Lake Geneva and the Swiss Alps
As Heidi had made her way out to The Hague, it felt only right to visit her in Geneva. Hershey decided to join the adventure, and soon enough, we found ourselves back at Schiphol (Amsterdam’s airport) one very early morning. Heidi was kind enough to greet us at the Geneva airport and escort us to our Airbnb.
We spent the first day wandering the streets of Geneva. We took both the tower and archaeological tours of the St. Pierre Cathedral. Seeing the remains of churches pre-dating the Cathedral beneath the ancient building was a surreal experience. During the first tour, we admired the medieval intricate stained glass windows, and during the next tour, we went beneath the cathedral to admire 4th-century, Roman-era tombs.
That evening, we had a quick dinner and jumped into Lake Geneva. Traveling along a network of metal walkways and wooden planks jutting out from the mainland, we visited a bar, restaurant, and several sunbathing spots with lake access. We chose a spot in the middle, got our plates of food, and ate under the evening sun. Afterward, we dove into the lake, which was still warm from the day. Unlike the salty Aegean Sea, where buoyancy is easy, swimming in the fresh water of Lake Geneva required much more effort, but the refreshing feeling was well worth it. Once in the water, we swam out to a floating platform with a rock wall.
The next day, we visited the charming towns of Lausanne and Montreux. In Montreux, we continued our medieval tour with a visit to the most well-preserved medieval castle in the region, Chillon Castle. The national treasure sits perched along Lake Geneva’s edge and is a massive fortress. We spent hours exploring the incredibly well-preserved rooms. Some sections had been refurbished for royalty in the 18th and 19th centuries. Other areas, like the cellar room and dungeon, were still untouched by later generations and retained the original 13th-century architecture and stone pillars.
After, we walked through Montreux’s massive jazz festival. We listened to a mix of country folk performances and DJs playing mixes of techno and trance music. After a dinner of noodles and more techno, we went for another evening swim in the lake. Swimming with the Alps towering around us, Chillon in the distance, paragliders overhead, and music from the shore was unforgettable.
Topping our Montreux experience seemed impossible, but the next day did just that. We caught an early morning bus from Geneva and crossed into France to visit the mountain town of Chamonix. All around us, hikers suited up in snow gear, preparing for their ascents. We joined them only for the Aiguille du Midi cable car ride up the renowned mountain range. At the first stop, we reached an altitude of 2,310m, and the temperature dropped to a crisp 40°F.
Another cable car ride took us higher still, reaching 3,842m, where we were greeted by sunny, balmy 30-degree weather and a 360° view of the French, Swiss and Italian Alps. After exploring the chalet at the top, we boarded yet another, much smaller gondola lift, which carried us slowly across the mountains into Italy. The chalet had a sleek, glass-enclosed modern space complete with an Italian restaurant and a “skybridge”—a glass overhang where you could look straight down at the peaks beneath your feet. The entire experience felt straight out of a James Bond film, though we sported multiple hoodies and cushy running shoes instead of sleek snow gear.
Those running shoes came in handy later when we decided to hike down the mountain from the midway station at Plan de l'Aiguille. The weather was perfect, and the views were stunning as we descended. Several miles later, with an elevation loss of around 1,250m, we ended the day with burgers before returning to Geneva.
We swam in Lake Geneva every day of our four-day trip, including on our last day—we managed to squeeze in one final swim just an hour before our flight back to Amsterdam.