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1. Of course you could do all of the following or just register to our cultural scavenger hunt!
2. Take a look to this map of the city, to have a real idea on how it is built and organized.
3. Lac Leman
The largest lake in Central Europe brings the drama and awe-inspiring natural splendour of the Alps to the centre of the city.
Nobody could blame you for wanting to get out and experience it, and the easiest way to do that is to catch a boat from the quay at Genève-Mt-Blanc.
These shoot off to a host of places on the shores of the lake: You could keep it local on a “mouette”, shuttling to the other side of the city, or go long distance and cruise to Lausanne in three hours.
The lake’s beauty has affected the design of the city itself, as a promenade was built around the shore in the mid-19th century.
Next to the water are tree-lined promenades with palatial townhouses or serene parks like Eaux-Vives, Jardin Anglais, Perle du Lac or Mon Repos. Get Google maps directions>
4. The Jet d'eau
The Jet d’Eau is five hundred litres of water per second propelled to a height of 140 metres.
If you do want to get a closer look, take care as the plume is susceptible to the wind and you may get wet.
The jet has been at its present spot since 1951, and originally had an important practical use: It started in 1886 as a safety valve for the hydraulic power plant, and became a permanent monument as the city loved the way it looked. Get Google maps directions>
5. St Pierre Cathedral
Beyond the recent Neoclassical facade things are much older, with architecture that dates to the 12th century.
From 1541 it was the home church of John Calvin, and his personal chair looks like he just got up from it.
The cathedral was constructed on top of much older buildings , among which is a basilica from the 4th century.
This and a variety of ancient vestiges can be explored underground at the archaeological site.
You can also go up the cathedral’s towers to view the Alps, Jura and Geneva against its lake: The south’s viewing platform is open-air, while the north is in a closed room and might be more suitable in winter. Get Google maps directions>
6. The old town (vieille ville)
Allow a couple of hours to satisfy your curiosity in the largest historic centre in Switzerland.
The Vielle Ville twists around the hill capped by the cathedral and was once enveloped by defensive walls.
Getting around on these steep cobblestone streets and stairways is tiring but worthwhile: The old centre is densely packed with intriguing little corners, fountains, terraces with lookouts, as well as places of real historic value.
The 18th-century polymath Jean-Jacques Rousseau was born here, while Bourg-de-Four has a row of evocative historic houses on a friendly square where cattle markets traded in medieval times.
Get Google maps directions>
7. Palais des Nations
After New York, Geneva has the second most important United Nations office.
The Palais des Nations dates to the 1930s and was the headquarters for the League of Nations, the UN’s predecessor.
The complex is in constant use, hosting thousands of intergovernmental meetings each year, but is open for hour-long guided tours in 15 different languages.
Your level of access is contingent on the meeting schedule, but typically will involve the Human Rights and Alliance of Civilizations Room, the immense Assembly Hall, the Salle des Pas Perdus and the Council Chamber, where epoch-making negotiations have taken place between nations.
Get Google maps directions>
8. Bains des Pâquis
Poking out into La Rade and close enough to the Jet d’Eau to feel the spray, the Bains des Pâquis are public baths along a pier on the west shore of Lake Geneva.
This isn’t just somewhere to exercise, as people meet up to socialise at Bains des Pâquis and cultural events take place in summer.
The outdoor pool is wildly popular when it’s warm, and you can sunbathe on the pier and grab lunch at the restaurant terrace.
In this season there are free poetry and classical music recitals at the baths first thing in the morning.
In winter you’re also free to bathe in the outdoor pool before warming up in the sauna and hammam.
Get Google maps directions>
9. Parc de la Grange
The largest of Geneva’s city parks is possibly the most beautiful, on the shore of the lake at Quai Gustave-Ador.
Parc de la Grange is laid out over terraces, with stairways that have been cut from the bedrock.
This space has been settled by wealthy residents for 2,000 years, as the ruins of a Roman villa sit behind the 18th-century villa there now.
In 1918 the villa’s last resident bequeathed the park to the city.
There are two theatres in Parc de la Grange, both staging several productions from May to September.
But the star in summer is the rose garden, which grows more than 10,000 bushes from 200 varieties.
Get Google maps directions>
10. Jardin Anglais
This took the place of an old wooden harbour and was enhanced a few years later when the Pont du Mont du Mont-Blanc was completed on the west side in 1862. The centrepiece is the fountain, cast at a foundry in Val d’Osne in France in 1862. The park’s curving paths radiate off this monument, out to the promenade where you can get a photo of the Jet d’Eau and contemplate the lake.
Look for the Horloge Fleurie, an outdoor homage to Geneva’s watchmakers from 1955, in the form of a working clock with a flowerbed for its face. Get Google maps directions>
11. Parc des Bastions
This park got its name because it was wedged between the 16th-century fortifications and those that followed a century later.
Next to Place de Neuve it is also home to the oldest university building, erected in 1873. On June 21 the Parc des Bastions puts on concerts as part of the international Fête de la Musique.
Life-sized chessboards are available to all passersby, and there are also ping-pong tables and then a skating rink in winter. Get Google maps directions>
You have to spare a moment for the Reformation wall,
12. International Museum of the Reformation
As the home of John Calvin Geneva is in a unique position to tell the story of the Reformation.
It’s a defining chapter in the city’s past, and is retold at this museum next to the Cathedral of St Pierre.
