Walk between Morges and St-Prex near Geneva, and a Steamboat Ride

(DAY1 of 3-day trip to Geneva region)

Thursday July 31, 2025 -- Every year we try to leave our city for a couple of days during the festivities surrounding our August 1st celebration of Swiss Confederacy.... because the noise of private individuals setting off fireworks in residential areas nearby at all times of day and night for three days is too much noise for me to bear. Our preference would be to overnight in the mountains somewhere, but the weather doesn't much play along. So one solution is to go to one of our neighbouring countries where they don't celebrate this....

Additionally, this time the only place with decent weather forecast was for the far west of the country near Geneva and Lac Léman (the actual name for Lake Geneva), where we seldom get to as it is too far for day trips and not interesting enough to justify overnight costs. But as this is close to the French border, it was a perfect reason to discover the area while also staying two nights in much cheaper accommodations in France. (We chose the city of Annemasse, as it is easy access from Geneva and the railway line is covered by our train passes).

So for the first day on our way to the border, we decided on an 11-km walk along the north shore of Lake Geneva, from Morges to St-Prex in Canton Vaud, a small village which Urs had long wanted to see. From St-Prex we hopped the steamboat for a two-hour ride to Coppet near Geneva, and headed off to Annemasse for our first night in France. 

PART I: Hike from Morges to St-Prex

As the full journey from home to Annemasse across the border would have been a 4½-hour trip, we selected to stop along the way after 3½ hours in Morges to walk an 11-km stretch of National Trail no.3: "Alpine Panorama Trail" of which we have done most stretches in the northern part of the country, but nothing yet in the southwest. We had lots of sunshine and breeze along the lake, and later lots of shade in the forest as we followed the course of the Boiron River, before descending to St-Prex.

Main street in Morges. We got to the city at 10:45, after leaving home at 7:20, so less than 3½ hours.

At the east end of the main street is the large Protestant church called "Temple de Morges", which we had a look at. The original church here was from the 14th Century, but this structure was built between 1769 and 1771.  

There are many buildings made of sandstone here. This is City Hall, or "Hotel de Ville" in the local French language. 

At the west end of the old town and near the lake is the "Chateau de Morges", which features a military exhibit, especially related to the war of independence which the Vaudois won against the Bernese in 1798. 

We then headed into the "Parc de l'Independence" where we found a nice bench in the shade and enjoyed the views of the lake for a while. 

A nice bench in the shade (it was a hot day none-the-less, so shade was welcome). We spent 20 minutes here. 

There was a HUGE flock of birds on the lake, which turned out to be cormorants! I've only ever seen maximum 5 or 6 at a time, so this was incredible! Apparently, they have become a nuisance, though. 

VIDEO:

Flight of the Cormorants on Lac Léman

Heading off from the Morges docks is a steamboat called the "Vevey". This same ship passed us later on the boat we took from St-Prex, heading toward the French shore of Lac Léman. 

Loads and loads of cormorants. 

Some sort of regatta?

At 11:50 we left the park and crossed the Morges River (canal) heading southwest along the lakeshore for the start of our hike to St-Prex. 

Having gotten to Morges at 10:45, we spent an hour walking around the city, then sitting on a shady park bench admiring the lake. After a section along the lakeshore, we followed the course of the Boiron River and descended to St-Prex from the north. All of this is along Trail no.3: Alpine Panorama Trail. 

The first 2½ kilometers of the walk was along the lakeshore of Lac Léman. 

At the delta where the Boiron River enters the lake, the trail continues along the flow of the river for 3½ kilometers along another themed trail called the "Trout Trail", created by the "Léman Trout Association" to help people get a better appreciation of nature and the fragile river ecosystems. (Panels along the way with various interesting subjects). 

We very much enjoyed the 3½ kilometers along the Boiron River Trail because it was, in effect, a hot day, a bit muggy, and the forest provided lovely cool shade. 

This darling little European Robin stayed close by for a "photo-shoot"!

