One of the best ways to see an area is to get outside. Hiking in Lavaux’s Vineyard Terraces is a great way to spend a day in Switzerland. Hopefully, it is not 90º when you are there, because it was pretty hot for us!
When planning a trip, I research the UNESCO World Heritage Sites and build my itinerary around them. Lavaux’s Terraced Vineyards received the World Heritage designation in 2007. The current vines date back to the eleventh century, but it is suspected that the area has been producing wine since Roman times.
A World Heritage Designation Can Be a Blessing, or a Curse, NYT 4/25/2023
Even though it was hot and humid, I insisted that we see the grapes. UNESCO sites are special, and you should see them, if you can. We got on the train from Lausanne, our home base while touring the Lake Geneva region to Grandvaux. It took ten minutes, and the trains leave every thirty minutes. After we arrived, it was a short walk to Hugo Pratt Plaza and a lovely view of the lake and the mountains. If you are wondering, Hugo Pratt was an Italian cartoon artist, who created Corto Maltese.
Travel Notes
The HIking Route
We used the Lausanne Must-See guide to find our way, and it was not easy! We found signage and trails a few times, but most of our time was spent on minor roads. Traffic wasn’t an issue on the roads, but they weren’t trails. The terraces are supported by rows of stone walls (more than 275 miles of them in the region), and roads and walkways are winding throughout, so it doesn’t matter how you go. Since we had a map, I tried to follow it, but ended up searching Google Maps for each waypoint, which were usually vineyards for tastings, none of which were opened!
Hiking in Lavaux’s Vineyard Terraces is beautiful, no matter which way you go. There is a reason it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site! You wander through the vines with views of Lake Geneva and the mountains across the water. It would have been nice to start high and walk downhill, but we didn’t do it that way. We walked uphill and followed a path along the train tracks, then walked down to Lutry and hopped on the bus back to Lausanne.
If I were to do it again, on a cooler day, I would find a hiking path on All Trails and stop at some wineries!
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