We’re off ! You will follow small country roads and vineyard paths before stopping for a picnic lunch in the lakeside town of Rolle. Get back on your bike, but relax: You’re on the Swiss riviera and many of the villages along the route will be hosting festivals, concerts and sporting events. Make sure to take your time and get a taste of the local color. We will also pass through the larger city of Lausanne. Consider exploring the lakefront or stop at the Olympic Museum…we pass right in front ! Later in the day we climb through winding roads of the Lavaux wine region. We'll stop at a local cave to taste the regional white wines and then it’s off to our hotel in the small town of Chexbres where you’ll sit and contemplate Lake Geneva and the grape vines below.

Feeling adventurous ? If so, take the steep back roads to our first coffee stop in Chatel St. Denis, otherwise join the rest of us on the more direct route. There is a lot of flexibility on our itinerary if you choose to stray. Once at our coffee spot, grab a slice of dense chocolate cake: we’ve got another 50 kilometers to work up an appetite. Lunch is in the medieval village of Gruyère. Take a tour of the castle or visit the cheese museum before getting back in the saddle to discover the magnificent valleys and giant chalets of the region beyond. Gstaad’s car-free streets are perfect for admiring the surrounding Bernese alps. You’ll come to understand why a long list of celebrities, from Grace Kelly to Tina Turner have made Gstaad their summer home.

After a short but steep climb out of town and a very long descent into Zweisimmen, you will explore pastures and streams on densely packed gravel paths. We’ll be stopping to pet the cows and admire the towering family chalets. Take plenty of pictures: these traffic-free valleys are seldom seen by tourists. You’ll spend the later part of the day riding the shores of Lake Thun before reaching Interlaken. Once there, we’ll leave our bikes behind and take a 45 minute cogwheel train ride 4,265 feet up to the alpine town of Wengen. There are no cars allowed in town. Indeed, to preserve the beautfy of the region, the whole area has been designated a World Heritage site by UNESCO. Tomorrow we’ll explore the hiking trails, but now it’s time to relax.

Wake up in an alpine paradise. Open the windows and listen: no cars or horns in this traffic-free town. Come downstairs and eat a hearty breakfast, you’ll soon be on the world’s most beautiful hiking trails. No bikes, but you will be working your legs in different ways. You’ll dangle them from gondola lifts, run with the grazing alpine herds and your knees will bend to pick the wild edelweiss that fill the pastures.

Riders will begin by riding the length of Lake Brienz and then through the flatlands outside of Meiringen before tackling the Brunig Pass. Those doing the Brunig will climb 400 meters in 5 kilometers and will get splendid views of the valley they’ve just ridden through. If the weather is bad or some riders are not up to the climb, alternative itineraries using the boat from Interlaken and trains can be worked out. In any event, all riders will meet on the lake at Lungern for lunch. The afternoon’s paths are flat and picturesque and will take us through the bustling medieval village of Sarnen. Quench your thirst with a tall beer in the market square; you’ve got another 30 kilometers. Once on Lake Lucerne, we’ll follow the lakeside bike paths through villages, past private docks and rich neighborhoods until we reach Lucerne itself. Our hotel overlooks the lake in the city center.

Today we follow four lakes and go through four cantons. Our ride begins outside of Lucerne on hard dirt paths along the River Reuss until reaching Zug: Switzerland’s smallest (but richest) canton. We’ll picnic on the lake and tour Zug’s medieval old town before climbing out and into the Rothernthurm high marshlands, one of Switzerland’s best-known nature preserves. We’ll bike past peat-covered cabins and through wet rolling fields before reaching the imposing Einsiedeln monastery. If your legs hold up, you’ll soon be high in the clouds with spectacular views on all sides. As always, narrow and well-maintained bike paths will allow you to venture where few tourists have gone before ! Take a long coast into Rapperswil and settle into your hotel in the town’s center. You’ have some choices to make: explore the cobblestone city center, take a lakeside promenade, the monastery perched over the city, stroll through the reputed rose gardens, enjoy a circus museum, zoo, wine bars or nap.

We’ll be following nicely groomed, car-free bike paths along Lake Zurich for the first 20 kilometers. You’ll see the alps of Glarus to your south and the Appenzell highlands to the north, but all of your riding today is flat. After the lake, it’s another twenty kilometers before reaching the long Walensee lake and its 1500 meter cliffs. The ride soon becomes surreal as we head into a long series of bike tunnels where giant windows give us stunning views of the lake and its high calcium cliffs. Take a swim in Switzerland ’s cleanest lake and then dry off for a picnic. We eventually meet up with the Rhine and follow it northward. We’ll cross over into Liechtenstein and finally into Austria where we’ll spend the night in the medieval city of Feldkirch. Spend the evening exploring the city’s narow shopping streets before tucking into a hearty Austrian meal at a refurbished hunting lodge that sits above the city.

Our last day of riding follows rivers and lowlands. You’ll pedal past farms, through fields and along canals until lunchtime in Widnau. You’ve then got a choice: make your hardest climb yet to the village of Heiden overlooking Lake Constance. Or take the low road to the lake and our final stop in Romanshorn. This is our easiest day, so use your time and energy to explore the unique villages and shops along the way. Or get into Romanshorn early to enjoy a lakeside stroll and swim.

Say goodbye to your bike. After a late breakfast it’s all-aboard ! We’ll interrupt our five-hour train trip back to Geneva with a stop-over in the Swiss capital of Berne. You’ll be on your own for lunch, sightseeing and shopping. Your last evening in Switzerland will be spent back where it all started: on the shores of lake Geneva. If the weather is good, we’ll catch the last of the long summer rays with a tall drink and good food at the lakefront or back in the bike shop’s neighborhood.