A steep, but short and very rewarding hike which will lead you to a beautiful turquoise mountain lake in the Chablais region in the Valais in Switzerland. The Lac de Taney is a mountain lake surrounded by the Jumelles mountains and the Grammont in Vouvry.
Once you are there, you can picnic by the lake, use one of the public barbecues, swim in the lake in summer, eat at one of the cute mountain restaurants by the lake, or even sleep in a Refuge. The color of the lake is the most beautiful when the sun shines; the water then gets a really beautiful turquoise color.
The hike towards Lac de Taney is a popular hike, and it can get busy on sunny days, so make sure you go early to get a parking spot at the start of the hike.
From the parking lot, you will have 2 choices, the steep hike, or the really steep hike. One goes through the forest and gets you up there quicker, the other one goes by the road and moves up gentler but is still only steep up. We chose that one, but you can still change your mind along the way as both paths cross each other on several occasions. The hike by the road will take you somewhere between 1 hour and 1h20 going up. Once you see the sign of the Col de Taney, the climbing stops and you arrive on a cute alpine meadow with typical Swiss houses and further on a cute alpine church called ‘Notre dame de la neige’. A beautiful postcard scenery! You then just continue to walk towards the lake which unfolds its beauty as you approach. If you would still like to continue to walk, you can also hike around the lake.
Height at departure point: 1030m
Height at the lake: 1408m
For the way back down towards the parking, with kids it is recommended to take the road and not the forest path as some points going down on that one can be tricky.
Legends of the lake
In history, Lac de Taney has its own monster legend: La Vouivre de Vouvry, which is about a flying dragon-snake like creature with only one eye which was a big diamond. A man from the village of Vouvry apparently was able to steel the diamond while the creature was bathing, and eventually capture the creature. One of the mountain huts on the lake is called La Vouivre.
Mountain huts at the Lac de Taney
There are some very inviting mountain restaurants right by the lake.
Auberge Refuge La Vouivre: beautiful location and nice terrace to eat. It also is a Refuge so you can sleep here as well: http://www.lactaney.com
Refuge du Grammont: seemed like a perfect place to spend the night as well, but we haven’t tried it out for ourselves yet. Prices seemed good and they include dinner and breakfast. http://www.le-grammont.ch/home_uk.php
Restaurant la Ptite Auberge: this restaurant is the first one you will pass towards the lake, but it was still closed when we were there: http://www.petite-auberge.ch
How to get there:
From Geneva to Vouvry is about 1h30 by car. Once in Vouvry, you will need to follow the road onwards to Miex. This is quite a narrow and winding mountain road which lasts for about 15 minutes. Just after passing the village Miex, you will see the Parking du Flon. This is where you park.
In case you want to go, but you don’t want to do the steep hike, there is a 4 wheel drive taxi service with a number to call from the parking lot.
By public transport: Vouvry is accessible by train, and the Swiss Postbus can take you to the start of the hike. Take bus until the last stop: Miex-Le Flon
If you liked this article, you may also be interested in our article on Summer Holidays in Switzerland:
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