Lakes in the Swiss Alps: the five most beautiful panoramas

Let's discover the lakes of the Swiss Alps. The five sites with the most beautiful panoramas.

A lake is beautiful. The light shines on the ripples on its surface, the breeze cools the skin and lowers the noise level of the town or village bathing in the lake.

Nature is omnipresent, with flowers and lush vegetation lining the shores, facilitated by the mild climate typical of lakeshores and the dense forests that rise up from the mountains surrounding the Alpine lakes.

Yes, and that's what's so special about an Alpine lake: they're often bordered by high ridges, and it's from up there that you can admire the most beautiful scenery.

Here are a few ideas for marvelling at the most beautiful panoramas of Alpine lakes from easily accessible lookouts.

The Niederhorn from Beatenberg above Lake Thun

Lake Thun at the gateway to theBernese Oberland is an ideal destination for those who enjoy a lakeside vacation in the Alps...

The towns of Thun, Spiez and Interlaken offer beautiful walks in very different urban settings. A little further on, the blue waters of Lake Brienz complete this idyllic landscape.

You can climb up to Beatenberg, accessible from Interlaken or by funicular from Beatenbucht on the north shore of Lake Thun.

From here, you can access a magnificent natural balcony from which you can admire not only Lake Thun, but also the mountain landscape of the Jungfrau region.

We can see the vertiginous face of the Eiger, and the Jungfrau and Mönch ice caps. A white stain shining in the sun over the darker landscape of the lake at our feet.

Just a few kilometers further on, you can take the gondola up to the Niederhorn summit at an altitude of almost 2,000 meters.

The panorama opens up over the entire Bernese region. A breath of fresh air and a feeling of flying.

The Pilatus between Lake Lucerne and the Alps

Almost in the center of Switzerland, at 2100 meters above sea level, Mount Pilatus offers the best panoramic view of Lake Lucerne. Probably the most photogenic lake in the Swiss Alps.

You'll see this magnificent lake as if you were an eagle in flight.

A gondola lift from Kriens, a village on the outskirts of Lucerne, takes tourists directly to the summit. For good hikers, the ascent or descent on foot is also possible.

Almost sheer overhanging certain branches of the lake, from up here you can admire towns and villages such as Lucerne and Weggis, other viewpoints a little lower down, such as Rigi and Bürgenstock, as well as all the mountains of central Switzerland.

A must when visiting this part of Switzerland.

The Rigi, facing Lake Lucerne in the Swiss Alps

Opposite the Pilatus is the Rigi with its little red train.

At an altitude of 1,800 metres, this summit dominates the eastern shore of Lake Lucerne, offering panoramic views of virtually all the branches of the lake, and is also accessible by train.

The Rigi Kulm (the summit) can be reached by train from Vitznau or Goldau. If you take the cable car from Weggis, you'll arrive directly at Rigi Kaltbad, a station almost on the summit ridge, also served by the other two train lines.

It's not just the summit that's worth a detour: there are a number of viewpoints on this mountain that you can describe as you hike, depending on your departure station.

The Rigi is a great adventure playground for walkers of all ages, from the most tired to the most athletic!

The Rochers de Naye, viewpoint over Lake Geneva

The little train departs from Montreux, on the shores of Lake Geneva, and takes passengers to the very top of the mountains that border the lake to the east. What awaits you at the top is one of the finest lake views in the Swiss Alps.

At an altitude of 2,000 metres, more than 1,500 metres above the surface of the lake, the Rochers de Naye reveal a breathtaking panorama of the Vaud Alps and the first peaks of the Valaisthe Chablais region and virtually the whole of Lake Geneva. Evian, Lausanne and the Lavaux vineyards can also be seen.

Of course, from the summit station, you can plan to hike the surrounding ridges to take in more breathtaking scenery, or why not head back down by foot to keep an eye on the blue of Lake Geneva.

Photographers beware: as the sun sets over the Rochers de Naye overlooking the lake, the afternoon is not ideal for photos... it's better to come early in the morning when the sun is still behind you.

Monte Bré, view of Lugano and its lake

This article on lookouts overlooking lakes in the Swiss Alps couldn't end without mentioning the lakes of Ticino. We could have chosen lookouts overlooking Lake Maggiore near Ascona or Locarno, but I preferred to present Monte Bré, located in Lugano.

It's easily reached by funicular, footpath or even road.

Access is straightforward, and it's a popular walk both with the Ticinese and with the many Italians who come to Lugano from neighboring Lombardy to spend the day.

As you climb up, you can see the roofs of the city receding into the distance, and admire the curve of the gulf formed by the shores of Lake Lugano on either side of the city.

Like a hunchbacked silhouette, Monte Sant Salvatore rises up from the opposite shore, overlooking the village of Paradiso, aptly named for its beautiful scenery.

You can follow the whole southern branch of the lake, crossed by the freeway and the railroad on a bridge that gives the illusion of floating on water, and which gets lost in the mists of Monte San Giorgio, from where the branch of the lake starts, on whose shores you find the charming and colorful village of Morcote.

To the east, our gaze wanders into a wooded fjord in which the lake takes pride of place. At the far end, where the lake ends, is the Italian shore. In this direction, and just a few kilometers further on, the road would take us to a new adventure right in the middle of the shore. Lake Como.

Seeing a lake from above is always a soothing sensation. The motionless expanse of water, barely streaked by a few almost invisible motorboats, contributes to this feeling of letting go. The sounds are distant, the wind blows steadily, the sun warms the skin and the heart.

An experience never to be missed when visiting a region with lakes in the Alps.

In Switzerland, we've chosen to focus on just a few of the multitude of lakes, so we'll be writing a new article soon with other exceptional lookouts.