Switzerland’s Historical Steamboats

The historical steamboats are the pride of the waterways. From the turn of the century, they have been on the itineraries of royalty and heads of state. Well preserved and well-oiled, these impressive ships can be seen slowly chugging their way around several of Switzerland’s most beautiful lakes.

Thanks to state-of-the-art restoration efforts, they have managed to find a way to keep the original designs by using modern technology. For example, a defective part of the Lake Thun Steam Boat DS Lötschberg was scanned, a mould was made and then printed using 3D technology so that the defective part could be recast.

Apart from the inner workings, careful attention has also been put into rejuvenating the stylish design features of all these ships, returning them to their original glory.

Lake Geneva

CGN – Steamboat Montreux – Cruise along the Lavaux vineyards ©B Francey

The Comangnie Générale de Navigation sur le Lac Léman SA is responsible for the Belle Epoque Fleet – the largest and most prestigous of its type in the world. The paddlewheel steamboats were commissioned between 1904 and 1927, with gorgeous decorations, elegant sweeping lines and large paddle wheels – these steamboats are impressive to cruise on or to watch from the region’s beautiful lakeside villages, vineyards and beaches found spread across Lake Geneva.

There are 35 landing stations spread around the lake for all kinds of boats and ships – with the Belle Epoque fleet servicing a large portion of them. The timetable for all boats that are run by CGN can be found on their website here, or download the general timetable of the CGN. The little half-circle, paddlewheel motif shows which routes are serviced by the steamboats.

Examples of Routes are:

• Geneva – Yvoire – Nyon – Geneva
• Lausanne – St. Gingolph – Chillon – Montreux – Lausanne
• Lausanne – Morges – Yvoire and return
• Lausanne – Vevey – Montreux – Chillon and return

ABVL – The Association Friends of Steam Boats on Lake Geneva

For anyone interested in the inner workings and renovation history of the Lake Geneva 8 steamships, the ABVL does a digital magazine that offers all sorts of tidbits and articles on the fleet. A page called ‘Introduction to the Eight Ships and their History’ details, amongst other things, their structure, fittings, capacity, historical stories, and of course, great photos. I can guarantee that you will want to go for a cruise after reading this article.

Three Lakes Region – Neuchâtel, Murten & Bienne

Small and agile – perfect for the canals that link the three lakes. Photo by A. Leggett

DS Neuchâtel

The DS Neuchâtel, the last half saloon steamship in Switzerland, cruises its way around the three lakes of the Plateau Central (Mittelland). Thanks to its small size, this boat can also travel on the two canals linking the lakes with room to pass under the canal’s bridges. It also has the special honour of being the only steamboat able to maneuver on a canal or river in Switzerland.

The DS Neuchâtel was built in 1912 and sailed until 1969, when it became a ship restaurant in the port of Neuchâtel. It was fully renovated over a 3 year period and started sailing again in 2014.  This ship has 300 seats, including 90 for a restaurant (divided into 2 lounges). It is also possible to view the vessel’s steam engine.

How to get onboard the three lakes

For more information go to the Société de Navigation sur les Lacs de Neuchâtel et Morat website. The summer timetable shows the months of operation for 2022 from 14 May to 25 September – Wednesday to Sunday – and the route numbers of the Vapeur Neuchâtel/Dampfschiff Neuchâtel/steamboat Neuchâtel (page 6).

It would pay to go to the Neuchâtel, Murten or Biel/Bienne harbour ticket counter for further information.

Lake Lucerne

PS Stadt Luzern – flagship of Lake Lucerne

There are 5 historic paddle steamers in Lake Lucerne’s fleet of 19 boats and ships. The leader of the pack is the stately flagship Stadt Luzern. Built in 1928, it is the largest and most impressive of the fleet. Travelling on this ship is a wonderful experience with its art deco saloon, huge deck area and imposing wide funnel – like a huge black cherry on top of the white frosted layer cake.

Guestlist of the Stadt Luzern

The Stadt Luzern has had an impressive guest list such as General Henri Guisan and the entire Swiss Army office corps who sailed from Lucerne to the Rütli meadow for an important military conference during a precarious wartime moment, following the fall of France.

Evita Perón, the extremely famous wife of Argentinian president Juan Perón set sail in 1947 during an official visit, and to add to the prestige guest list, Queen Elizabeth II went for an alpine cruise in May 1980. In honour of her visit, the ship’s upper deck lounge was renamed “Queen’s Salon”.

Renovation and Rejuvenation

Over 80,000 hours of labour and 13.3 million francs were invested into the renovation of the Stadt Luzern. From May 2021 the ship returned to public service on Lake Lucerne.

