DAY TRIPS
Private day trips from Geneva and Zurich
Seventeen itineraries, with the kilometres and the hours written down.
A day trip sold without a figure means nothing. Everybody writes 'a day in the vineyards'. What you want to know is how many kilometres, how long in the car, and what is left for getting out of it.
The distances below are complete loops, return included, measured on the same routing engine as our booking console. The time shown is driving only: the suggested hire, by contrast, includes the stops. That is the one the price follows.
We drive and we wait. We sell no entrance tickets and no guided tours, and we have no link with any of the sites named.
The kilometres below are measured from the airport. Starting from a hotel in town, or from another town, changes the loop and therefore the count: the quote is adjusted to your actual pickup point.
From Geneva
Half day, 4 h
The Mandement: Satigny, Russin, Dardagny
From 400 CHF
- Loop
- 37 km
- Driving time only
- 1 h 13
- Suggested hire
- 4 h
- km included
- 100 km
Satigny is Switzerland's largest wine-growing commune, with 487 hectares of vines. The loop crosses the Mandement through Peissy, Russin and Dardagny on the right bank of the Rhône: 37 kilometres and a little over an hour of driving, with the rest of the time spent in the cellars.
The tasting takes place at Domaine des Bossons in Peissy, a Leyvraz family estate. It is settled directly with the estate and is not included in our fee. Visits are by appointment: tell us when you book and we arrange it.
At our partner
Domaine des Bossons · Route de Maison Rouge 27, Peissy, 1242 Satigny
Tasting at the estate, CHF 15 to 50 per person depending on the format, settled on site and outside our fee. Availability is checked first, then the booking is confirmed 24 to 48 hours ahead, the longer notice as soon as food is involved. Last minute stays possible if the estate is free.
Geneva in four hours
From 400 CHF
- Loop
- 22 km
- Driving time only
- 1 h 02
- Suggested hire
- 4 h
- km included
- 100 km
The Nations district, the quays and the Jet d'eau, then the old town and Saint-Pierre cathedral. Twenty-two kilometres in all: on this loop the time goes into stopping, not into driving.
It is the format that suits a stopover or a free morning before a flight. The chauffeur waits at each stop, which spares you looking for parking in a centre where that is the main obstacle.
Yvoire and the Savoy shore
From 400 CHF
- Loop
- 70 km
- Driving time only
- 1 h 59
- Suggested hire
- 4 h
- km included
- 100 km
Yvoire is a fortified medieval village on the French shore of Lake Geneva, about thirty kilometres from Geneva. The full loop runs 70 kilometres along the lakeside road.
Mind the arithmetic: two hours of driving out of four, because there is no motorway and the road follows the lake. That leaves two hours on the ground, enough for the village but not for an unhurried lunch. At six hours it is comfortable.
Nyon and the La Côte vineyards
From 400 CHF
- Loop
- 78 km
- Driving time only
- 1 h 26
- Suggested hire
- 4 h
- km included
- 100 km
Nyon and its castle above the lake, then up into the La Côte vineyards towards Féchy. Seventy-eight kilometres, an hour and a half of driving: the most generous of the four-hour loops out of Geneva in terms of free time.
The vineyard roads are narrow between the plots. A saloon is more at ease there than a van, and it is also pleasanter when you stop often.
Full day
Annecy and the Aravis
From 600 CHF
- Loop
- 139 km
- Driving time only
- 2 h 56
- Suggested hire
- 6 h
- km included
- 150 km
Annecy's old town and its canals in the morning, the climb to La Clusaz and the Col des Aravis in the afternoon. It is the shortest outing on this list, and the only one that fits comfortably into six hours.
The route covers only 139 km but nearly three hours of driving: the climb into the Aravis is a mountain road, not a motorway. In winter, the upper section depends on the snow.
See the matching transferAround Lake Geneva
From 800 CHF
- Loop
- 182 km
- Driving time only
- 3 h 30
- Suggested hire
- 8 h
- km included
- 200 km
Geneva, Lausanne, Montreux, the Château de Chillon, then back along the French shore through Évian. The full loop runs 182 km and three and a half hours of driving, which leaves half the day for getting out of the car.
