The Ultimate Guide to Lavaux Vineyards

The terraced vineyards of Lavaux s are listed as a UNESCO world heritage site, and are a perfect place to explore on your trip to Switzerland! Situated on Lake Geneva with the stunning Alps serving as the backdrop, the vineyards are located about ten minutes from Lausanne, Switzerland’s fifth largest city. In my opinion, the Lavaux Vineyards are one of the most underrated places to visit in Switzerland!

It’s a great place for wine tastings (obviously) but the enchanting vineyards are worth a visit even just to walk through and explore! There are a series of walking trails that can be explored, each offering stunning vineyard and Lake Geneva views, and all have stops where you can taste or purchase the wine, if interested!

Disclaimer: This article contains some links where I earn commission through booking. There is no extra cost to you, and I only recommend things I’ve used and love or places I’ve stayed and enjoyed!

How to get to the Lavaux Vineyards

By Train

There are several ways to travel to Lavaux vineyards by train, and there are several train stations you can get off at to explore the vast vineyards. In most cases you’re going to want to start in Lausanne and catch the train to any of the towns with the Lavaux vineyards. Grandvaux station is located high up in the terraced vineyards, and is a good place to start and hike down, or you can take the train to any of the other stations listed below, they are located farther down in the vineyards closer to the lake.

Train options:

• Lausanne to Granvaux
• Lausanne to Epesses
• Lausanne to Cully
• Lausanne to Lutry

By Car

You can drive to the vineyards by car, and parking is usually fairly easy. The vineyards themselves are large, so your route might vary depending on where exactly your destination is. But at high level you’re going to want to get to the A9 autobahn, whether you’re coming east from Geneva or heading west from Bern. You can’t miss the vineyards as you’re passing them on the A9, it passes above the terraced vineyards offering stunning views down on the vineyards and the lake.

You can take one of the exits in the vineyards and head down to the main road – this is a series of lakeside roads beginning in Lausanne that run directly along the lake with the vineyards on the other side. You can find parking along this road and explore the vineyards from there.

Best Areas of Lavaux to Explore

 The vineyards are large, so it might be hard to see them all in one day. If you don’t have unlimited time to explore, don’t stress too much the entire area is beautiful, plus there are local wineries to stop at for tastings or purchasing wine along the way! Some of the recommended walking routes are:

• Grandvaux to Epesses (shortest trip)
• Grandvaux to Cully (this will bring you through Epesses)
• Grandvaux to Lutry

Tour & Tasting Options in Lavaux

If you’d prefer to have a guide versus exploring alone you can sign up for Sunday Tour in Lavaux – The tour is two and a half hours, costs 29 CHF and includes a guided walking tour from Cully to Grandvaux and a stop at one winery for a drink.

If you prefer to explore alone, you may want to consider booking a wine tasting ahead of time. These are local run wineries and tend to have sporadic hours. Gaillard & Fils wine estate offers tastings of three wines, and a platter of local food from 14 CHF

One thing to note, this region is known for their white wines, particularly Chasselas white wines. They are crisp and refreshing and I definitely enjoyed, but definitely something to note for red wine drinkers.

Where to Stay to Visit Lavaux Vineyards

Lausanne is the best area to stay for exploring Lavaux. Lausanne is the fifth largest city in Switzerland and offers tons of accommodation options. Lausanne also offers various train options for accessing all of the train stations that are walkable to the Lavaux vineyards. Lausanne has three main neighborhoods that all have great hotel options. Ouchy & La Gare are most accessible to the train stations that will bring you to the Lavaux vineyards.

Ouchy

If you’re looking to be by the lake and the Port of Ouchy, you’ll want to stay in the neighborhood of Ouchy. The lakeside is surrounded by hotels, restaurants and shops, so there is plenty to do in this area. My top recommendation would be Château d’Ouchy – a stunning lakeside hotel that looks like a castle and is one of the most prominent sites of the Ouchy area. But there are also a variety of options for all budgets and traveler needs.

La Gare

I opted to stay in La Gare – the neighborhood near the main train station. This was purely for convenience purposes, as I was traveling for work and needed to be near the main train station to commute to the office each day. La Gare is the most accessible and affordable of the neighborhoods. Another benefit, is that it’s situated between Ouchy and Le Flon and makes it easy to walk or get the metro to either! I stayed at the Best Western Plus Hotel Mirabeau and would definitely recommend it to anyone traveling to Lausanne! La Gare also offers a variety of Hotel Options for all travelers.

Le Flon

If you’re looking to be in the center of the action, and closest to shopping, many restaurants, and nightlife, I’d recommend staying the Le Flon / Old Town area of Lausanne. There are tons of great hotel options but my top recomendation would be Lausanne Palace

Let me know in the comments if you check out any of these recommendations for the Lavaux Vineyards! And, check out my full Switzerland travel guide here