La Suisse celebrating 100 years on Lake Geneva, in 2010
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Swiss Navigation Day Sunday 29 April comes with some of the best deals in ages for travel on Lake Geneva.
The CGN, which owns the fleet of Lake Geneva steamers as well as the Navibus lake commuter fleet, will be offering up to one-third off regular ticket prices for the day, so a day ticket for a CFF half-price card owner will be only CHF20, for example. Children pay CHF10 and first class will be CHF30 instead of CHF90 for the day.
The Simplon will make a Geneva-Lausanne roundtrip excursion, with a stop in Yvoire. The La Suisse steamboat will do the trip from Lausanne to the beautiful Lavaux terraced vineyards, one of CGN’s most popular trips.
The company will have gourmet cruises and for those with a more modest budget the menu for the day is CHF20, children’s dish CHF113.50.
Arriving in Yvoire (click on image to view larger). Photo, ©2012 CGN
NYON, SWITZERLAND – Poor Yvoire in France, locked in on its lake side by a frozen dock most of the month of February! Those chilly moments are well behind us, says the CGN Lake Geneva boat company, which is operating additional boats on its NaviMobilité number 3 ferry line this weekend, between Nyon and Yvoire.
The fine weather expected and the thousands of extra tourists in the region for the car show in Geneva and other events has prompted the CGN to have 10 crossings Saturday and Sunday, 10 and 11 March.
The CGN was obliged to stop landings in Yvoire from 1-24 February due to the ice along the lakefront and dock.
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – It’s been 70 years since Lake Geneva has seen five elegant steamboats crossing the lake regularly. The return Sunday 12 June of the Simplon, which has undergone major renovation work, is the latest sign of the CGN’s (Compagnie Générale de Navigation) successful efforts to get more people onto the water in summer. The boat is part of the new summer schedule that goes into effect Sunday.
The Simplon made her new debut as part of the lake boats parade in Rolle 5 June, attended by 10,000 people, according to the CGN.
Newly restored 1920 steamer, Simplon, making her new debut on Lake Geneva, June 2011
The new summer schedule features not only the return of the newly elegant 1920 Simplon, but 90 crossings a day between France and Switzerland on the four NaviBoat public transport lines: N1 Lausanne – Evian (35 minutes), N2 Lausanne – Thonon (27
minutes), N3 Nyon – Yvoire (20 minutes) and N4 Nyon – Chens (20
minutes).
The Simplon, for her part, will make the “Majestic promenade” cruise daily from Geneva to Lausanne and back by way of Evian, stopping at Yvoire. The Rhone boat will do the trip in the other direction, daily starting 5 July, but will also do an evening short cruise, Lausanne to Yvoire and back, for CHF49, including a cold meal.
Lake Geneva steamboats parade in Rolle 5 June (photo, CGN)
The Rhone, built in 1929, was refurbished over the winter and first class passengers in particular can enjoy velour seats like the original ones.
The Simplon’s restoration features a transformed first class lounge with carpeting that is an exact copy of the 1920 original, maple furniture and bronze fittings.
The steamer’s mechanical parts were completely dismantled and repaired for the first time in its history and the engine is once again its original black colour. Windows have been added to the bridge that allow travellers to see the massive pistons at work.
The three other Belle Epoque boats have the following assignments this summer:
- La Suisse, 1910: Swiss Riviera, including the Lavaux vineyards and the Chateau de Chillon, fine cuisine option
- Le Montreux, 1904: Lausanne-Chateau de Chillon and back during the day, with Lausanne Palace chefs cooking a sunset cruise feast
- Le Savoie, 1914: fine cuisine cruises with Geneva chef Philippe Chevrier at noon and in the evening; afternoon cruises between Geneva and Yvoire.
Ed. note: The Swiss Family Boat pass is worth considering if you’re taking children, with parents traveling for half-price and two accompanied children under 16 free.
Click on images to view larger
Le Simplon will rejoin the CGN fleet on Lake Geneva 14 May after a year of renovations
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The CGN boat company kicks off spring Sunday 17 April when its full fleet takes to the water on Lake Geneva.
