Switzerland
Geneva is a small city with a big address book.
Wrapped around the point where the Rhône leaves Lake Geneva, with the Jura on one side and the Alps on the other, it is home to the European headquarters of the United Nations, the Red Cross, dozens of international organisations and, just outside town, CERN, the laboratory where the World Wide Web was born and where physicists still smash particles together in a 27-kilometre ring. It is also a deeply pleasant place to spend a few days. The Old Town climbs a hill to St Pierre Cathedral, where Calvin preached and where you can climb a tower for a view over the roofs to the lake. Down on the water, the Jet d’Eau throws its plume 140 metres into the sky, boats sail past lakeside parks and mansions, and on a clear day Mont Blanc floats on the horizon. Geneva is also the best base for day trips: to Voltaire’s château just over the French border, to the canals of Annecy, and along the lake to the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Chaplin’s World above Vevey and the island castle of Chillon. This guide books the visits worth booking, flags the Monday closures and the late-autumn maintenance breaks, and matches you to the right hotel, from a lakefront palace to a Salvation Army budget gem on the edge of the Old Town.
Chillon Castle
Switzerland’s most visited historic monument, a medieval castle on a rock in Lake Geneva near Montreux, immortalised by Lord Byron. Halls, towers, chapels and the famous dungeon, an easy train day trip from Geneva. Open daily, with shorter hours in winter.
Jet d’Eau and the Lakefront
Geneva’s emblem: a plume of lake water shot 140 metres into the air from the end of a stone jetty. Free to see from anywhere along the shore, and you can walk out along the jetty to feel the spray, then stroll the lakeside quays and parks.
Palais des Nations (United Nations Geneva)
A one-hour guided tour of the United Nations Office at Geneva, the busiest centre of multilateral diplomacy in the world, including the Assembly Hall and council chambers. Bring your passport and book early: places are limited during renovation.
The Olympic Museum, Lausanne
The world’s leading museum of the Olympic Games, on the lakefront at Ouchy in Lausanne, the Olympic capital. Interactive galleries, torches and medals, a sculpture park and the TOM Café with lake views, under 45 minutes by train from Geneva.
The free visitor centre of the world’s largest particle physics laboratory, designed by Renzo Piano. Interactive exhibitions on particles, the universe and the quantum world, science shows, lab workshops and guided tours led by CERN scientists.
A one-hour sightseeing cruise on the Geneva end of the lake with CGN, the historic Lake Geneva shipping company, from the Mont-Blanc pier. The Jet d’Eau, lakeside parks and mansions, and Mont Blanc on a clear day, with an audio guide app.
FreeGeneva’s emblem: a plume of lake water shot 140 metres into the air from the end of a stone jetty. Free to see from anywhere along the shore, and you can walk out along the jetty to feel the spray, then stroll the lakeside quays and parks.
The hilltop heart of Geneva: a cathedral where Calvin preached, with free entry, a 157-step tower climb for the best view over the lake, and one of the largest archaeological sites north of the Alps underneath, all set among the cobbled lanes of the Old Town.
A one-hour guided tour of the United Nations Office at Geneva, the busiest centre of multilateral diplomacy in the world, including the Assembly Hall and council chambers. Bring your passport and book early: places are limited during renovation.
Switzerland’s most visited historic monument, a medieval castle on a rock in Lake Geneva near Montreux, immortalised by Lord Byron. Halls, towers, chapels and the famous dungeon, an easy train day trip from Geneva. Open daily, with shorter hours in winter.
The museum of Charlie Chaplin’s life and work, in the manor house above Vevey where he lived with his family for the last 25 years of his life, plus a studio full of film sets. Joyful, moving and one of the best day trips from Geneva.
The world’s leading museum of the Olympic Games, on the lakefront at Ouchy in Lausanne, the Olympic capital. Interactive galleries, torches and medals, a sculpture park and the TOM Café with lake views, under 45 minutes by train from Geneva.
The country house Voltaire built just across the French border from Geneva, where he spent the last twenty years of his life writing, gardening and receiving visitors. Restored rooms, gardens with Alpine views and an exhibition on Candide.
The Venice of the Alps, less than an hour south of Geneva in France: canals and flower-hung bridges, the island prison of the Palais de l’Île, a counts’ château and one of the clearest lakes in Europe framed by mountains. The classic day trip from Geneva.
Hotels we would book ourselves, from splurges to good-value bases.
$$$$Quai du Mont-Blanc, right bank
Geneva’s most storied lakefront palace, family-run since 1865 on the Quai du Mont-Blanc. Ninety-five rooms and suites, many facing the Jet d’Eau and Mont Blanc, a Michelin-starred restaurant, Le Chat-Botté, and service of the old school.
Rates on Expedia →
$$$Old Town
A five-star boutique hotel in a historic residence in the heart of the Old Town, a few steps from St Pierre Cathedral. Thirty-two rooms with beams and stone walls, and a much-loved restaurant serving fondue, raclette and Geneva classics.
Rates on Expedia →
$$$Plainpalais, near the Grand Théâtre
An intimate four-star in a restored late-19th-century Belle Époque building on a quiet street near the Grand Théâtre and the foot of the Old Town. Sixty-five rooms and suites with Art Nouveau touches, a restaurant, a bar and a wellness area.
Rates on Expedia →
$$Cornavin station, right bank
A practical four-star a hundred metres from Geneva’s main station, famous for its record-breaking mechanical clock in the lobby, its panoramic breakfast room with views of the Jet d’Eau, and a cameo in a Tintin adventure. 164 rooms, free fitness and sauna.
Rates on Expedia →Rive, edge of the Old Town
Geneva’s best-known budget hotel, owned and run by the Salvation Army at the foot of the Old Town. Simple, spotless rooms including family rooms, a terrace with views over the roofs to the lake, a guest kitchen and breakfast.
Rates on Expedia →The practical primer for a first visit to Geneva: what to book ahead, the free transport card, Monday closures and late-autumn maintenance breaks, and how to fit CERN, the UN, the Old Town, the lake and the best day trips into three or four days.
How to choose your base in Geneva, from a family-run palace on the Quai du Mont-Blanc and a five-star in the Old Town to a Belle Époque boutique near the Grand Théâtre, a practical four-star by the station and the Salvation Army’s budget gem.