The trail was also interesting with winding paths, lots of bridges, lush forest vegetation, even a couple of tunnels under the railway line. 

Plus it's always nice to walk along waterways for a couple of hours.... 

We are walking along National Trail no.3: "Alpine Panorama Trail", as well as No.4: "Via Jakobi" (St.James Trail / Camino de Santiago)

More bridges

We startled a heron

More bridges..... 

At 2:45 p.m. we got to the outskirts of the village of St-Prex, to this medieval church called "L'église reformée Notre-Dame de Saint-Prex" (actually a protestant church). 

An information panel outside the church describes the evolution of the building, which started as a Welsh-Roman mausoleum in the 4th Century, then a funeral chapel in the 5th Century, a country church dedicated to the Virgin Mary from the 7th to 10th Centuries, a Romanesque building in the 12th Century with a square tower whose small windows still exist, a Gothic building in the 15th Century, and then renovations in 1912 and 1980. 

Cute little guy lounging under the main door!

Above the door in the sandstone lintel was carved a date of 1663

You could definitely feel the Romanesque "ambiance" here. Lofty and very simple. 

The modern organ looks rather out of place here!

And a very beautiful ceiling!

Details inside the church. In particular I thought the carved wooden chandeliers to be rather pretty. 

VIDEO:

As it turns out, there just happened to be someone in the church practicing on the organ:

From in front of the church we can see over the roofs of Saint-Prex and the castle tower. 

Below us is the town gate, which we are headed to next. 

We got to the town gate at 3 p.m. 

First shop sells specialties, so we had to have a look.... 

Urs had to get his ice cream, whereas I admired the stencilled cow bells. 

Cute little details within the little town of Saint-Prex as we walk up and down the alleyways. 

This little town even has a castle: „Château de Saint Prex“.  It is currently in private ownership. 

View from the lakeside park to the mountains across the lake in France. 

We still had time to return into the village before our 15:35 ship arrived. 

Now that's a pretty cool lamp. 

View up the main street toward the town gate. The flag for Canton Vaud is the green-white flag with the words "Liberté et Patrie". 

Lots of interesting buildings. 

We had a quick look at the garden patio of the "Café du Manoir". The tree is apparently 300 years old. 

What our 11-km walk looks like on Google Satellite Maps

PART II: Steamboat ride on the „Italie“, from Saint-Prex to Coppet 

Generally I am not much of a fan of boat rides, but as we couldn’t check in to our rented studio apartment until after 5 p.m., it was a way to kill time. The hills around Lake Geneva (Lac Léman) are low and less interesting than Lake Lucerne, but there are old towns with castles to admire, and the boat even crosses the lake to Yvoire in France. We didn’t ride all the way to Geneva, but got out in Coppet, from where we caught the train.

It's 3:30 p.m. now, and our boat is coming....

The steamboat which we are boarding is named the "Italie". It came from Morges and is on its way to Geneva. 

VIDEO:

Getting ready to board the Steamboat "Italie"

A view back at the village of Saint-Prex as our boat heads out onto the lake. 

Sitting outside was pretty cold, so we found a nice place in a small room on the upper deck, and enjoyed a very good cup of coffee! 

There are no mountains here like in Central Switzerland, but many small villages, lots of vineyards, and a castle once in a while. 

The next place where the boat is docking is at the town of Rolle, with its beautiful castle. 

The sun appeared to light up the Rolle castle quite nicely before docking. 

Docking at the town of Rolle at 4 p.m. 

From Rolle, the boat crosses the lake to the south shore, which is in France. Crossing back from the French side is the "Vevey" steamboat, which is the one we saw when we were sitting in the park in Morges. 

Crossing Lac Léman from the Swiss side to the French side, headed to the town of Yvoire. 

The 13th Century „Château d'Yvoire“ looms above the village right at the lakeshore. 

Docking at the village of Yvoire. The line-up of people waiting to get on this boat stretches all the way to the back!

