My favourite (lake) beaches in the French part of Switzerland

The words «beach» and «Switzerland» in the same sentence??? How this is possible…? Luckly (for me ;)) Yes, it is! You’ve read properly!! There are beaches in Switzerland and I have to say that pretty cool and nice beaches!!

I was born close to the sea. I’m from Barcelona, but not only that, I’m a real beach lover and spent all my childhood summers playing in the white sand and with the waves from the Mediterranean sea… That being said, when I first arrived in Switzerland 4 years ago, that was my reaction when I first saw a highway sign informing that there was a «Plage» (beach in French) nearby…

Then, just a few seconds after that sign, I read another sign that said «Restaurant de la plage» (Beach restaurant in French), and then my spirit move onto…

Really, for a year, I was making fun of Switzerland. How they dare to name «beach» to anything that it’s not open to the sea or to the ocean, having an open space in front… And everytime I saw a sign announcing a beach nearby, it made me laugh.

One year after living in Switzerland, with the hot summer in the corner (yes, we can have up to 35°C degrees here in summer) and my perception on «Swiss beaches» was already changing, from laughing of them… to empathize with them: «At least they know how to re-create in their environment what they want and make the best of it! My respect to Switzerland, dude!».

And now I have a confession to make… 4 years living here, in a village which is right in Lake of Geneva, have transformed me… Now I’m super excited to go to the beach in Switzerland as soon as the sun heats!! I’m like this anytime we have sun and heat:

Yep. That’s what living several years in Switzerland makes to you: Now I really enjoy any tiny spot of wild nature, clean beaches, the Alps view from the lake while taking a bath, the «xiringuitos» in the lake beaches, and the fact that the water is not sea salt…

The cool thing is that the Lake Geneva is soooo big (580 km² of lake! it’s impossible to see all the area that covers in one shot, it’s in the list of one of the biggest lakes in Europe!) that it offers us all types of beaches: beaches with sand, or with rocks, or with grass, or with cement stairs to go into the water… hidden beaches where you need to walk to discover it, with a forest behind, or open-beaches to the public that are crowded as popular Mallorca beaches, beaches with vineyard behind you (yes, vineyard and beach in the same spot!), beaches where you take a bath having an air temperature of 35°C while you see in front of your eyes in the other side of the lake the snow in the Mont Blanc…, and so on (let your imagination fly…). I think I’ve had the chance to discover most of them, as I take it as a route I like to do over the years, the route of the Lake Geneva beaches 🙂

Now that I’ve made you part of my «beach perception transformation» let me show you what for me are the nicest beaches in Lake Geneva. And I’ll stop writing now. Promise. (yes, give me a keyboard and I play piano with it!)

Preverange plage (my favourite)

A long beach with sand, a surf shorp, barbaque spots, a «xiringuito», a restaurant, and vinyeards behind the beach…

Tolochenaz-St Prex beaches (a walk I like to do from work)

St Prex

 

Lausanne area beaches

 

 

 

 

 

Rolle

 

 

Bouchillon, the hidden gem in between forests

Nyon

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the crazy thing is… these are not all of them… only to name a few!

Happy summer to all and enjoy a refreshing bath! 😀