Belle Époque Paddle Steamers: CGN's Heritage Fleet on Lac Léman

The sound reaches you before the boat does: a slow, even beat of paddle floats slapping the water, and then the white hull of a hundred-year-old steamer comes round the point off Montreux, its side wheels turning under a gilded prow. This is the Belle Époque fleet of Lac Léman, eight heritage paddle vessels built between 1904 and 1927, still working the same Swiss lake that carries them past Vevey, the Château de Chillon and the Alps rising over the far shore. Everything on Lake Geneva Cruises is a real, currently bookable sailing on this water, so you can compare the routes, then confirm the included boat and option before booking. The Geneva day trip’s Gold option includes a first-class steamer leg from June to September; its basic option does not.Discover the Gold steamer itinerary

CGN, the Compagnie Générale de Navigation sur le lac Léman, keeps the largest fleet of Belle Époque paddle boats still in regular operation anywhere in the world, and the whole set was listed as historical monuments of national importance in 2011. Not all eight sail every year; maintenance, restoration and the occasional cracked cylinder keep some in dry dock. Below is which boats run, which cruises use them, what a ride costs in Swiss francs, and how to choose.

What are the Belle Époque paddle steamers on Lac Léman?

The Belle Époque paddle steamers are CGN's fleet of eight heritage side-wheel boats built between 1904 and 1927, five of them true steam vessels and three converted to diesel-electric drive. Together they form the largest fleet of Belle Époque paddle boats still in regular service in the world, listed as Swiss historical monuments of national importance since 2011.

These are not replicas. They are the original boats, kept afloat by a century of restoration, and the fleet name refers to the era they belong to, the confident decades before the First World War when the lake steamer was the fast, elegant way to travel between the shore towns. Five carry steam plants, either original or rebuilt: La Suisse, Montreux, Simplon, Savoie and Rhône. Three keep the Belle Époque hull and superstructure but run on diesel-electric machinery: Vevey, Italie and Helvétie. The preservation partner behind the fleet, the Association des Amis des Bateaux à Vapeur du Léman, has put more than 40 million francs into keeping them going since 2002.

The flagship is La Suisse, launched in 1910 and rated for around 850 passengers, fully renovated between 2007 and 2009 and known for the gilded figures on her bow and stern. She is the boat people picture when they think of the fleet, though as the next section explains, she is not one you can board in 2026. The table further down lists all eight with their years, drives and capacities, so you can put a name to a hull when one passes.

Which paddle steamers are actually running in 2026?

Five of the eight Belle Époque boats sailed the 2026 tourist season: the steamers Montreux (1904), Savoie (1914) and Rhône (1927), plus the diesel-electric Vevey (1907) and Italie (1908). The flagship La Suisse, the steamer Simplon and the diesel-electric Helvétie all stayed docked for repairs and renovation, so daily assignment among the five varies with maintenance and demand.

The reason to check before you book is that the fleet is always partly in the workshop. La Suisse has been out of service since mid-2025, after a crack was found in a high-pressure cylinder support; ABVL’s September 2026 repair-and-hull fundraising target is CHF 1.1 million, with return in 2028 dependent on funding. Simplon has been out since fire and storm damage in 2024, with a renovation advancing. Helvétie has been laid up since 2002 awaiting a full rebuild, and an earlier hope of returning her for a 2026 centenary was not realised. The official fleet page at cgn.ch carries each boat's current status.

The five running boats appeared at the 2026 Naval Parade too, the fleet's yearly showpiece, which returned to Nyon on 31 May 2026 after a year's absence and drew more than 8,000 spectators along the shore. If you want to know which hull you will actually get, the honest answer is that it is set by the day's roster, so the surest bet is a route the steamers habitually work.

Which cruises actually put you aboard a steamer?

The Geneva day trip’s Gold option includes a steamer leg from June to September. The two-hour Riviera and Montreux-to-Chillon listings do not guarantee a specific boat, so check CGN’s vessel assignment if a heritage hull is essential. The three-hour Lausanne-Ouchy Lavaux cruise usually uses a contemporary boat.

Not every cruise sold on this lake is a steamer, so the trick is to pick a route the paddle boats habitually work rather than assume. The Riviera Tour follows the Chillon and Vevey shoreline; its booking page alone does not establish the boat assigned to your departure. The dedicated Chillon crossing from Montreux frequently draws a steamer too, and it has the bonus of dropping you at the castle. The full-day package from Geneva includes a steamer segment only when the Gold option is selected for June–September. The table sorts them by how likely you are to sail on paddles.

The Gold option adds the summer steamer segment to the full-day trip. It strings the Lavaux terraces together with Montreux, Chaplin's World and a leg aboard a CGN paddle steamer, so it works as a guided day out for a visitor without a car; its current review figure sits on the live listing.

How much does it cost to sail on a paddle steamer?

