East of Geneva, Western Europe’s biggest lake stretches like a giant liquid mirror between the French-speaking canton of Vaud (to the north) and France (to the south). Known to most as Lake Geneva, French speakers call it Lac Léman. Lined by the elegant student city of Lausanne and a phalanx of pretty smaller towns, the Swiss side of the lake presents the marvellous emerald spectacle of tightly ranked vineyards spreading in terraces up the steep hillsides of the Lavaux area. Down by the water’s edge, the lakeside is graced with fairy-tale châteaux, luxurious manor houses and modest beaches.

Then there are the mountains: the magnificent Alpes Vaudoises (Vaud Alps), in the southeast corner of the canton, where hikers play in spring and summer, and skiers and boarders hit the slopes in winter.