How many lakes does the canton of Vaud have?

29 lakes, counting officially named bodies of standing water of half a hectare or more. 40 bodies of water carry an official name, and there are 787 water surfaces in all.

What is the highest lake in Vaud?

The Lac d'Aï in Leysin at 1888 m, covering 0.90 ha. The canton's median lake sits at 859 m.

How many lakes in Vaud are larger than 10 hectares?

10 of the 29 lakes. The largest are Le Léman (579.8 km²), Lac de Neuchâtel (215.1 km²), Lac de Morat (22.7 km²). 16 lakes measure less than five hectares.

What is the smallest lake in Vaud?

The Etang de la Coula in Payerne, 0.74 ha, at 451 m. Another 11 named bodies of water are smaller than half a hectare and so do not count as lakes.

Why do other lists give a different number for Vaud?

Because they draw a different line. The landscape model shows 787 water surfaces, 88 of them half a hectare or more, and 40 carry an official name. We count as lakes the 29 that are both.

Which lake in Vaud lies lowest?

By elevation: the Le Léman at 372 m (water level). The landscape model does not include lake depth.

Which lakes does Vaud share with other cantons?

Vaud shares 3 lakes: Le Léman (GE, VD, VS, 51% of it in the canton), Lac de Neuchâtel (BE, FR, NE, VD, 35% of it in the canton), Lac de Morat (FR, VD, 37% of it in the canton).

Destinations

Lakes of Vaud 2026: 29, its biggest own lake sits at 1004 m

Key takeaway

The canton of Vaud has 29 lakes of 0.5 ha or more and 40 officially named bodies of water. Largest lake entirely within the canton: Lac de Joux (8.79 km²). The highest is the Lac d'Aï at 1888 m.

Map: the lakes of Vaud, coloured by elevation (darker = higher)

The largest lake Vaud owns alone is nowhere near Lake Geneva. Where is it?

Lake Finder: search all 40 named waters in Vaud

Lake Geneva, Lake Neuchâtel, Lake Morat: Vaud shares its three big lakes with its neighbours. The largest lake it owns alone lies in the Jura at 1004 m: the Lac de Joux, 8.79 km².

Updated 25 October 2026· swisstopo, As of 2026-02

lakes from 0.5 ha

40 named waters

787

water surfaces

landscape model

1888 m

highest lake

Lac d'Aï

lakes over 10 ha

rank 6 of 26 cantons for lakes over 10 ha

Contents

Number of lakes in Vaud: 29

29 lakes of half a hectare or more, and yet the national map shows 787 bodies of standing water in Vaud. The gap is not imprecision; it is a way of counting.

How we count: the ConvivaPlus lake method

1787 water surfaces appear in swisstopo's landscape model for the canton.
288 of them are at least half a hectare (5,000 m²).
340 carry an official name, however small.
429 are both, named and at least 0.5 ha. That is what we count as a lake.

Anyone reading a different figure has almost always drawn a different line: count every water surface and Vaud has 787; count only lakes over one square kilometre and you get 5. Even a plain name such as "Weiher" counts as official: what decides is the entry in the swissNAMES3D gazetteer. Namesakes more than 50 m apart count separately, which is why "Le Gour" in Château-d'Oex appears 3 times in the list. Our count states where the line is, so it can be checked.

Lake Finder: find any lake in Vaud

ConvivaPlus Lake Finder

ConvivaPlus · Lake Finder

Every officially named lake in Switzerland with area, elevation and canton. Filter by elevation and canton, search in all national languages.

Search a lake or municipalityCantonSort

Also show named waters under 0.5 ha

29 lakes of 0.5 ha or more

Source: swissTLM3D, swissNAMES3D, swissBOUNDARIES3D (© swisstopo, 2026 edition). Area = entire water surface, including the foreign part for border lakes. Elevation = water level in the landscape model. Analysis by ConvivaPlus.

verified · ConvivaPlus

Largest lake in Vaud: Lac de Joux

The largest lake touching Vaud is the Le Léman (579.8 km²), but only 51% of its surface lies in the canton. The largest lake belonging entirely to the canton is the Lac de Joux: 8.79 km² at 1004 m.

