Most of Geneva’s attractions can be covered on foot, with the exception of Lake Geneva. Motorboats, lovingly named mouettes (seagulls), crisscross the lake, providing outstanding views of Geneva, as well as a close-up shot of the city emblem, the Jet d’Eau.
The Old Town is dominated by the Cathédrale St-Pierre, located next to the Auditoire, the church in which Calvin taught and John Knox preached and supervised the production of the Geneva Bible. In the city centre, there is the Ile Rousseau, a tiny island in the River Rhône, off the Pont des Bergues, with a statue of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and a superb view of the port of Geneva.
Geneva is also known as the ‘City of Parks’. As well as the Jardin Anglais, the city centre boasts the Promenade des Bastions, below the Old Town walls, which contains the famous Reformation Wall and the giant outdoor chess pieces. Several parks are situated on the shores of the lake. On the rive gauche (left bank) are the Eaux-Vives and La Grange – the latter contains the ruins of a Roman villa and a fine rose garden, where the annual International Rose Competition is held. On the rive droite (right bank), Ariana Park surrounds the museum of that name and the Palais des Nations, while closer to the lake is the Jardin Botanique. The central point of the River Rhône is marked by ruins of a medieval fort, the Tour de l’Ile.
Tourist Information
Geneva Tourist Office
Rue du Mont-Blanc 18
Telephone: (022) 909 7000.
Fax: (022) 909 7075.
E-mail: info@geneve-tourisme.ch
Website: www.geneve-tourisme.ch
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0800-1800, Sat and Sun 0800-1700 (15 Jun-1 Sep); Mon-Sat 0900-1800 (2 Sep-14 Jun).
A new and centrally located office recently opened at the Pont-de-la-Machine.
Passes
There are no passes giving discounts to attractions, seeing as 2/3 of the city’s museums do not charge for admission.
Key Attractions
Cathédral de St Pierre (St Peter’s Cathedral)
Built between 1160 and 1289, St Peter’s Cathedral is astonishingly small. Even more astonishing is its combination of Romanesque, Gothic, and neo-classical styles. The austerity of the main body of the church is wholly appropriate for a building in which John Calvin preached. However, the 15th century Chapel of the Maccabees, restored in 1875, is a riot of gilded embellishment against the blue and red grounds that recall the decoration of Cardiff Castle and Castell Coch by William Burges. The neo-classical façade was added in the year 1750. Under the cathedral is one of Europe’s largest underground archaeological sites with some excellent 14th century mosaics, while the top of the north tower offers fine views over the old town and lake.
Telephone: (022) 311 7575.
Fax: (022) 310 0225.
Transport: Bus 2, 3, 5, 7 or 17; tram 12 or 16.
Opening hours: Mon-Sat 1000-1200 and 1400-1700, Sun 1100-1230 and 1330-1700 (Oct-May); Mon-Sat 0900-1900 and Sun 1100-1900 (Jun-Sep).
Admission: Free (cathedral); SFr3 (north tower).
Jardin Anglais (English Garden)
The English Garden, dating from 1854, is home to the Monument National, a statue of two young women – ‘Helvetia’ and the ‘Republic of Geneva’– symbolising Geneva’s attachment to the Swiss Confederation on 12 September 1814. Inside the park there is an elegant bronze fountain and L’Horloge Fleurie (Flower Clock) – decorated with over 6300 plants – that was installed in 1955 to honour Geneva’s watch-making industry. The clock is the biggest in the world – 5 metres (16.4ft) in diameter and 17.7m (58ft) in circumference. Its second hand advances nearly 27cm (10.6 inches) per second.
Quai Général Guisan
Transport: Bus 2, 9 or 10.
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours.
Admission: Free.
Jet d’Eau (Water Fountain)
The famed Water Fountain is the Eiffel Tower of Geneva, a very impressive 140m (459ft) fountain that dominates the Geneva harbour and all modern depictions of the city. The Jet was formerly the safety valve for the city’s water supply and is now Europe’s tallest fountain. This water showpiece is illuminated at night, however, during the day, the fountain takes care of the special effects for itself – when the sun shines, a rainbow hovers behind the powerful jet of water, which spurts straight up into the sky at a speed of 200kph.
Operating hours: Daily 0930-2315 (Mar-mid-Oct), subject to weather conditions.
Mur des Réformateurs (Reformation Wall)
Construction of the 60ft Reformation Wall began in 1909, on the 400th anniversary of the birth of John Calvin. The monument is dedicated to the 4 figures central to the Reformation movement – Théodore de Bèze (1513-1605), John Calvin (1509-64), John Knox (1513-72) and Guillaume Farel (1549-65).
Promenade des Bastions
Transport: Bus 3 or 5.
Opening hours: Dawn to dusk.
Admission: Free.
Jardin Botanique (Botanical Gardens)
Geneva’s world-famous Botanical Gardens were created by the botanist A P de Candolle, in the Parc des Bastions in 1817. Relocated to the present site in 1901, the 28-hectare (69-acre) gardens have greenhouses with tropical plants from six continents, thousands of flowers, a pond brimming with aquatic plants, a garden of the senses, an aviary and a park of rare animals, as well as a research laboratory, herbarium collection and extensive library.
Chemin de l’Impératrice 1, 1292 Chambésy
Telephone: (022) 418 5100.
Fax: (022) 418 5101.
Transport : Bus 4 or 18.
Opening hours: Daily 0930-1700 (Oct-Mar); daily 0800-1930 (Apr-Sep); greenhouses closed Fri.
Admission: Free.
Palais des Nations (Palace of Nations)
This huge building, designed in the form of a double horseshoe and set in a park with century old trees, is the largest United Nations centre after New York. It was built between 1929 and 1937 to host the League of Nations, the precursor to the United Nations. Visits are very popular and allow entrance to certain conference rooms (including the Council Room with frescoes by José Maria Sert, and the Assembly Hall) and also an opportunity to sign the Livre d’Or, the golden book of peace.