Drivable all year. The French shore has no motorway at the end, so the return runs at the pace of the lakeside road: that is the pleasant part of the drive, not the part to cut short.
Lavaux and the Château de Chillon
From 800 CHF
- Loop
- 194 km
- Driving time only
- 3 h 04
- Suggested hire
- 8 h
- km included
- 200 km
The Lavaux terraces have been a UNESCO World Heritage site since July 2007: around 830 hectares over some thirty kilometres of shoreline, planted with Chasselas. You climb through Lutry and Chexbres, then drop down to Chillon at Veytaux, first recorded in 1005.
The best window runs from late spring to the harvest. The Lavaux roads are narrow and cut into the slope: a saloon handles them easily, a Sprinter much less so.
Gruyères and the Maison Cailler
From 879 CHF
- Loop
- 245 km
- Driving time only
- 3 h 24
- Suggested hire
- 8 h
- km included
- 200 km · +45 km, beyond that, extra kilometres are charged
The medieval town and its castle, then the Cailler chocolate factory at Broc a few kilometres further on, in operation since 1898. The two sit a few kilometres apart and fit into the same half-day, which makes this loop a full day with no dead time.
245 km there and back, the longest loop on this list out of Geneva. Drivable all year, no pass. We drive and we wait: we sell neither tickets nor guided tours.
Chamonix and the Aiguille du Midi
From 800 CHF
- Loop
- 180 km
- Driving time only
- 2 h 55
- Suggested hire
- 8 h
- km included
- 200 km
Ninety kilometres separate Geneva from Chamonix. There, the cable car climbs from 1,035 to 3,842 metres in about twenty minutes, in two sections with a stop at the Plan de l'Aiguille at 2,317 metres.
Allow plenty: the ride up and back easily takes half the day, and the cable car closes in bad weather. The chauffeur waits in the village, he does not go up with you.
See the matching transfer
From Zurich
Half day, 4 h
Zurich and the Uetliberg
From 400 CHF
- Loop
- 43 km
- Driving time only
- 0 h 46
- Suggested hire
- 4 h
- km included
- 100 km
Up the Uetliberg to see the city and the lake from above, then the old town, the Bahnhofstrasse and the quays. Forty-three kilometres and three quarters of an hour of driving: the loop on this list that leaves the most time on the ground.
Drivable all year. In overcast weather the view from the Uetliberg is not worth the detour, and we will say so rather than take you up anyway.
Rapperswil and the lakeshore
From 400 CHF
- Loop
- 81 km
- Driving time only
- 1 h 18
- Suggested hire
- 4 h
- km included
- 100 km
The road follows the shore of Lake Zurich to Rapperswil, its castle and its old town, known as the town of roses. Eighty-one kilometres there and back, an hour and twenty of driving.
The journey counts as much as the arrival: the right bank of the lake is the pretty one, and we take it both ways rather than the motorway.
Einsiedeln and its abbey
From 400 CHF
- Loop
- 102 km
- Driving time only
- 1 h 38
- Suggested hire
- 4 h
- km included
- 100 km
The Benedictine abbey of Einsiedeln, one of Switzerland's great pilgrimage sites, in the Schwyz countryside about fifty kilometres from Zurich. One hundred and two kilometres there and back.
An hour forty of driving out of four hours: that leaves two hours on the ground, which matches the visit. If you want to have lunch there, take six hours.
Zug and its lake
From 400 CHF
- Loop
- 98 km
- Driving time only
- 1 h 24
- Suggested hire
- 4 h
- km included
- 100 km
Zug's old town on the edge of its lake, half an hour from Zurich on the motorway. Ninety-eight kilometres there and back, an hour and twenty-five of driving.
The approach is entirely on motorway, so the duration varies little with the hour, unlike the loops that go through central Zurich. It is the most predictable half-day on the list.
Full day
The Rhine Falls and Stein am Rhein
From 600 CHF
- Loop
- 114 km
- Driving time only
- 1 h 54
- Suggested hire
- 6 h
- km included
- 150 km
The Rhine Falls, at Neuhausen am Rheinfall, are 23 metres high and 150 metres wide. You carry on to Stein am Rhein and its painted façades, half an hour further along the river.