The 2011 schedule features more than 80 commuter crossings a day between France and Switzerland on the NaviMobilite system, which has four public transport lines.
Three steamboats will run on the lake this year: La Suisse, the grande dame of the fleet, the newly renovated Le Simplon, back in mid-May after a year in the boatyard, and Le Savoie.
Two special crossings worth noting are the Friday night Asian buffets on boats from Geneva, Lausanne and Morges, and two of the Belle Epoque steamboats will offer a special Lausanne-Chateau du Chillon cruise that focuses on the vineyards of Lavaux, a Unesco World Heritage site.
Note that for the time being boats are not able to dock in St Sulpice and Bellevue due to low lake water levels.
The summer schedule operates from 7 June on.
New 2011 spring schedule: note that the spring schedule is listed under autumn in English
Swiss family boat pass, with special family rates, on the rates/prices page
Lake Geneva's boats have bluer skies, fairer weather ahead
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The CGN boat company that runs Lake Geneva’s Belle Epoque paddlewheelers as well as commuter ferries will be able to stay afloat, literally, thanks to a decision by canton Vaud to create a holding company. The compromise solution to the company’s financial difficulties appear to be acceptable to its partners, neighbouring cantons, as well as employees.
The Compagnie générale de navigation was faced earlier this year with difficulties in making payments because of a CHF8 million loss that was the result of covering its pension plan.
La Suisse, 100 years old, queen of the Belle Epoque fleet on Lake Geneva
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Lake Geneva’s collection of beautiful, popular but aging paddlewheelers, the largest in Europe, will need significant funds in future years to keep them running. Key players in the operation of the fleet met in Lausanne Thurday 26 August, where local authorities agreed to make a commitment to support the Belle Epoque boats over the long term.
The CGN (Compagnie Générale de la Navigation), which owns the boats, has said restoration work on at least two of the boats, the Vevey and the Ville-de-Genève, will require heavy investments, as will maintaining the boatyard. The company met Thursday with canton Vaud officials, the association of Vaud communes, the local heritage association, local employers and unions, to seek solutions to a number of complex problems. Greater use of CGN boats by commuters and tourists will require public transport and parking solutions, for example, and local communes are implicated in maintaining docking facilities.
The recent renovation of La Suisse, which has been celebrating its centenary on the lake during the summer of 2010, has made the boat a popular tourist attraction.
CGN staff have additional safety work trying to discourage teenagers from playing around the big boats and to educate the public about the dangers of coming close to them or swimming in their docking areas
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch.com) - The paddlewheelers of the CGN boat company that offer tourists and residents pleasure cruises around the lake have been playing an additional role in recent days, that of rescuer.
Storms and high winds on Lake Geneva have caught sailors and others by surprise, and Saturday 17 July one of the large craft intervened for the third time since the summer season opened in mid-June, during 15 dramatic moments.
A small boat 300 metres out from Cully began to sink and the two men on board were desperately trying to bail out the water and to fight strong, gusting winds when the Général-Guisan paddlewheeler spotted them. It turned, slowed down and gently came alongside, offering to take them on board.
La Suisse, 100 years old, queen of the Belle Epoque fleet on Lake Geneva
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The summer schedule for the CGN boat company‘s tourist lake cruises goes into effect Sunday. The list of cruises and special outings is available online starting Friday 11 June. They range from short crossings to day-long cruises, as well as special offers such as fine dining and fireworks trips. La Suisse, which just celebrated its 100th birthday with fanfare, is the queen of the Belle Epoque steamboats, the largest collection of these in the world, and Sunday she begins to steam across the lake on regular excursions, three times a day.
Summer offers include all children under age six traveling for free and the Swiss Family Boat Pass that allows one parent to pay half price and their children under 16 to travel free.
GenevaLunch feature on Lake Geneva cruises and the growing Naviboat commuter fleet.
