Vaud Holidays

Vineyards and artists
Cheap lakes and mountains holidays in Switzerland don't get much better than a stay in Vaud, a beautiful region that borders France and Lake Geneva. Vaud encompasses beautiful lakes and mountains and stunning villages like Montreux, Vevey, Lavaux and Lausanne. One look at the place, with its gorgeous local cuisine, fine vineyards and tremendous Swiss mountain scenery, and you can see why luminaries such as David Bowie and Charlie Chaplin called it their home. Before them, 19th century artists and writers were drawn to the Swiss lakes and mountains around Vaud. They came for the sense of Roman history, the chalets and the village markets, which today still recall a bygone era.

Unspoilt nature
On cheap holidays in Vaud, there's nothing to spoil the overspill of nature. With the Jura Mountains on one side and the Vaud Alps on the other, Vaud holidays put you in a place of elevated tranquillity, of beautiful meadows, towering peaks and ancient glaciers. In summer, this is the place to hike, mountain-bike, swim or ride horses. In winter, the ski slopes beckon – the region has some of Switzerland's best cross-country skiing and snow-shoeing, plus 500kms of downhill runs on Vaud's Alpine glaciers. Back on terra firma, there's culture and shopping galore to be had in Lausanne, Nyon, Morges and Yverdon-les-Bains.

Lots of activities to do
Vaud holidays are where city living mixes with sophisticated cuisine and mountain scenery. There are vast woods and plateaux to explore, plus the Vaud Alps with their rich mountain landscape of tall peaks, faults, limestone cliffs, headlands, valleys and Swiss mountain lakes. On your Vaud holidays, you also have Europe's largest toboggan park, which also offers snow tubing, 12th and 13th century castles, salt mines and fromageries, so you won't be stuck for activities on your holidays in Vaud.

Vaud weather
The weather in Vaud is seasonal and heavily influenced by the lakes. These create microclimates that are suitable for the cultivation of wine in the local vineyards. You can expect a fair amount of rain in the Vaud region, although not as much as in Ticino. Around Nyon, you can expect around 1700 hours of sunshine a year while, near Lausanne, the figure is more like 1820. It's a mild climate – the mean temperature is the kindest in Switzerland – which is down to the heat that's reflected from Lake Geneva and radiated from the stone walls of the terraces. All of this produces perfect growing conditions for vines that, in turn, lead to some superb local wines.