Think Geneva is all business and diplomacy? Wrong
A lumbering Frankenstein’s monster, a chalice made of breadcrumbs, the best artisan chocolates you’ve (probably) ever eaten… there’s more to Geneva than banks and bureaucracy.
From vineyard ventures and skiing, to Lake Geneva water sports and western Switzerland day trips, you’ll find lots to enjoy around Geneva canton. But the city itself, consistently rated among the world’s most liveable, is also a delight. And while it’s not the cheapest break, bonuses like free public transport for hotel guests and citywide water fountains (even including one for sparkling water) make sightseeing a doddle.
Tickling your fancy? Below are my top recommendations for things to do, based on my recent visit. Bon voyage!
Visit the Red Cross Museum
Genevan businessman Henri Dunant inspired the founding of the Red Cross in 1863, after seeing thousands of suffering soldiers during the Battle of Solferino. He wanted help for the wounded, no matter where they were from. Headquartered in Geneva, the Red Cross now employs around 16 million volunteers and staff, aiding victims of armed conflicts and disasters worldwide.
Situated in a stark glass and concrete building, with dark interiors and crimson floors, the Red Cross Museum tells the story of this pioneering organisation and reveals the new threats it faces in an age of online disinformation and cyberattacks. It’s very dynamic: an exhibition you enter through dense dangling chains, a video interview with a child soldier that starts by placing your hand on his, a soundtrack featuring songs like Billie Holiday’s lynching protest Strange Fruit… My highlight was the room of detainee-made items “reflecting [their] need to free their mind from their prison surroundings”, from a breadcrumb chalice made by Polish inmates to a pearl-encrusted snake made by Turkish prisoners of war. Astonishing creativity that reminds us of the people behind the stats.
The Red Cross Museum lies in Geneva’s International District: home to the iconic Broken Chair sculpture, a warning against landmines, and other major organisations such as the United Nations, whose new multimillion-pound visitor centre is due to open next year. Nearby are treasures like Geneva’s Botanical Garden and the Ariana Museum, with its vast collections of ceramic and glass.
Meander the Old Town and surroundings
A maze of grand shuttered stone buildings and secret stairways, Geneva’s Old Town is Switzerland’s largest historical city. Around here you’ll find some of Geneva’s top sites: the 140-metre-high Water-jet Fountain, built as a safety valve for the hydraulic plant that supplied energy to Geneva’s watchmakers; the Flower Clock, another watchmaking icon, by the waterside promenade; St. Pierre Cathedral and its technicolour Chapel of the Maccabees; Place du Bourg-de-Four, a former medieval market ringed by restaurants and gelato stores; and many more.
Visiting the area on a walking tour, I also encountered 16th-century walls in an underground parking lot and learned about L'Escalade, a quirky December festival that commemorates Geneva’s victory over Savoyan troops in 1602. Legend has it that resident Catherine Cheynel threw boiling vegetable soup on the invaders, prompting a tradition that sees Genevans make chocolate cauldrons filled with marzipan vegetables - these are smashed by the young and elderly as they sing a victory chant. Other event highlights include costumed parades, road running and, naturally, servings of veg soup.
Past Geneva’s buzzy main shopping area, I rounded off my tour in Bastions Park, where red squirrels scamper and old men play on giant chessboards in dappled sunlight. The park is home to the imposing 100-metre-long (Protestant) Reformation Wall, a nod to Geneva’s key Reformational role as the centre of Calvinism, as well as the glorious Kiosque des Bastions cafe-restaurant.
Get your mitts on a Choco Pass
Switzerland is famed for chocolate - no wonder the Swiss are the biggest consumers worldwide, at about 11 kilos per person annually - and Genevans have been producing it since the early 1800s. The city’s ingenious Choco Pass lets you sample around 10 leading chocolatiers, with each providing a little tasting bag and sometimes a short talk on their history. It costs a very reasonable 30 francs and holders of the City Pass (which includes 60 free or discounted attractions, spanning lake cruises to museums) bag 20% off.
