| Quote: | |  | |
| Hi, planning on coming over to Switzerland for a week long brake in May and hope to do a round tour of lake geneva on racing bikes in Spring and would appretiate some tips on recommended route from those that have done it before - not sure if there are any dates in May that we should avoid such as school brakes etc, also would it be best to do it on week days or weekends (traffic wise).
I also have the chance to stay in Gstaad for a few days and do some cycling there but as its in the mountain and I hate climbing are there any flattish routes in that area that could fill a few hrs per day? | |
| | |
Sundays are the quietest days for traffic. If you want to do the ride around Lake Geneva with 2,000 other people then check out the
Cyclotour event on May 30th (this event has/is being discussed on several threads on this forum, just type cyclotour into the forum's search function). However, if you do that event then you probably won't feel like stopping and enjoying the ride and places as much as you would do if you were just doing it independently.
As for route recommendations, most of it is pretty straightforward. Go clockwise if possible to make all turns right-turns, to avoid intersecting traffic even when going straight, and to ride on the lake-side of the road for a better view. On the north side of the lake, the main lake-road is the obvious choice and is fine for cycling on (not too busy, plus nice and wide). There are no significant climbs, so if you want more of a challenge then head into the vineyards between Nyon and Morges and/or between Lausanne and Vevey. To cross the Rhone at the east end of the lake, either use the road bridge near Chessel that is an extra 5km away from the lake, or take the trails that pass north of Noville and lead to a footbridge over the Rhone that keeps you much closer to the lake (but navigation is slightly harder, and there is 200m of unpaved trail). Between Thonon and Geneva, take the smaller road that stays close to the lake and goes via Yvoire, and make sure that you stop in Yvoire and take a look around this medieval, walled village - probably the cutest place on the lake; it's a good place for lunch or an afternoon ice cream. Between Evian and Sciex (where the road to Yviore splits from the main road) the road is very busy because the cars have no other option. There are some minor roads that can be used instead, but these are not as direct, flat, or easy to navigate - so we normally just put up with the busy road for most of this stretch (except that we head through the centre of Thonon instead of using the high-speed bypass road).
For flatter rides from Gstaad, the road south towards Col du Pillon is pretty much flat as far as Gsteig. You can also gently roll west down the valley as far as Bulle (probably about 40km), and use the train to get you back without having to do the climbing, although none of it is particularly steep. East of Gstaad, you first have to get over Saanenmoser, which requires 200 meters of climbing (or take the train), and then it's mostly downhill for 40+ km all the way to Lake Thun (from where you can again take a train back), but some parts of that road can be a bit busy. There is a national cycling route that keeps you mostly off of the main road for that route and on much smaller roads and trails instead, but this involves a lot of unnecessary small climbs and detours. After getting to Lake Thun, the ride around the lake is awesome, with only a couple of small-ish climbs. Plus, most of the route is not too busy if it isn't the middle of the tourist season, and there is a separated cycle path on the south side in the sections where you would otherwise have to use the main road. Note that only half the trains going between Montbovon and Zweisimmen (via Gstaad) allow bikes - which means you only have one every two hours that you can use, and they are the slower ones.
Linear Mode