Avenue de la Paix 14
Telephone: (022) 907 4896.
Fax: (022) 907 0032.
E-mail: visit-gva@unog.ch
Transport: Bus 5, 8, 11, 14, 18, F, V or Z.
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1200 and 1400-1600 (Apr-May and Sep-Oct); daily 0900-1800 (Jul-Aug); Mon-Fri 1000-1200 and 1400-1600 (Nov-Mar).
Admission: SFr8.50; concessions available.
MAMCO (Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art)
Located in a former factory, this museum extends over four floors that are best visited from top to bottom. One of the permanent displays is L’Appartement, a faithful reproduction of a Parisian collector’s flat, for which he has loaned his own furniture, sculptures and paintings.
Rue des Vieux-Grenadiers 10
Telephone: (022) 320 6122.
Fax: (022) 781 5681.
E-mail: mamco@mamco.ch
Website: www.mamco.ch
Transport: Bus 1 or 4 to Ecole-de-Médecine; tram 12 to Rond-Point de Plainpalais or 13 to Place de Cirque.
Opening hours: Wed-Sun 1200-1800, Tues 1200-2100.
Admission: SFr8; concessions available.
Musée International de la Croix-Rouge et du Croissant-Rouge (International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum)
With a powerful combination of sculpture, audiovisuals, computers and documentation, this extraordinary museum tells the story of the founding of the Red Cross by Henry Dunant, as well as its present humanitarian actions. It is Geneva’s most remarkable original museum. Café Dinant also is a multimedia area.
Avenue de la Paix 17
Telephone: (022) 748 9525.
Fax: (022) 748 9528.
Website: www.micr.org
Transport: Bus 8, F, V or Z.
Opening hours: Wed-Mon 1000-1700 (museum); Mon, Wed-Fri 1000-1700, Tue, Sat-Sun 1130-1430 (Café Dinant).
Admission: SFr10; concessions available.
Musée d’art et d’histoire (Museum of Art and History)
The Museum of Art and History presents a multidiscipline approach to history – from prehistoric times to the present – through significant collections of fine art, archaeology and applied art, including arms and armour, costumes and musical instruments. The most famous work being Konrad Witz’s early 15th-century painting, Le pêche miraculeuse.
Rue Charles-Galland 2
Telephone: (022) 418 2600.
Fax: (022) 418 2601.
E-mail: mah@ville-ge.ch
Website: http://mah.ville-ge.ch
Transport: Bus 1, 3, 8, 17.
Opening hours: Wed-Mon 1000-1700.
Admission: Free.
Musée de l’Horlogerie et de l’Émaillerie (Clock and Watch Museum)
Set in a very beautiful Palladian townhouse, this museum traces the development of Genevois clock making, which began in the 17th century and reached its height in 1785. Of particular interest is the watch that was owned and made by Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s grandfather – in the form of a skull that splits into half to reveal the time – and an astronomic automated clock made in 1711.
Route de Malagnou 15
Telephone: (022) 418 6470.
Fax: (022) 418 6471.
E-mail: mhe@ville-ge.ch
Transport: Bus 1, 8, 20, 27 or 88; tram 12 or 16.
Opening hours: Wed-Mon 1000-1700.
Admission: Free, SFr4.50 (temporary exhibitions).
Maison Tavel (Tavel House)
The 1-towered Tavel House is named after the noble Tavel family, who lived here in the 14th century. Today a museum, it provides an insight into the day-to-day lives of Genevois from the 14th-19th centuries. The attic houses the Magnin Maquette of 1896, a huge relief model of Geneva before 1850, with its city walls still intact.
Rue du Puits-Saint-Pierre 6
Telephone: (022) 418 3700.
Fax: (022) 418 3701.
E-mail: mah@ville-ge.ch
Opening hours: Mon, Wed-Sun 1000-1700, closed Tues.
Transport: Bus 2, 7, 16 or 36; tram 12.
Admission: Free; SFr1.50-2.50 (temporary exhibitions).
Further Distractions
Carouge
This little artisan town, 2 kilometres (one mile) south of the city centre, is full of book and antique restorers, watchmakers, glass blowers, clothes designers, hatters, bistros and restaurants. In the year 1772, the people of Turin (the capital of the kingdom of Sardinia) came to set up a town to rival Geneva. Carouge changed hands very often but, in 1816, the town was annexed to Geneva and became Swiss. Its architecture remains Italianate in style and the narrow streets are straight and in order, with apartments looking onto wide and green courtyards. Many are open to public, such as the courtyard of Rue Vautier (opposite number 43) and the courtyard of the Musée de Carouge.
Carouge
Website: www.carouge.ch
Transport: Tram 11, 12, 13, 14, 18, 41 or 45 from the city centre.
Musée de Carouge
Place de Sardaigne 2
Telephone: (022) 342 3383.
Fax: (022) 342 3381.
E-mail: musee@carouge.ch
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1400-1800.
Entrance: Free.
Large Electron Positron Collider
World’s largest scientific instrument straddles the border between Switzerland and France, just outside Geneva. Operated by CERN (European Centre for Nuclear Research), the instrument lies in a 27km long tunnel. It is used to study the outcome of high speed collision between constituent parts of atoms, mimicking – for a split second – the apparent state of the universe at the moment it was created. The exhibition describes how particles are accelerated to near the speed of light and what has been learnt from over a decade of experiments.
Telephone: (022) 767 4052 or 8484. Fax: (022) 767 8710.
E-mail: visits.service@cern.ch
Transport: Bus 15.
Opening hours: Mon-Sat 0900-1700.
Admission: Free. |
