Switzerland's biggest wine producer - and dotted with medieval castles. Even with a coffee stop at a roadhouse at Martigny, we arrived at Lake Geneva around 10.30am.

One of our first glimpses of Lake Geneva was by the famous Chillon Castle. I'd hoped to visit the castle on a previous visit to Lake Geneva but things hadn't worked in my favour, so I was really pleased to finally see it up close. The castle sits on its own little promontory jutting out into the lake and is just as you'd expect a castle to be with plenty of towers and turrets. Our stop here was just a photo stop so after 15 minutes we were on our way to Geneva.

Arriving in Geneva around midday, our bus took us to the Hill of Nations, home to the United Nations, World Health Organisation and many other international institutions. We then headed to the Reformation Wall, which, to be perfectly honest, I'd never heard of! This is no normal wall, though. It is a tastefully designed wall with statues of those who worked hard for reformation in Switzerland and Europe throughout the 14th to 16th Centuries.

From there we headed right by the lake to famous Jet d'Eau (fountain) and the lakeside park. There was time for lunch and a wander along the lakeside before an optional paddlesteamer cruise to Yvoire on the French side of the lake.

It was a beautiful, warm day (albeit a bit windy on the boat) and the 90 minute cruise was a very relaxing way to spend the afternoon. The paddlesteamer stops at a few other towns along the way to Yvoire but the jetty at Yvoire was definitely the prettiest.

We disembarked at Yvoire, known as 'the French flower town', and classified as one of the Most Beautiful Villages in France, and I was instantly enchanted. Everywhere I looked, flowers were spilling out of window boxes, making the beautiful stone buildings even more stunning. The winding, narrow streets, bursting with shops and cafes, led me from the jetty uphill to the Tourist Office.

I was pressed for time, unfortunately, so I didn't have long to look around Yvoire but what I saw made me want to return. The village is definitely worth at least a half day visit if you're in the Geneva region and I'd even consider staying overnight so I could really take in the ambience. This is one 'hidden gem' that I'd probably never have found had it not been for Trafalgar.

As I bid farewell to my fellow Trafalgar Tour passengers, I headed for Geneva airport and the long trip back to Australia. There were plenty of wonderful memories to play over in my head from both my first week in Zurich and Interlaken and my second week touring with Trafalgar. The two weeks have reinforced my love of Switzerland - it really is the country of superlatives - there just aren't enough of them to do it justice!

 
See more photos of my visit to Lake Geneva on our Facebook page and watch videos of Geneva and Yvoire here.

Carolyn