Crowds for EPFL open house, Geneva wines Open Day and CGN party to celebrate steamboat’s 100 years
Hands-on science lessons during EPFL open house in Lausanne
Update 18:20 Geneva / Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The first weekend after the two long spring holiday weekends are always filled with events in the Lake Geneva region, and 2010 was no exception. The crowds turned out again for the Geneva wines Open Day Saturday 29 May, with English-speakers taking part (Ed. note: the Tribune de Geneve carries an article about the number of expats present and interviews one who after eight years in the city speaks two words of French, which has prompted negative comments).
It is hard to calculate how many people turned out, says Denis Beausoleil, director of the Geneva cantonal wine office, but clearly it was in the thousands, and this year the weather was perfect, not too warm, and the small amount of overcrowding and drunkeness that marred a couple previous Open Days seems to have disappeared. “It was a day that reflected the vintage, the excellent 2009 wine!” says Beausoleil. The 2009 harvest is generally reckoned to be one of the best in years, and the Open Day provided consumers a chance to sample the goods.
This is the first year wine producers have tried a system where visitors pay CHF5 for their glass, but they can keep the same glass for the day. The feedback from wineries is that the system worked well.
EPFL packs in visitors
La Suisse, queen of the Belle Epoque fleet on Lake Geneva, celebrates her 100th birthday in style
Two out of the ordinary events took place that also attracted crowds. EPFL, the polytechnic institute near Lausanne, held its first open house in seven years to give the public an opportunity to visit its new Rolex Learning Center, but also to see firsthand the multitude of physical changes taking place on the campus, and to explore its growing number of programmes. The university estimates that some 25,000 people visited during the two days, Saturday and Sunday. Sixteen centres, with 1,200 staff and student volunteers explained some of EPFL’s strong points, such as its nanotechnology work, the Blue Brain project, work on robots and architecture. The open house brought to an end a week-long official inauguration for the Rolex Learning Center.
Nearby, in Lausanne, La Suisse, a beautiful old steamboat and one of the gems of the CGN Belle Epoque fleet that is the world’s largest, celebrated her 100th birthday Sunday, after a colourful Saturday in Geneva and an evening cruise up to the other end of the lake. Hundreds took advantage of the celebrations for short tours on the boat, which was dressed up in the outfit it wore its first day out in 1910: flags from all the cantons and 30 masts.
La Suisse will operate on the upper end of the lake from 13 June to 12 September, stopping at: Lausanne, Pully, Lutry, Cully, Rivaz, Vevey, Clarens, Montreux, Chillon, Villeneuve, Le Bouveret and St Gingolph.
A new logo, fresh coat of paint and ID as a commuter boat on Lake Geneva
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The CGN (Compagnie Générale de la Navigation) has painted its commuter boats dark blue, given them their own logo with an identity that will be used for signs on quays and elsewhere, and created a web site that also works well on commuters’ iPhones.
The four cross-border lines have been colour-coded and given numbers, like other public transport bus, train and tram lines. Welcome aboard the new NaviMobilité system!
For the more than 1.22 million commuters in the Lake Geneva region who used the seven fast service boats in 2009, the clearer focus on their needs will be undoubtedly be welcome. The new website, navimobilite.ch, offers schedules, prices and practical information far more quickly and easily than in the past, for the four cross-border routes, with up to 92 runs a day between France and Switzerland:
Lake Geneva boats connect France with Vaud and Geneva in Switzerland
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Boat trips on Lake Geneva will go up by 5.5 percent in 2011, the CGN (Compagnie Générale de la Navigation) has announced, with smaller price increases on the Lausanne-Thonon line starting 1 June 2010. The 2011 ticket prices go into effect 12 December 2010, when Swiss public transport companies put new rates into effect. The Swiss federal government ordered public transport companies to delay price hikes in 2009, with the result that in 2010-11 they will be steeper than usual. The CGN says its increase is slightly under the average for Swiss public transport companies.