Sailing on a Belle Époque paddle steamer costs from about CHF 38 for the two-hour Riviera Tour and around CHF 32 for the Montreux-to-Chillon round trip, both regular CGN fares in Swiss francs. A first-class deck or a premium heritage supplement adds to that. The guided full-day steamer package prices on its own listing rather than a fixed CHF figure.

A steamer ride is not a luxury add-on at these prices; the heritage boats work the ordinary scheduled routes, so you pay a normal cruise fare and happen to be on a hundred-year-old hull. The prices below are the operator's own figures in Swiss francs, and both booking platforms convert to your home currency at checkout, so you never need to trust a scraped foreign number. Where a trip prices a whole guided day, this guide sends you to the listing.

One thing to hold in mind at the ticket desk: the Swiss Travel Pass covers the regular scheduled sailings these steamers run, but not the special dining, evening or fully packaged trips, a split the Swiss Travel Pass guide sets out in detail.

What makes these boats special?

What makes them special is that they are working machines from the Belle Époque, not museum pieces: original or rebuilt steam engines you can watch from the deck, hulls with gilded figureheads and period saloons, and a century of hand restoration behind each one. The steamer Rhône, launched 1927, is the last paddle boat built entirely in Switzerland, back in service since 2022.

The engines are the heart of it. On a steam boat such as Montreux or Rhône, the open engine room is part of the ride: you can lean over the rail and watch the pistons drive the paddle shafts, oil glistening on polished steel. The Rhône is the standout, restored over three years to 2022, with a steam engine so unusual that CGN fitted Plexiglas covers so passengers can see its automatic pressure lubrication working. The Swiss heritage-cruise tradition is described on the national tourism site, myswitzerland.com, which sets these boats in the wider story of lake travel. The infographic below shows the fleet by launch year and which boats are sailing this season.

Steam or diesel-electric: does it matter on board?

It matters if the machinery is part of why you are aboard. On a steam boat such as Montreux, Savoie or Rhône, the open engine room, the rhythmic beat and the visible pistons are half the experience. The diesel-electric boats, Vevey and Italie, keep the same Belle Époque hull and saloons but run quieter, with the engineering enclosed. Both are heritage vessels; only the drive differs.

For most passengers the deck, the view and the paddle wheels are the point, and there the two kinds are much alike. If you are the sort who wants to stand at the engine-room rail and watch a hundred-year-old steam plant at work, hold out for one of the steamers, above all the Rhône with its viewing covers. If you simply want a classic boat and a calm ride, the diesel-electric hulls give you the same period saloons and the same wheels without the beat and the coal-smoke associations. The table lays out the practical difference.

A short Chillon cruise can suit a compact lake day, but its generic ticket does not confirm an engine-room experience or particular propulsion type. The Château de Chillon by boat guide explains the route and stopover logistics.

When and where do the paddle steamers sail?

The paddle steamers sail mainly from June to September, thinning into October, and concentrate on the Riviera between Montreux, Vevey and the Château de Chillon, on the Lausanne-Ouchy routes, and on the Geneva Grand Tour. In winter most are laid up and the service is reduced. The yearly Naval Parade, on 31 May 2026 at Nyon, gathers several of them at once.

The heritage boats are a summer sight above all. Through the high season you have the best chance of a steamer on the Riviera loops and the Chillon crossings, with a wider roster and more frequent departures. The shoulder weeks still run some, but the fleet contracts as autumn sets in and the workshops fill up for winter. The single best day to see several boats together is the Naval Parade, though it is a spectacle to watch rather than a cruise to book in the ordinary way. The table sums up where and when to look.

If your interest is the Lavaux vineyard terraces as much as the boat, the three-hour Lausanne-Ouchy cruise gives you the longest pass of the UNESCO slope, though it usually runs on a contemporary hull rather than a steamer, so treat the boat as a bonus rather than the reason. The Lavaux vineyard cruises guide covers that shore in full.

Which steamer trip should you pick?

Choose the Geneva day trip’s Gold option for an included June–September steamer leg. For a shorter Riviera or Chillon cruise, verify the assigned boat separately rather than assuming the ticket guarantees a steamer. For the Lavaux terraces with the boat as a bonus, take the Lausanne three-hour cruise, and for a quieter start, board the Riviera Tour at Vevey.

The choice really comes down to how much of a day you want to give it and whether the castle or the vineyards matter more than the boat. The Riviera Tour is a compact scenic circuit, but the assigned vessel must be checked separately. If you stop at Chillon, allow extra time for the castle visit and the next return sailing. The full day is for visitors without a car who want the heritage boat handed to them inside a planned itinerary. The table matches the want to the trip.

Choose a short circuit for scenery, a Chillon stop for the castle, or the Gold summer day trip for the included steamer leg.

Questions people ask before booking a Belle Époque steamer cruise