The paddler’s paradise of Switzerland

Words: Guy Dresser

All photos unless stated:
Dave Storey

For a canoeist, there can be few more life-enhancing views than that of the mountains towering over Lake Geneva as you paddle through crystal clear waters half a mile off-shore at Lausanne in the canton of Vaud.

the paddler’s paradise of Switzerland

Surrounded by the Alps on the French side of the lake and the Jura on the other, this really is a paddler’s paradise. This crescent-shaped lake, formed by the Rhone River, forms a majestic blue carpet between Haute-Savoie, the French département some eight miles distant and the tidy Swiss lakeside towns that line Lac Léman, as it’s known to the local French-speaking populace, all the way from Villeneuve to Geneva, some 45 miles away, via Vevey, Montreux and Nyon.

Paddling from Switzerland to France here is possible, though buoyancy aids are compulsory for those who do so, and crossings should always be registered with the nearest harbourmaster, who will helpfully tip off the patrolling rescue boats that motor along the border to keep a wary eye out.

Such is the lake’s size that it offers a multitude of canoeing options, from touring boats, folding kayaks and inflatables, to aspiring slalom competitors weaving around poles in Lausanne, to the more serious groups of racers training in surf skis. There are few racing kayaks to be seen, the lake’s exposed nature and the often strong local wind, the Bise, which blows from the northwest of the lake to the southwest shore, following the edge of the Alps, often makes for sizeable waves, even when the passing wakes of large passenger boats aren’t already stirring up the waters.

In fact, for a land-locked country, sea kayaks are remarkably popular in Switzerland, reflecting both the water conditions of the larger lakes as much as the expeditionary nature of the Swiss, who like nothing better than to get out and about on the water at weekends and during their holidays, often equipped with little more than a tent and some sustenance.

Lake Geneva is just one of more than several thousand lakes in Switzerland though only around 100 are greater than 30 hectares in area and offer interesting enough paddling for the discerning canoeist. They can, however, be found dotted all over the country, and for those who want it, provide many exploration opportunities.

As one might expect in a country where organization is admired and order respected, there are many well-recognized canoe trails, trips and expeditions that can be followed online with helpful advice and tips about campsites, access points and food and provision stores – a great starting point for the visiting paddler is Switzerland Mobility (www.schweizmobil.ch), a website that aims to give the non-motorized traveller everything they need to get around, including by canoe.

Of course, paddlers can simply take to the water independently, and many Swiss do. Although there are just 46 canoe-kayak clubs affiliated to the Swiss Canoe Federation with some 3,500 members, this belies the popularity of watersports here.

Many Swiss store their boats at home and take to the water by themselves, free of access restrictions that apply to powered craft. Access to waterways here is usually open to all, except around nature reserves, which are well marked on touring maps and must always be observed. The authorities may not be omnipresent but a responsible Swiss will always carry out their civic duty by calling the police when they see the rules being infringed, even if it is by an unwary tourist, and a hefty fine can be expected.

Swiss pride

The Swiss are proud of their countryside and justifiably so. Each of the country’s 26 cantons has something to offer canoeists, from lakes large and small to a huge variety of rivers, from the mighty Rhine to the Aare, Rhone, Reuss and Limmat, to name just a few. They each offer different perspectives, from challenging white water tough enough to test the most skilled paddler, to more sedate waterways that attract legions of Swiss every summer, many equipped with no more than an inflatable kayak and a few bottles of beer. Drifting downstream in the summer months is a popular pastime on many rivers, especially around larger towns.

John MacGregor

Switzerland is hardly an unknown destination for canoeists, featuring as it does in the earliest tales of hardy kayak explorers. Scottish lawyer John MacGregor’s travels across Europe with his wooden boat in the late 1800s were famously recounted in his book ‘A Thousand Miles in the Rob Roy Canoe on Rivers and Lakes of Europe’, surely one of the earliest travel books of its kind. It included detailed tales of adventures MacGregor had on the Reuss, the Lakes of Lucerne, Zug and Zurich, and the Rhine.

Were he to undertake his epic voyage again, there is much in Switzerland that MacGregor would still recognize today. His descriptions of the countryside will seem familiar now because in many rural parts of the countryside, little has changed. Superficially it has, there is more traffic and agriculture as described by McGregor is more mechanized these days. But farms are still small and the waters still run clear, while the Swiss remain curious, if still somewhat distant, when approached by a foreign paddler asking for help in broken German.

Briton Dave Storey, head of recreational canoeing for the Swiss Canoe Federation (www.swisscanoe.ch), says that – as John MacGregor found more than 120 years ago – the country has a lot to offer the visiting paddler.