Wow, look at all these people! Lots of people got off the boat here as well. It seems to be a popular tourist destination for people visiting Geneva. 

Back on the Swiss side, the boat now docks at Nyon, which also has a castle. 

And now the boat heads to Coppet, where we have decided to get out after two hours on the boat. (The boat continues to Geneva for another hour, but that was too long for me). The view from the left side of the boat is of Mont Salève, which is Geneva's "house mountain". There is a cable-car up to the top, and it was our plan for the next day to go up there. 

Passing along the shoreline of Coppet as the boat heads to the dock!

It is always fascinating to watch the paddle-wheels in the steamboats. 

This is the trajectory we traveled on the steamboat from St-Prex to Coppet, after having walked 11 kilometers from Morges to St-Prex. 

PART III: Coppet near Geneva to Annemasse in France

We got to Coppet at 5:30 p.m. and planned to take the 18:11 train via Geneva to Annemasse across the border in France. That gave us some time to look at the small village before heading to the train station 10 minutes above the lakeshore. Our train pass covers the railway line to Annemasse, so we didn’t have to buy extra tickets. It was a four-minute walk from the station to our studio, which looks out on a pedestrian court with several restaurants. After some difficulty finding the key to access the apartment, we spent a quiet night with surprisingly no loud music or cigarette smoke from the pub below… 

At 5:30 p.m. we disembarked at the dock in Coppet. The steamboat continues from here to Geneva, another hour from here. 

Main street in Coppet. First thing we did was visit the church, of course. This is called the "Temple de Coppet", currently a Protestant church, but originally built for a Dominican Monastery in the 15th Century. 

Details of the inside of the Coppet church. At the time of the Reformation, the "Catholic Aspects" were removed, but the building still retains traces of its 15th Century Gothic construction, including the choir benches and the stained glass windows. Even though it has a large and newer organ above the entrance, the small organ near the altar looks older. 

Chocolate shop on main street, Coppet. 

Main street view from the other side. 

Urs likes the arched and covered alleyways, which we see quite often in the western part of Switzerland. So we walked here twice. (People smoking is somewhat annoying, though). 

So much character in this one street!

Heading back to the arched covered alleyway along the main road. 

Coppet has a castle as well. The town of Coppet and its castle were founded in 1280, but the original castle was burned down by the Bernese in a conquest of this region in 1536. The castle in this form was built in the late 1600's. It can be visited on guided tours, of which we would have been too late now anyway. 

(As a side note, here is an aerial view of the Coppet Castle, from their website: https://www.chateaudecoppet.ch/le-chateau.html)

Waiting for the 18:11 train in the Coppet station, for the 40-minute trip to Annemasse. 

West end of Lake Léman showing the excursion we did this day. 

The train crosses the Rhône River where it leaves Lac Léman on the west end of Geneva. On the right, the Arve River enters the Rhône River here at "La Jonction".  

A different view of Mont Salève as we get close to the French border. This is Geneva's house mountain, but is located in France. We are planning to take the cable-car up there the next day. 

Arriving at the Annemasse station at 18:47. This is a fairly new train station, which now offers better connections along the south side of Lac Léman, as well as to the popular tourist destation of Annecy in France. 

Gare d'Annemasse in France. From here it's a short walk to our rented studio. 

Square in front of the Annecy train station, with a little cabin from the Mont Salève cable-way (an advertisement!)

This is what our little studio basically looked like. The photos are from the Booking.com listing by the owner. It was a nice little place, especially the large balcony. Only the fridge was quite loud. 

Two stories below our balcony on the ground floor was a pub with a large outdoor patio. Surprisingly, there was no loud music playing, and if people were smoking, the smell didn't reach us! It was a car-free square with many eating establishments (including a bakery bottom left), and all we heard was the noise of various conversations. 

And to our west is the summit of Mont Salève, which we want to visit the next day. 

Location of the stretch along Lac Léman where we did this day' excursion.