The exhibitions are given real historical weight thanks to the rich archives of documents that were already in Geneva: There are manuscripts, engravings, paintings and early printed materials to study, as well as a modern 15-minute film outlining the driving forces.
The location is significant too, as the museum is on the site of the Cloître de Saint-Pierre where the vote to approve the reformation of Geneva was taken in 1536. Get Google maps directions>
13. Maison Tavel
A branch of the Art and History Museum, Maison Tavel is a historic house on Rue du Puits-Saint-Pierre in the middle of the Old Town.This is the oldest private home in Geneva, dating mostly to the 14th century after it was rebuilt in the wake of a fire that devastated the city in 1334. Each room tells you something about the history of Geneva.
On the top floor there’s a video projected onto a relief model of Geneva’s natural landscape to show the city’s growth.
Spaces in the house like the cellars, kitchen and apartments are decorated in styles from different epochs, all with period furniture, paintings and everyday utensils in place.
Get Google maps directions>
14. International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum
This museum for this international humanitarian network goes back to 1988. At the start of the 2010s it was given a complete overhaul and reopened in 2013 with the innovative “Humanitarian Adventure” exhibition.
There are three main areas, each representing one of the organisation’s remits: Defending Human Dignity, Reconstructing Family Links and Reducing Natural Risks.
Each of these sections was drawn up by a world-leading exhibition designer.
They communicate information in unconventional ways, intended to elicit more emotion than if you were looking at plain artefacts and statistics. Get Google maps directions>
15. Patek Philippe Museum
An early 20th-century factory is the stage for a museum delving into five centuries of watchmaking.
The star is the amazing exhibition of musical automata, watches and portrait miniatures from the 1500s to the 1900s, mostly assembled in Geneva and Switzerland.
But you can also track the origins of Patek Philippe, set up in 1845 by a partnership between the watchmakers Antoni Patek from Poland and Frenchman Adrien Philippe.
On the ground floor are reconstructions of workbenches with all of the instruments needed to make a timepiece, and you can even see a watch-maker on the job in a workshop.
Get Google maps directions>
16. Conservatory and Botanical Garden
Geneva’s botanical garden is on the western lakeshore across the railway tracks from the United Nations Office.
Keen gardeners will be spellbound, in a park that contains 14,000 plant species gathered from all over the world.
The gardens’ herbarium catalogues more than six million specimens.
While outside you can lose yourself in flowerbeds, an arboretum, ponds and the graceful metal and glass greenhouse that holds the winter garden.
One themed garden features plants that evoke our senses of smell and touch, while the rose garden is sensory overload in June and July.
The park also has a zoo for conservation, housing deer and waterfowl. Get Google maps directions>
17. The flower clock
Geneva is recognized all around the world for it's watch making tradition, being the mother of high-end watchmaking. To pay tribute to this honor, Geneva created the biggest clock in the world, made from flowers.
Geneva Flower Clock, named L'horloge fleurie in French, created in 1955, soon became world famous, one of the main attraction of the city.
Interestingly, clock always look different, as they are made of various flowers which bloom in different times in the year. Located Quai du Général-Guisan Get Google maps directions>
18. Mont Salève
When it’s overcast in Geneva there might be blue skies and sunshine at this mountain peak on the edge of the city.
A big wall of rock on the horizon, Salève is billed as the “balcony of Geneva” and rises to just shy of 1,400 metres.
If that sounds daunting there’s a cable-car that will whisk you to near the summit in just five minutes.
This has been operating in some form since 1932 and replaced the world’s first electric rack railway, completed in 1892. If you’re a hardy walker you’re also free to take the hiking trail to the top.
At the summit are cafes, constant knockout views of Geneva, the lake and Mont Blanc in the distance.
From the peak you could follow a trail into alpine meadows. Get Google maps directions>
19. Plainpalais Market
Geneva’s main flea and farmers’ market trades on Wednesdays and Saturdays, as well as the first Sunday of the month.
If you’re out hunting for a bargain there are scores of stalls selling antiques, furniture, handicrafts, books, jewellery, homeware and clothing.
As with any market your chances of making a discovery hinge on luck and patience, as well as when you visit: On Saturdays for example the traders tend to be more upscale.
Get Google maps directions>
20. Quartier des Grottes
The Grottes area’s most recent history is essentially a long battle between the people and planned refurbishment works. Squatters, voters and neighbourhood community associations have successively fought for the area not to be torn down. At one point in time, the City of Geneva even intended to build an American-style downtown with skyscrapers and large avenues. Fortunately enough, the people managed preserve this area more or less the same.
Today, the bohemian Quartier des Grottes has gentrified, attracting successful young professionals though rents are still reasonable considering how central it is. The French term “bobo”, for bourgeois-bohemian, seems perfectly adapted to this place. Les Grottes represents 10% of the entire city’s inhabitants. Get Google maps directions>
Damien is our Geneva local representative, we asked him what an ideal day of leisure in Geneva could look like, what would he suggest doing from early morning to late at night
Here is what he suggests. Don't hesitate to contact Damien on Twitter @bigcitychase #Geneva #questionforDamien if you have questions for him, we may publish your conversation in this blog if he thinks it might be useful to other Geneva visitors.
Damien from Geneva for Big City Chase Geneva :
"Hello everyone, my name is Damien, I lived all my life in Switzerland and 5 yeras ago I moved from Lausanne to Geneva.
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