The CGN distinguishes between its tourist boats and public transport, with plans to develop more public transport in the next few years. The company’s traffic on the lake has grown steadily since 2002: from 1.37 to 1.85 million in 2009.
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Commuters who take CGN boats between Nyon in Switzerland and Chens or Yvoire in France are out of luck Tuesday, with high winds on Lake Geneva forcing the boats to remain docked. The Thonon-Lausanne line is also not operating, although Evian-Lausanne is, with bus service between Thonon and Evian. The winds, gusting up to 100kph, are not the problem for the boats, but docking properly is, according to the company.
Weather forecast: high winds are expected to continue until Thursday, when they will die down to low to moderate. Cold temperatures will continue, with the high in Geneva expected to be -1C and -14C at 2,000 metres altitude. MeteoSwiss
To check for updates: CGN
Consumer use of Lake Geneva boats on the rise
Leaving Lausanne, a CGN boat's trail in Lake Geneva
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Thonon-Lausanne CGN (Compagnie Générale de Navigation) boats are now accepting season tickets for the Evian-Lausanne route, the company announced Tuesday 23 February, as part of its new prices and schedules for 2010. An annual pass on the Thonon-Lausanne line, increasingly used by commuters, is CHF2,916 (€2,010 approximately), second class. The pass can be combined with the Mobilis zone 11 and 12 cards for buses, trams and metros in the Lausanne area, at a lower than normal rate.
The boats leave once an hour during peak times, morning and evening, and the trip takes 27 minutes.
Details, CGN
Direct to France, less than half an hour away
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The fast boat service that connects Lausanne with Thonon, Haute Savoie in neighbouring France is one year old. The Compagnie Generale de Navigation (CGN) says that traffic increased 19 percent in 2009, more than 125,000 more passengers, compared to 2008.
The company offers 18-24 crossings a day, depending on the season, on the Lausanne-Thonon route. It has up to 70 daily crossings that connect the four French towns of Chens, Yvoire, Thonon and Evian, with Nyon and Lausanne in Switzerland.
It takes 27 minutes to cross the lake in the Navibus, compared to a 90-minute car ride. A full-price roundtrip ticket costs CHF12.70. The CGN estimates that the same trip by car costs CHF110.
Title: New Year’s Eve lake cruises
Location: Lake Geneva
Link out: Click here
Description: New Year’s Eve lake cruises from Vevey, Montreux, Le Bouveret, Villeneuve (haut lac), Lausanne, and Geneva with on-board dinner and party. The haut lac cruises will see the Vevey fireworks display.
Adults CHF199, children 10-16 years, CHF99, children 6-9 CHF49, under 6 free. Cruise includes meal, wine, water, tea, coffee and midnight champagne.
Reservations absolutely recommended: Infoline +41 (0)848 811 848 – www.cgn.ch
Check individual ports for exact sailing times. Enjoy! Happy New Year!
Start Time: 19:30
Date: 2009-12-31
Recently renovated La Suisse paddleboat, Ouchy-Lausanne
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The CGN (Compagnie 
Générale de Navigation) has fully subscribed the additional capital it wanted to raise, CHF2 million, to ensure the renovation of one of its Belle Epoque boats, the Simplon. The money allows it to also set aside a provision for work on another paddleboat, the Italie.
The group is 80 percent owned by 10,000 small investors, with 40 communes who use its services making up the difference. Cantons Geneva, Valais and Vaud provide loans for major renovations of the fleet and they contribute an annual fee for the services CGN provides.
Cash to make the paddles go round
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The three cantons that subsidize Compagnie Générale de Navigation (CGN) operations on Lake Geneva have advanced funding for the 2010 budget to the tune of some CHF7 million, reports Le Temps 4 November. CGN issued a terse press release in which it said only that its CEO Kurt Oesch had met the government ministers from Vaud, Geneva and Valais who are responsible for funding the boat transport company. (The French département of Haute Savoie contributes about CHF1m a year as well).
Le Temps reports that one of the solutions being mooted may include financial help from the Swiss government.
