We flew into Geneva as part of a longer trip into the French Alps, but decided to spend a day here to check it out. We enjoyed our time here and it was a good day trip but I wouldn’t stick around for longer than that. As soon as we landed a free train took us straight into the city centre where we grabbed a coffee and shared a baguette from a cafe (there are many dotted around the place). We then headed into the historical district to explore the cobbled streets.

We stopped at the Promenade de la Treille where there is one of the longest bench seats in the world (120m) where we sat down and gazed at a nice vista of the city. Afterwards we headed to the St Pierre Cathedral and went inside to have a look. I recommend going as soon as it opens at 10am otherwise bus loads of tourists turn up and it definitely ruins the peacefulness of the place.

A must do while you’re at the cathedral is to head up into the North and South towers for some fantastic views of the city and the lake. It only costs 5 Swiss Francs per person and is definitely worth it for the view. Plus the narrow spiral staircase to the top is a bit of fun.

We then strolled to Place du Bourg-de-Four where we found a delicious bakery called Boulangerie Pierre et Jean. The options were incredible and the bread perfectly baked and fresh. Here we picked up some lunch to take away and eat at the lake.

Lake Geneva (or Lac Léman) is definitely the city’s biggest attraction and is a lovely place walk around. The Promenade du Lac is where we started and is a lovely little park. It is where the L’Horloge Fleurie (Flower Clock) is located – don’t get your hopes up I thought it was pretty ‘meh’. Anyways the Promenade du Lac gives great views over the Lake and of the Jet d’Eau.

Andrew absolutely loved the Jet d’Eau so of course we took a walk out to see it properly. You get a sprayed by water a little bit, but it is inspiring to see up close – it sprays 140m into the air! There is a little lighthouse at the end of the walk out to the Jet d’Eau which is a lovely place to chill out and get some more great views of Lake Geneva.

Overall our brief time in Geneva was lovely. Cost wise it is a very expensive city so we made it into a day trip to save some money. If you want to eat out and drink at nicer restaurants then it can get quite pricey.

Here is a breakdown of our costs for 2 people for 1 day:
Food/Drink – F71 (NZ$109)
Activities – F10 (NZ$15)
Total spent – F81 (NZ$124)