Water is life, water is fun, and water is beauty also! Spring is starting to sneak in. The weather might not be warm enough yet to dip in, but the sun will start reflecting strongly on the lakes of Switzerland revealing their mesmerising beauty. Take on your camera and start teasing your self with photos of the spring/summer collection of the Swiss lakes that are worth of a beauty contest!
Here’s our top 14 contestants in arbitrary order!
Caumasee
Caumasee has a unique atmosphere among the lakes in Switzerland and radiates stunning beauty! In summer it gets quite crowded with fans of swimming, chilling out or sunbathing but out of the peak season it is a peaceful place to contemplate. In summer be ready to pay for the entrance. Alternatively you can have a hike around the lake without entering the sun bathing areas. It’s accessible by a cable car that slowly descents the mountain. The view on the way up & down is charming as you zoom out & in of the surrounding forest.
Bachalpsee
Bachalpsee is a jewel in the Bernese Alps reachable just in one hour on foot from Grindelwald First. It is an easy hike and worth multifold the effort! When we visited, it was quite foggy and the local cows were our guides. They were quite disciplined and well mannered as they walked in a straight sideline allowing hikers to pass by and they even don’t mind taking a few photos of them! 😉
Trübsee
Trübsee situated on the way to Mount Titlis, and accessible from the middle cable car station on the way up. We made a stop here for an attempt of a romantic gesture – rowing a boat in the middle of the Trübsee 😊
Boats are available to the public for a symbolic contribution that one can leave in a box set there.
Schwellisee
Schwellisee, this beautiful mountain lake in the Arosa Alps of Switzerland, stunned us with its turquoise water 😍
Usually we wish for sunny weather, but the intense clouds on the day we visited gave such an amazing reflection on the water as if a giant hand drew the surrounding mountains on its surface 🎨.
Not one picture can capture such a beauty. So when you visit, have sufficient time on your hands to relax on the multiple benches distributed around, absorb the mesmerising surroundings and make friends with the cows wondering around.
Schwellisee is easily reachable in about 1/2 h from Hörnli valley station or 1 hr max from Arosa center.
Lungernsee
Lungernsee has a fantastic turquoise colour, and it’s said that the water is even drinkable! We didn’t try though 😉 It is a mountain lake that was formed by a dam. Thanks to the regular wind the lake has many fans among yachtsmen and windsurfers.
Lac Léman
Lac Léman (or lake Geneva) is where our beloved Geneva is nested. It is truly a beautiful and large lake that carries its waters along some of the unique places in Switzerland like Lavaux Vineyards, cities of Geneva, Lausanne, Vevey & Montreux. The viewing spots are endless on the lake, and our favorite is the hills of Lavaux.
Blausee
Blausee might not have a very original name “blue lake” but it reflects the beautifully magical color of its waters. It is very known and thus very popular and can get crowded during the high season. But so worth it to make a trip and visit.
As the legend goes, the Blue Lake is of deep blue colour, in eternal memory of the love of the maiden who died of a broken heart and whose eyes were deep blue.
Lake Brienz and lake Thun
Lake Brienz and lake Thun are 2 twins lakes in Switzerland and both are a stone away from Interlaken. There are so many view points to visit around them, which are by themselves breathtaking destinations: Brienzer Rothorn, Thun Castle, Giessbach waterfall, and many more.
Lago Maggiore
Lago Maggiore spreads its waters across Italian part of Switzerland and the North of Italy. Locarno, Ascona and Brissago are some of the towns that nestles on Lago Maggiore. The lake and its towns gives more of a Mediterranean feel.
Oeschinensee
If you love to swim, or to hike or to row, or simply a nature lover you can definitely enjoy yourself here! Lake Oeschinen is a pristine mountain lake, fed by the several glacial brooks of the three-thousand-meter peaks around (Blüemlisalp, Oeschinenhorn, Fründenhorn and Doldenhorn).
The area around the Oeschinen lake is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Jungfrau Aletsch. Impressive natural features, numerous hikes with incredible vistas, clean water, and countless waterfalls… A No miss!
Lake Lugano
Lake Lugano is gorgeous and it carries its waters between the steep wooded mountains that shore it. It is an experience to take a boat and go around the lake and make a stop or two at one of the grottos or to visit the village of Gandria. Read more about an ideal week-end around this beautiful lake in our article about Lugano!
Lake Zurich
We can’t skip lake Zurich as it nests the biggest Swiss city – Zurich, and another famous medieval town of Rapperswil. The lake is warming up in summer up to 20 degrees and swimming in one of the badis is a popular activity by locals.
Lake Lucerne
Have you heard of Lake Lucerne? Or wait… maybe you heard about Vierwaldstättersee which is its name in German or lac des Quatre-Cantons in French? The lake borders 4 cantons in Switzerland: Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden and Lucerne, and hence the name of “4 forested settlements” or 4 cantons lake. The lake nestles multiple touristic attractions like several spa and bathing resorts such as Weggis or Gersau, panoramic mountains like Rigi, Pilatus, Bürgenstock, Stanserhorn, Buochserhorn, and the two legends, the Urirotstock and the Fronalpstock. The steepest cog railway in the world was built here from Alpnachstad to Mount Pilatus in the 19th century. Even Mark Twain contributed to the shining of this area by describing an ascent to Rigi.
So that’s our spring/summer collection of most beautiful lakes in Switzerland! And the winner is….. Well, we are not going to get into ranking! Rather that all these lakes are worth a visit this coming season, so take your photo bucket list and tick the most you can ! But don’t forget to take the time, to sit there, contemplate and soak in all that beauty, that’s the real prize!