CGN - no need for life boats
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The Compagnie Générale de Navigation (CGN), which operates pleasure boats and regular boat service on Lake Geneva is not close to bankruptcy, says its managing director, Luc-Antoine Baehni. There is, he states, no reason to suggest the company is going through financially difficult times. “There is no crisis”, he told GenevaLunch, when asked about a report in Le Matin Dimanche 13 September that suggests CGN might be going under, as Swissair did.
The newspaper bases its conclusions on an audit of the company made at the request of the three cantons that subsidize CGN operations: Geneva, Valais and Vaud. The audit was an investigation of the company’s administration.
Title: Special cruise from Lausanne to Thonon
Location: Lausanne and Thonon
Link out: Click here
Description: Attend the oldest fair in France and get there by boat. This is the 532 edition of the Thonon fair. CGN offers a cruise from Lausanne to Thonon and back.
Date: 03 Sep 2009
Busy Lake Geneva!
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Lake Geneva’s paddlesteamers and swimmers are not a good mix, a point that the police and CGN boat company would like to put across strongly as summer begins. “This year, we’ll be stricter,” says Claude-Alain Bart of the Vaud Brigade du Lac. New legislation went into effect in January 2009 and police say they will be tougher this summer with lawbreakers who swim in areas where the large boats dock or who go closer than 100 metres to the large craft, either swimming or in smaller boats.
Police and the Compagnie Générale de Navigation (CGN) are starting a public awareness campaign to educate lake-goers on the new safety rules, which are designed to reduce incidents involving swimmers, especially young swimmers, who approach CGN boats near landing docks and potentially put their lives at risk.
La Suisse, renovated steam paddleboat, Lake Geneva 17 May 2009
Lake Geneva (GenevaLunch) - La Suisse, the flagship of the Compagnie Générale de Navigation (CGN), was officially presented to an enthusiastic public Saturday and Sunday 16-17 May after 18 months being completely overhauled. La Suisse transported 3,500 passengers around the lake Saturday from Ouchy and Sunday from Geneva. The excellent weather contributed to the fun.
La Suisse originally entered service in May 1910, built by Sulzer Bros in Winterthur as a coal-fired paddle boat with 1,400 horse power engines.
Title: “La Suisse” returns to Lake Geneva
Location: Lake Geneva region
Link out: Click here
Description: “La Suisse” a traditional steam boat first put into service on Lake Geneva in 1910, returns to Ouchy-Lausanne and Geneva. Special discounts apply for the inaugural cruise.
Start Date: 16 May 2009
End Date: 17 May 2009
Title: Swiss navigation day: unlimited boat travel
Location: Lake Geneva region
Link out: Click here
Description: Sunday 26 April is Swiss navigation day and the CGN is offering unlimited boat travel in Lake Leman. For one day only adults will pay CHF30 and children CHF10. You could depart from Geneva, visit Vevey, hop to France and be back in one day!
The noon cruises offer a sit-down lunch for CHF19.
A great offer to spend your Sunday.
Date: 26 Apr 2009
Wheels down: landing in Geneva
Geneva, Switzerland (TSR, Fre) – Economic crisis or not, we still love to travel, as traffic at Geneva’s Cointrin International Airport made it clear over the Easter holidays: 84,000 passengers flew in or out Easter weekend, the same as for Easter 2008.
The other busy travel area was Lake Geneva, with the opening of the CGN lake boats season: 23,000 people were out on the lake in big boats during the relatively balmy holiday.
photo, ©Catherine Nelson-Pollard, 2007
Lausanne, Switzerland and Thonon-les-bains, France (GenevaLunch) – Lausanne-Thonon has just become an easier commute, with the CGN (Compagnie Générale de Navigation sur le lac Léman) starting regular Navibus service between the two, 15 December 2008.
Geneva, Switzerland (Tribune de Geneva, Fre) – A 20% increase in fuel costs in recent months has led the Compagnie générale de navigation (CGN) to end boat service to six lakeside communities for the 2009 season, reports the Tribune.
