Somewhere off the shore of Villeneuve, on the Swiss side of Lake Geneva, sits a speck of land so small that estimates of its size range from 20 to 77 square metres. Île de Peilz, often called the lake's smallest island and quite possibly its only natural one, is crowned by a single London plane tree whose wide canopy you can spot from boats and the shoreline alike. It's one of the most photographed curiosities on the entire lake.
The island's shape is largely man-made. Local tradition holds that in 1797 the people of Villeneuve enlarged a bare rock by spreading earth over it and building a supporting wall around the edge. No documents explain why they spent the money, but the handiwork is obvious — and the wall needed repeated repairs through the 19th century. In 1851, three plane trees and a pair of horse chestnuts were planted. Only one tree survived, and that lone survivor gives the island its unmistakable silhouette today.
The islet has punched well above its size in literature. Lord Byron, staying by Lake Geneva in 1816, could see it from the Chillon castle dungeon and wove it into his narrative poem The Prisoner of Chillon, describing a little green isle "scarce broader than my dungeon floor" with three tall trees swaying in the mountain breeze. Decades later, Hans Christian Andersen borrowed the setting for the tragic climax of his 1861 fairy tale The Ice-Maiden.
A 19th-century legend offers a romantic origin story: a young Englishman drowned while swimming with his fiancée, who is said to have created a memorial on the spot where his body was found, naming it the "Île de Paix" — the Island of Peace — a name that supposedly morphed into "Peilz" over time.
Then there's the best rumour of all: that the island was once gifted to Queen Victoria. Some versions say she handed it back after learning she'd owe taxes on it; others claim her descendants still technically own it. Archivists who dug through municipal and cantonal records found nothing to support any of it — and point out the gift wouldn't even have been legally possible, since the island was never federal property. A charming story, but just a story.
Why bother with a rock the size of a parking space? Because it makes a perfect addition to a Lake Geneva itinerary. It sits close to Villeneuve, an easy detour if you're visiting the Chillon castle just down the coast or biking the lakeside path between Montreux and Villeneuve. You can't land on it — it's a look-and-photograph sight, best appreciated from a lake cruise or the shore at golden hour when the tree's silhouette pops against the water and mountains. Pair it with a day in Montreux, and you've got one of the most scenic corners of Switzerland wrapped up in a single, very manageable outing.
Story sourced from Amusing Planet.