How to get onboard – Lake Lucerne

• Culinary cruises – Wine & Dine 1 x per month from May to October (DS Stadt Luzern)
• Jazz and Dine – weekly from the beginning of August to the beginning of September (DS Stadt Luzern)
• Lucerne – Beckenried – Lucerne – see the timetables for steamboat operating times (steamboat icon – note: see limits to days of operation in small print*).
• Candlelight Dinner – (DS Uri)
• Lucerne – Flüelen – Lucerne, minimum 2 x daily from May to October Tip: this service stops at the lovely town of Brunnen.
• Sunset Cruise – end of May to mid -September (either a steamboat or the modern MS Diamant)

*Good to Know: When looking at the timetable, a mini steamboat symbol above a route means that one of the paddle steamers is normally used for that particular route. The highlighted symbol means steamboats are only used on weekends and public holidays, or daily at peak season times – at other times a motorboat is used. Of course, this is all subject to change – for exact and up-to-date details go to the timetables.

Zürich

Stadt Zürich paddle steamer after a steam clean. Photo by A.Leggett

DS Stadt Zürich (1909) & DS Stadt Rapperswil (1914)

The Stadt Zürich steamboat is the oldest in the ZSG fleet, but both of the well-maintained steamboats have all the traditional fittings that you would expect from a Belle Epoque paddle steamer.

The Lake Zürich Navigation Company has a fleet of 17 boats and is part of the public transport service for Zürich canton. This is a big bonus if you are spending time in Zürich as you can travel on the lake, as an alternative to taking the train or tram to get around the city – and not pay anything extra (make sure you are staying within the zones of your return ticket, also known as a day card).

Many times I have walked down the lakeside on a sunny day and then taken the boat back to the city. I definitely recommend it – there is a great view of the mountains on a clear day. A special timetable is available showing which boat or ship will be used for which route so, if you time it right, you can easily manage to cruise the lake on either the DS Stadt Zürich or DS Stadt Rapperswil – both start operating in April and finish in September (see below for timetable link).

How to get onboard – Lake Zürich

These historic paddle steamers operate regularly from 2rd April to 22rd October 2023 – on scheduled cruises. The schedule of all boats can be accessed 4 to 5 days in advance by going to the Allocation of Boats page on the zsg.ch website.

For Something a Bit Different:

The Unique Cruises (mostly motorboats) run throughout the year. They offer all sorts of cruises with onboard entertainment and experiences such as a murder mystery (german), 80s party, mind reading (german), silent party and international cuisine cruises. I like the sound of the 80s party one myself…

Bernese Oberland’s Lakes – Thun and Brienz

The extraordinary colours of both Lake Brienz and Lake Thun in the Bernese Oberland are beautiful, sitting amongst some of the best alpine scenery in the country. They’re a popular base for tourists because of their proximity to the famous Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau mountains, the towns of Interlaken and Grindelwald and the magical Lauterbrünnen Valley.

Lötschberg – Lake Brienz

DS Lötschberg – Image supplied by – BLS Shifffahrt

The DS Lötschberg was recently overhauled by a specialised restoration team who have a passion for preserving as many of the original features as possible – from the large anchor and decking to the small hidden compartments – all have their own special story to tell. An article in the Swiss Info news website explains the detective work that was done on this steamer to uncover some surprising stories of the past.

Blümlisalp – Lake Thun

How to get onboard – Lakes Thun & Brienz

The steamers start operating mid-May through to October. The BLS timetable has the option to search forms of transport such as boats, trains (or car ferry if relevant). The word “steamer” and a steamboat icon show which routes use a steamboat (same price as a motorboat).

Little Greif – Greifensee

DS Greif on Lake Greif (Greifensee); Roland zh, 2009, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Greif

The pretty little Greif steamboat is the oldest steamboat in Switzerland and the only passenger ship in the country that is fired with coal. It operates on the second largest lake in Canton Zürich – Lake Greifensee.

The fall and rise of the Greif steamboat

The Greif was built in 1895 by the Escher Wyss shipbuilding company in Zurich. Because coal became scarce after the outbreak of World War I and maintenance was expensive, like many other ships, the Greif steamboat coal fire was replaced by an engine. In 1979 the original Greif steam machine reappeared again and the historical boat was restored to its original design and declared worthy of protection by the cantonal monument preservation authorities. Finally, in 1988, the Greif was once again operating as a steamboat.

On Lake Greifensee through time

“Greif” can hold 24 passengers and crosses the lake for round trips from the end of April to mid-October on Sundays and public holidays and can be booked for individual tours during the week (e.g. birthdays, family celebrations for a maximum of 24 people). Timetables, contact details and reservation info can be found on the website of Greif steamboat.

The video below gives an idea of what is so special about little Greif and also the pretty lake it cruises on.

Other activities on and around Greifensee such as paddle boats, swimming, walking and grilling can be found on my Zurich Canton/lakes page.