“As a venue for paddling, it’s mind-blowing to come here. You can get very close to nature, enjoy lakes and rivers with all sorts of possibilities for every level of canoeist. There are many places you can only really reach by kayak and it’s good for the expert and the beginner alike.”

Hightide Kayak School

Ten years ago Storey set up Hightide Kayak School on Lake Brienz in the heart of the Bernese Oberland. Based near Interlaken (literally ‘between the lakes’), the company offers courses, tours, rentals and expeditions.

The appeal of Lake Brienz is obvious at first glance – the waters have a strangely attractive turquoise hue due to the sediment washed into the lake by mountain waters from the Lütschine and the Aare rivers. At 260 metres at its deepest point, the lake is also one of the five deepest in Switzerland, and while a capsize will give paddlers a quick lesson in glacial water temperatures, the lake remains paddleable even in the depths of winter.

“We kayak here all year-round, the lake doesn’t freeze in winter and there’s something particularly magical about taking groups of canoeists out on the water when the surrounding land and mountains are completely covered in snow,” says Storey.

glacial rivers

Beyond the lakes, the glacial rivers have much to offer the more determined paddler. The unwary should, however, note that the grading system in Switzerland tends to veer towards the realistic.

“There really is every level of whitewater here, from the nearly unpaddleable to more gentle rapids,” says former Swiss whitewater paddler Heinz Wyss. “When people think of the Alps, they think of seriously fast rivers and they wouldn’t be wrong. Grade 2 rivers in some countries, for instance, tend to be smaller and more forgiving than the Grade 2s here.”

Wyss, a septuagenarian who was a mainstay of the national team in his youth, helped organize the International Canoe Federation’s world whitewater racing championships at Muotathal, in canton Schwyz a year ago.

While rapid racing is no longer part of his daily routine, canoeing remains a family pastime and Wyss is often to be found paddling on rivers and lakes across Switzerland.
“We are blessed here,” observes Wyss. “There is really everything you could want as a canoe paddler. When I was a young man, there was nothing more appealing than challenging your mates to paddle some of the toughest rivers when the winter snow was melting. Nowadays, my canoeing is a little more sedate, and I really enjoy going out on the lakes with my friends and family.”

The Muotathal world championships attracted national television coverage, reflecting strong Swiss interest in all outdoor sports, especially where competitors get very close to nature. More than a year later, canoeing competitions seem to be gaining in entry numbers, especially for surf skis.

A summer series of mid-week 10,000 metre races for surf skis takes place across the northern part of the country, attracting more than 100 contestants and culminating in the grand final on Lake Gruyère, an artificial stretch of water near the eponymous cheese making town.

Created in the 1940s after the construction of the Rossens Damm on the Sarine River, this lake is a popular canoeing location, attracting a wide range of craft from surf skis, sea kayaks, racing kayaks to outriggers and increasing numbers of stand-up paddleboarders.
The sheltered lake has really no waves to speak of at all and the ‘slow surf’ title of the competition doubtless owes more to the organisers’ sense of humour than to the realities of the water conditions.

It should not obscure the rising numbers of surf ski paddlers to be found on Switzerland’s lakes, a growth that arguably reflects the increasing global popularity of ocean racing.

end of season marathon

Arguably the toughest and most well attended long-distance canoe race in the Swiss calendar currently is the end of season marathon, held on Lake Lucerne, or the Vierwaldstättersee (‘four forested sites’, the German name used since the Middle Ages).

Despite the lake’s reputation as a flat and fast course for international rowing regattas, its shape with four arms and many sharp bends means it is exposed in places and so capsizes among the more than 120 competitors on the 26-mile course are not unknown.

The plethora of competitions should not scare off the leisure paddler. Switzerland is a much-loved destination for canoe tourers, and with good reason. The outdoor-loving Swiss understand the needs of paddlers of all kinds, and for the most part are welcoming and friendly, if sometimes appearing a little standoffish initially. Facilities are good and well maintained, camp sites widely available and rivers and lakes remain highly accessible.

In this multi-lingual country, an ability to speak French, German or Italian will always help, especially in rural parts of Switzerland like the canton of Grisons (Graubunden in German) which is home to some of the most spectacular white water in the country and where one is most likely to encounter speakers of Romansh, one of the country’s four national languages. But for the most part, the obvious enthusiasm of a canoeist on a voyage of discovery through Switzerland’s beautiful countryside should prove enough to ensure even the most monolingual paddler can get by.