A beautiful, relatively flat ride out from Geneva into France to visit the beautiful medieval village of Yvoire on the shores of Lac Leman.

Leaving from the flower clock beside Jardin Anglais in central Geneva the route follows the lake shore – just be careful of more casual cyclists and the occasional unaware pedestrian on the bike path.

There’s a short climb up to Vesenaz, before you turn left onto the road to the Swiss border at Hermance. This is a great rolling road, where you can really enjoy the lake views and marvel at the huge villas in the Geneva suburbs.

The road heads gently down to Hermance, where we cross the border and climb sharply upwards and roll on towards Chens-sur-Leman.

You pass through a few more small villages, always following signs for Yvoire. The relatively flat route allows you to get into a nice steady rhythm and the kilometres pass quickly. A nice excursion before arriving in Yvoire is down to the lakeshore at Nernier. This is a left turn only a couple of kilometres before you arrive in Yvoire and takes you to a lovely tiny lakeside village with great views over to the Swiss side of the water.

If you’re doing this ride and have time to spare, then budget for spending a little while in Yvoire. The village dates from the 14th century, and take time to explore the tiny streets and grab a coffee in one of the squares. But try to get there earlyish if you’re coming in summer, as it can get very busy with tourists.

Once refreshed, jump back on the bike and head onwards to Excenevex, where you turn right up a sharp climb away from the lake in the direction of Chevilly. Look back at the top of the climb for excellent views of the Dents du Midi and the surrounding alps.

These are now really quiet lanes with very little traffic, and the route follows the road to the outskirts of Douvaine, passing through small woodlands, and between fields of crops.

Just before Douvaine the route turns to the north and takes you back to Chens-sur-Leman, where we pick up the outward trace in reverse until we get to Hermance.

Here we climb away from the lake, past the tower above the village, and into the fields towards Chevrens. You’re now afforded brilliant vistas out over the lake and towards the Jura mountains. These are super quiet roads, passing through tiny villages, like Corsier and St Maurice.

We arrive back in Vesenaz and once more pick up the cycle path all the way back into Geneva. Once again, careful of joggers, rollerbladers, walkers and anyone else who might accidentally wander onto the bike path. I’ve learnt over many years to just take this final run into Geneva nice and easy, while staying hyper vigilant for any surprises.

There are many buvettes along the lake front where you can finish your ride and admire the Jet d’Eau, and the wonderful lakefront of Geneva.

The Yvoire loop is a lovely couple of hours on the bike, with quiet roads and superb lake and mountain views.

Medieval Yvoire

Put that in your pipe and smoke it …

Col de la Colombière