Swiss Travel Pass – boat trips on Lake Geneva
A traveler is planning a boat trip from Geneva to Lausanne and is confused about the terms 'boat' and 'cruise', specifically regarding the Swiss Travel Pass and CGN services. They also seek advice on route and schedule clarity, including whether they can take photos on deck and if the Mouettes are included in the transport options.
- The Swiss Travel Pass covers boat services operated by CGN, including the route from Geneva to Lausanne, so no extra ticket is needed for that.
- N1, N2, and N3 are year-round commuter routes, but schedule times may vary, so it’s best to check the latest timetables.
- On CGN boats, passengers can move around freely and enjoy views from the outer deck, and seating is generally first-come, first-served.
AI-generated summary-
Hello! Quite confused with the terms ‘boat’ and ‘cruise’. Does Swiss Travel Pass cover cruises under CGN? Understand that STP cover all public boats services. The plan would be to go from Geneva (Mont blanc) to Lausanne on a Thursday. I’m having trouble understanding the maps/schedules provided on the website (http://www.cgn.ch/en/horaires-billets). What are these N1-N3 and the Lausanne-Geneva PDF seems to show the same PDF as the Geneva-Geneva.
It would also be great if you could recommend any nice route from Geneva-Lausanne with great views on a boat/cruise etc.
Other questions:
– Is the ‘cruise’ schedule the same as the ‘ship’ schedule under SBB?
– Does STP cover Mouettes (‘yellow water taxi’)?
Thank you!
-
Try not to think of the lake steamers on the large lakes in Switzerland as ‘Cruises’. A ‘cruise’ ship in English usually refers to a long distance tourist sea or river journey over multiple days, or a specific short distance boat to a special location or for a special purpose (eg a reservation only dining cruise).
The regular boat services on all the major Swiss lakes are just like bus services only on water, and they are used by locals, commuters and tourists. This is why on here we tend to use the word ‘boats’
Specifically for Lake Geneva (Lac Leman)
1) CGN operates the boat services – mostly as per the above. Their lines N1,N2 and N3 are all year round commuter routes. Stupidly, CGN does not show anything other than the current winter timetable which makes planning difficult.
2) Geneva – Lausanne is a long way by boat so there are not many services per day. There are two (10.45 and 14.45 from Geneva) in the mid summer period
see: http://www.fahrplanfelder.ch/fileadmin/fap_pdf_fields/2023/3150.pdf
2) The |Mouettes are part of the Unireso tarif for Geneva, so they act like buses
Thank you! How about recommendations for short boat trips within Lake Geneva? Are there any other boats to take that can allow us to enjoy the scenery and popular spots from Lake Geneva?
Also just to clarify, the trip from Geneva-Lausanne that you shared, do passenger have to be seated or are we able to go out and take photos/admire scenery at the outer deck? I’d imagine this would just be a normal transportation back to Lausanne and not a touristy type of transport. Do correct me if I’m wrong.
Hi bxrb9,
Welcome to MySwissAlps.
If you have limited time, I recommend the boat trip from Nyon to Yvoire on the French side of Lake Geneva. You can get to Nyon directly from Geneva with the train. The whole journey takes roughly 1 hour (train + boat) and is fully covered by the Swiss Travel Pass: https://www.myswissalps.com/swisstravelpass/validity. There is no need to book seats in advance. It’s generally free seating. The upper deck is usually for 1st class. Most people travel 2nd class and it’s comfortable enough.
You can find other boat trip options here: http://www.myswissalps.com/boatlakegeneva
Regards,
Anna
On all lake boats on the major lakes in Switzerland, you can sit where ever there is a space, and / or walk around as you wish. The upper deck is usually 1st class, the rest 2nd class. On paddle steamers people like to take a moment to stand inside and watch the steam engines whirling round driving the paddles, or visit the bar.
If you study the bottom part of page 2/3 and the page 3/3 in the official timetable PDF I linked you will see that you can do shorter trips at the Geneve end of the lake, for example you can leave Geneve at 12.35 to Yvoire via Hermance (south side of lake )
or you can take the boat at 10.45 heading for Lausanne at and get off in time to pick up the boat coming from Lausanne towards Geneve. For example you could go Geneve – Coppet – Nyon – Yvoire (north then south side of lake). If you stay in Yvoire you could catch a different steamer back to Geneve
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