Geneva travel guide: city break things to do, hotels, food

Jet d’Eau and Lac Leman

You just can’t skip Geneva’s most popular sight. The Jet d’Eau throws drinking water from the lake 140 metres into the air, increased than the Statue of Liberty, and dominates the sights. A journey on the lake is a need to, whether it’s a whole cruise on a luxury steamer or a quick crossing on a person of the yellow “mouette” water buses.

We enjoyed the two and grew to become adept at crossing the lake by boat to save walking in the extremely untypical sweltering July heat. A promenade together the lake shore, with a quit at a person of numerous bars and cafes, is also a fine way to when absent a minimal time and get the truly feel of the metropolis.       

Take a taxi-bicycle tour

To get the lie of the land we took a taxi-bike tour, passing renowned sights this kind of as the Flower Clock, comprised of 12,000 blooms and Swiss precision engineering future to the pleasant lakeside Jardin Des Anglais. The taxi-bike also stopped at the Reformation Wall in Parc des Bastions beneath the high fortified partitions of the Old Town. John Calvin and other fathers of the Protestant Reformation still cast a stony look and exert an impact on this city of tradition and modernity. We produced it out as significantly as Carouge, a Mediterranean-influenced suburb with a lively bohemian really feel.  

Check out the Outdated Town

The taxi-bicycle can not make it up the steep climb, but it is effectively worthy of the limited hike up to the medieval Aged City main to the Cathédrale Saint-Pierre where Calvin preached. We climbed the tower through ancient roof timbers for probably the very best views across the city and Lac Leman to the mountains further than. The charming bordering streets supply outlets, bars and dining places which invite exploration. 

Shopping  

Geneva boasts world-class shopping alternatives as very well as offerings for extra modest budgets. Along the lakeside, Rue du Rhone and surrounding streets elite brands this kind of as Louis Vuitton, Rolex, Hermes, Tiffany, Patek Philippe, Breitling and Cartier, (to identify just a couple of), jostle side by side and vie for the consideration of properly-heeled clients. But shoppers be warned: Sunday is nonetheless a day of rest in Geneva and most retailers will be shut. You will have to get your retail treatment in before the suppliers near on Saturday.  

Get a Geneva Town Go

Eager to market the metropolis as a summer vacation spot, Geneva Tourism has made a Geneva Town Move for July and August which gives visitors endless free public transportation and absolutely free entry or savings at dozens of points of interest and encounters for a single, two or 3 days. Fancy paragliding? Chocolate tasting? Watchmaking? Museums? A going for walks tour? A wine tasting e-bike tour? These are just a couple of the choices on provide.

Museums, galleries and other attractions 

For these wanting to explore more of the city’s background and lifestyle, the United Nations, CERN, dwelling to the significant hadron collider, the Pink Cross Museum, the Patek Philippe Museum (clocks, watches and considerably far more), the Ethnography Museum and MAMCO (modern day artwork), and the Jardins Botanique are all common and open by way of the summer period. Sad to say, we discovered so significantly to do in our quick time in Geneva that we still left with the distinctive feeling that we’ll simply have to go again and see these a different time. 

Get on your bicycle and sample some wine

Eager to get into the countryside and to sample some community wines we joined an e-bike wine tasting tour starting a brief tram trip from the metropolis centre. The e-bicycle created the hills simple and will reward riders with fantastic scenery and a brief instruction in Genevoise viniculture by a person of the little regional producers whose goods generally go to nearby dining places and personal customers immediate from the caves. We also experienced the best encapsulation of this metropolis of custom and modernity as we cycled along with the CERN nuclear investigation lab on a single aspect of the ride and a smaller plantation of old vines stretching out  on the other.