Hiking through Lavaux, the vineyards of western Switzerland

There are several religious holidays in the Spring where businesses and stores are closed. Sometimes we go for a short trip outside Switzerland, but this year we opted to stay local. The weather was so mild and beautiful, it was perfect to enjoy our Swiss home. We decided to take advantage of the weather and head to western Switzerland (French region) and hike through the vineyards. The over two hour train ride (one way) made it a long day, but definitely worth it.

We rode from Zurich to Lausanne and transferred to St. Saphorin. From there, we planned to take our time and hike back to Lausanne for another train ride home.

St. Saphorin

immediately met by beautiful views

we started in the village below

the growing season is just beginning

Beautiful sunshine!
This kind of selfie I can do!

The vineyards definitely expect tourists and have prepared paved walkways and clear (mostly) signage.

Several of the vineyards had shadowbox advertisements along the way.

Dezaley also has a restaurant in Zurich known for its fondue. We've been there several times with visitors.

small villages along the way

 

patriotic brickwork on house

 

decoration hangs between buildings

impossible for us to tell where one vineyard ends and the next begins

caught in the act - not angry, just surprised

I love the smell of lilacs and took every opportunity to have a whiff of their sweet scent. They're not around very long. 

  

How do they get around the vineyard to check on plants and render any necessary TLC?

Track comes to an abrupt end. Do they ride it down backwards? Terrifying! 

very steep track up to the top

this is not an amusement park ride!

 
Not surprisingly, we came across places where wine could be tasted. They were probably also taking orders. We decided we had not earned that kind of reward yet and would wait until back in Horgen. 



 

Another way to get around the vineyards is to ride the tourist train.  I would definitely not recommend this trip for children. The ones "dragged along" and riding this train looked like they would rather be anywhere else!
 

Without lots of views of Tom like this, we wouldn't have photos like the panorama below. 

panorama = limitless beauty

Fun decoration in the center of one of the roundabouts. Tom and I took our pictures from two different angles. 
  

  

Did you know wine glasses grow on trees? 

 





 



 

All along the route, we passed informative signs about the vineyards - all in French, of course. 

what's wrong with this picture?

 
Eventually, we made it back to Lausanne. 

all Swiss lakes have excursion boats

sailboats and snow-capped mountains are not always seen together

Lausanne invested in beautiful flower gardens

Lausanne is also home of the International Olympic Committee which must be the reason behind this display on the ceiling at one of the stations.

upside down athletes from around the globe

We found two empty seats on the train and took them not realizing the car was probably meant for families. I'd never seen a train carriage complete with a small playground. Great idea!









 
When we got home, we had finally earned some wine. Tom found a bottle in our "cellar" from the region we had just toured. 

tower on the label matches the one above

What a great day!