114 km in all, the shortest outing out of Zurich and the only one that genuinely fits a long half-day. The falls run at their fullest in early summer, with the meltwater.
Lucerne and Lake Lucerne
From 800 CHF
- Loop
- 151 km
- Driving time only
- 2 h 17
- Suggested hire
- 8 h
- km included
- 200 km
Lucerne in the morning, then the lakeshore road through Weggis at the foot of the Rigi. Two and a quarter hours of driving for 151 km: the loop that leaves the most time on the ground of any out of Zurich.
Drivable all year. If you want to go up the Rigi, plan the whole day: the chauffeur sets you down at the valley station and picks you up on the way back.
See the matching transferAppenzell and the Säntis country
From 800 CHF
- Loop
- 192 km
- Driving time only
- 2 h 41
- Suggested hire
- 8 h
- km included
- 200 km
The village of Appenzell, its painted houses and its main street, then the hills across to Urnäsch. Countryside that looks like nowhere else in Switzerland, and that almost no visitor sees.
192 km and two hours forty of driving. The roads are good but winding: this is a day of wandering, not a day of distance.
Interlaken and Grindelwald
From 1200 CHF
- Loop
- 305 km
- Driving time only
- 4 h 32
- Suggested hire
- 12 h
- km included
- 300 km
Interlaken between its two lakes, then the climb to Grindelwald at the foot of the Eiger north face. The outbound run goes over the Brünig, open all year.
Take this one seriously: 305 km and four and a half hours of driving make it the longest day on the list. Leaving early is not an option, it is the condition. If your stay allows it, a night there beats a day return.
See the matching transfer
A day, not a run
A day trip is booked as hire, not as a transfer: the vehicle and the chauffeur stay at your disposal, your belongings stay on board, and you stop where you like. The price follows the hours, not the kilometres.
The road decides the vehicle
In Lavaux or the Aravis the roads are narrow and cut into the slope: a saloon handles them easily, a Sprinter much less so. We say so beforehand, not on the spot.
The season decides more than you do
Lavaux is at its best from late spring to the harvest. The Rhine Falls peak in early summer. A cable car closes in bad weather. We will tell you whether the date you have in mind serves your itinerary, and suggest another if it does not.
What is not included
Entrance fees, mountain lifts and meals are not in the price, and we do not resell them. Hours beyond the agreed hire are priced beforehand, never after.
Frequently asked questions
From 600 CHF for six hours in an E-Class and 800 CHF for eight hours, 1120 CHF in an S-Class and 1040 CHF in a V-Class for the same eight-hour day. The price follows the hire duration, not the mileage. Estimate to confirm.
The half day runs four hours, from 400 CHF in an E-Class: enough for a nearby loop such as the Mandement vineyards or Geneva itself. The full day runs six to twelve hours depending on the itinerary, from 600 CHF. The criterion is not distance but how long you want to spend out of the car.
Annecy and the Aravis: a 139 km loop, just under three hours of driving, six hours of hire. It is the only one out of Geneva that fits comfortably into a long half-day.
The Rhine Falls and Stein am Rhein: 114 km, under two hours of driving, six hours of hire. The falls are 23 metres high and 150 metres wide, at Neuhausen am Rheinfall.
Yes, but it is the longest day on the list: 305 km and four and a half hours of driving, twelve hours of hire. If your stay allows it, a night there beats a day return.
No. We drive and we wait; we sell neither tickets nor guided tours, and we have no affiliation with the sites visited. The chauffeur sets you down at the entrance and picks you up afterwards.
Yes, and that is the most common case. These seventeen loops are proven starting points, not a closed catalogue. Tell us what interests you and how much time you have, and we shape the day around it.
An E-Class or S-Class saloon suits a couple or three people with day bags. Beyond that, a V-Class carries 7 passengers and a Sprinter up to 19. On the narrow roads of Lavaux or the Aravis, the saloon remains the better choice.