Lake	Area	Elevation	Share in canton
Le Léman	579.8 km²	372 m	51%
Lac de Neuchâtel	215.1 km²	429 m	35%
Lac de Morat	22.7 km²	429 m	37%
Lac de Joux	8.79 km²	1004 m	100%
Lac de l'Hongrin	1.44 km²	1249 m	100%
Lac Brenet	66 ha	1001 m	100%
Lac de Bret	49 ha	673 m	100%
Lac du Vernex	27 ha	859 m	100%
Etang de Versvey	12 ha	377 m	100%
Etang Avale	11 ha	385 m	100%

Highest lake in Vaud: Lac d'Aï

The highest lake in Vaud is also one of the smallest: the Lac d'Aï in Leysin lies at 1888 m and covers 0.90 ha; only 2 of the 29 lakes are smaller.

The canton's lowest-lying lake is the Le Léman at 372 m. The canton's median lake sits at 859 m. Elevation is the water level in the landscape model; for reservoirs it varies with how full they are. 4 of the 29 lakes in the canton have a dam or embankment (structures in swissTLM3D): Lac de l'Hongrin, Lac de Bret, Lac du Vernex and Lac du Day.

Shared lakes: which lakes Vaud shares

97% of the lake surface in Vaud lies in lakes it does not own alone. Vaud shares 3 of its 29 lakes, 3 with other cantons and 1 with other countries; the table shows how much of each lies in the canton.

Lake	Cantons	Share in canton
Le Léman	GE · VD · VS · abroad	51%
Lac de Neuchâtel	BE · FR · NE · VD	35%
Lac de Morat	FR · VD	37%

List of lakes in Vaud

25 of the 29 lakes in Vaud together cover less area than a single lake, Lac de Joux: 3.54 km² against 8.79 km². An official name does not make a lake: 11 of the 40 named bodies of water in Vaud measure less than half a hectare. The list shows all of them by area, the 29 lakes first, the smaller ones marked.

1.Le Léman · 48 municipalities579.8 km²372 m
2.Lac de Neuchâtel · 23 municipalities215.1 km²429 m
3.Lac de Morat · 8 municipalities22.7 km²429 m
4.Lac de Joux · 3 municipalities8.79 km²1004 m
5.Lac de l'Hongrin · Ormont-Dessous, Château-d'Oex1.44 km²1249 m
6.Lac Brenet · Le Lieu, L'Abbaye66 ha1001 m
7.Lac de Bret · Puidoux49 ha673 m
8.Lac du Vernex · Rossinière27 ha859 m
9.Etang de Versvey · Yvorne12 ha377 m
10.Etang Avale · Ollon11 ha385 m
11.Lac du Day · Vallorbe, Ballaigues7.9 ha741 m
12.Lac Lioson · Ormont-Dessous6.9 ha1848 m
13.Lac des Chavonnes · Ormont-Dessous5.5 ha1692 m
14.Lac de Bretaye · Ollon4.4 ha1779 m
15.Lac Ter · Le Lieu3.2 ha1017 m
16.Lac Pourri · Corbeyrier2.3 ha1506 m
17.Etang du Sépey · Cossonay1.9 ha589 m
18.Etang de la Bressonne · Lausanne1.5 ha850 m
19.Lac Coffy · 3 municipalities1.4 ha586 m
20.Lac Retaud · Ormont-Dessus1.3 ha1685 m
21.Gouille Marion · Mies1.2 ha424 m
22.Lac de Sauvabelin · Lausanne1.1 ha661 m
23.Etang d'Arnex · Arnex-sur-Orbe1.1 ha548 m
24.Lac de Mayen · Leysin1.0 ha1824 m
25.Lac Rond · Corbeyrier1.0 ha1498 m
26.Lac Noir · Ollon0.96 ha1715 m
27.Lac d'Aï · Leysin0.90 ha1888 m
28.Lac de Nervaux · Corbeyrier0.83 ha1493 m
29.Etang de la Coula · Payerne0.74 ha451 m
30.Lac de l'Entonnoir · Ormont-Dessous0.49 ha1694 m
31.Etang du Buron · Penthéréaz0.42 ha605 m
32.Lac Segray · Leysin0.31 ha2066 m
33.Les Gouilles · Rougemont0.29 ha1952 m
34.Le Gour · Château-d'Oex0.26 ha1836 m
35.Baigne aux Chevaux · Coinsins0.15 ha488 m
36.Le Gour · Château-d'Oex0.14 ha1996 m
37.Le Vivier · La Rippe740 m²525 m
38.Gour de Comborsin · Rougemont690 m²1715 m
39.Le Gour · Château-d'Oex550 m²2072 m
40.Goille aux Cerfs · Montreux140 m²1569 m