There’s something so satisfying in sniffing out each sugar-scented shop, via the help of the map, and being awarded your bag of goodies: from ganache truffles to pralines and caramels. I generously brought my collection home to share - much to the delight of friends and family, who declared them the best chocolates they’d ever tasted.
Another treat? Visiting shops as varied as their products: from contemporary boutiques, where chocolates are displayed like fancy beauty products in chic black and white packaging, to intimate family stores with polished wooden counters and vintage posters of flower-strewn women. Some are also patisseries and/or cafes, with La Bonbonnière throwing in a hot chocolate for Choco Pass holders.
Take a tuk-tuk ride with Welo
In the depths of Plainpalais neighbourhood - past flea market stalls, Patek Phillipe Museum’s shiny displays, thrumming student bars - lurks an unlikely creature: Frankenstein’s monster. English writer Mary Shelley wrote and set her seminal Gothic novel in Geneva, and Frankenstein’s frightful experiment still roams Plainpalais today. Well, in statue form anyway.
Frankenstein’s monster was among various curiosities I discovered on an electric tuk-tuk ride with Welo, whose experiences span urban art to vineyards and even watchmaking workshops. As I’d explored much of the centre already, my must-see Geneva tour took me beyond the usual haunts (thanks to affable driver Hamza) and into novel territory - from a lakeside “city beach” to Junction, an artsy complex where the Rhône and Arve rivers meet.
Last destination? Carouge, a neighbourhood built by Sardinians, where bohemian designers and second-hand bookstores ply their trade on pastel-hued streets. The perfect finale to an eclectic, electric whizz through Geneva.
Explore the universe at CERN
“We think we know it all. But what we can see, visible matter, is only about 5% of matter; of the rest, dark energy and matter, we know very little.” Steph Hills, European Communications Manager at CERN, makes a fair point.
CERN (European Organisation for Nuclear Research) was founded in 1954 to advance our lacking human knowledge, probing the universe via the world’s largest particle physics laboratory. It’s also the birthplace of the World Wide Web, which English computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee invented in 1989.
Visitors can discover more on CERN’s ground-breaking work at the Science Gateway centre, housed in a striking tubular building designed by Renzo Piano, who was inspired by CERN’s accelerator technology. The centre hosts interactive exhibits, alongside occasional shows and workshops, plus popular guided tours.
Dine out
There’s more to Genevan food than chocolate and cheesy fondue (another speciality I made sure to sample).
Brunch delights like saffron French toast with miso caramel at Amarante in Geneva’s Botanical Garden, surrounded by fragrant lavender and cheeky sparrows. Bremgarten trout in Les Armures, a centuries-old institution, amid polished armour and Swiss canton flags. Fancy cocktails and truffled rigatoni in the “urban jungle” of Kiosque des Bastions: a bright Deco-style pavilion with huge glass windows, green-gold accents and chandeliers… I found Geneva a gastronomic tour de force.
My favourite restaurant of all was Reffetorio, where your lunch buys a dinner for someone in need thanks to its charity partnerships. The philanthropic venue is also very green, with a focus on local seasonal produce and avoiding waste; my South African waiter told me that Reffetorio Geneva has already salvaged over seven tonnes of food that would have been squandered.
It’s achingly cool too, a vast industrial space with an open kitchen and prep areas. Utensils hang like artworks and ingredients such as garlic and ginger ferment in long rows of jars. On entering, I caught the nutty smell of roasting bread (a staff member was making a bread beer) and saw a chef chopping ravioli strings into pieces. From pork belly with leeks and koji e pepe sauce to fluffy Japanese cloud cake and confit rhubarb, my meal hit the spot - and had a conscience too.
Fact file
Geneva’s airport is well connected, offering regular direct flights from UK cities including Manchester. You can also take the Eurostar from London to Paris, then board a high-speed Lyria train to Geneva Cornavin station.
Vicky stayed at Hotel D Geneva, a four-star design hotel just minutes from Cornavin train station and Lake Geneva.
For more information on Geneva, see geneve.com/en.