Lakes by size: 16 of 29 under 5 ha

16 of the 29 lakes in Vaud are smaller than five hectares. 10 are larger than ten hectares, which puts Vaud at rank 6 of the 26 cantons.

Lakes in Vaud by area

under 5 ha16

5 to 10 ha3

over 10 ha10

Measured by area, the small lakes almost vanish: the 16 of the 29 lakes of half a hectare or more that stay under five hectares together cover less than 1% of the lake surface in Vaud. Le Léman, counting only its part in the canton, alone covers 76%.

💡Did you know?

In Vaud, only one water surface in 27 on the national map is a lake; across Switzerland, one in 20.

Source: swisstopo · ConvivaPlus

Lakes by municipality: Corbeyrier, Ollon and Ormont-Dessous tied

The municipalities with the most lakes, Corbeyrier, Ollon and Ormont-Dessous, are not on the canton's largest lake (Le Léman): 3 lakes each. Counted are lakes lying entirely within the canton and in no more than two municipalities; a large lake belongs to many. The Lake Finder can search by municipality.

Corbeyrier3Lac Pourri · Lac Rond · Lac de Nervaux
Ollon3Etang Avale · Lac de Bretaye · Lac Noir
Ormont-Dessous3Lac de l'Hongrin · Lac Lioson · Lac des Chavonnes
Lausanne2Etang de la Bressonne · Lac de Sauvabelin
Le Lieu2Lac Brenet · Lac Ter
Leysin2Lac de Mayen · Lac d'Aï

Lake names in several languages

Some lakes in Vaud carry official names in several national languages. They come from swisstopo's gazetteer; none is our translation.

Le Léman · Genfersee · Lago Lemano · Lai da Genevra
Lac de Neuchâtel · Neuenburgersee · Lago di Neuchâtel · Lai da Neuchâtel
Lac de Morat · Murtensee · Lago di Morat · Lai da Murten

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❓ Frequently asked questions about the lakes of Vaud

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More lake pages

Lakes of Valais154 lakes, the highest at 3056 mshared: Le Léman Lakes of Bern86, more over 10 ha than any cantonshared: Lac de Neuchâtel Lakes of Fribourg16, more than half above 10 hashared: Lac de Neuchâtel, Lac de Morat Lakes of Neuchâtel7, three shared with Franceshared: Lac de Neuchâtel Graubünden lakes236 lakes, and where 600 comes from Lakes of Ticino99, both big ones reach into Italy

Written by

Marco Gisler

ConvivaPlus Editor · Data & Switzerland

Writes about Switzerland in figures – official data recalculated, counting method explained.

Population
26 cantons
Waterways
Official data

Researched & sourced · for Switzerland

Profile & all articles →Our editorial teamUpdated 25.10.2026

Sources & methodology3

Researched & source-checked · for Switzerland

As of: 25.10.2026

swisstopo: swissTLM3D (Ausgabe 2026) →water surfaces, area and elevation

swisstopo: swissNAMES3D (Ausgabe 2026) →official lake names

swisstopo: swissBOUNDARIES3D (Ausgabe 2026) →cantonal boundaries for area shares

All information without guarantee. Found an error? → support@conviva-plus.ch

Source: swisstopo (swissTLM3D, swissNAMES3D, swissBOUNDARIES3D, 2026 edition), analysis by ConvivaPlus. Switzerland as a whole: 891 lakes out of 17'873 water surfaces; parts with the same name no more than 50 m apart count as one lake. Area = water surface at the shoreline of the landscape model; reference works using a different shoreline or water level sometimes give other values.

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