Geneva is probably the only city I’ve ever visited where absolutely no one was begging for money, even when I dragged Pat around to check out the very intriguing public housing. Thats not to say that is all Geneva is memorable for but it certainly stood out as something unique.

As a city Geneva is great for a weekend, however, it is also a great base for visits to the Swiss or French Alps – not that we had much time for that this weekend unfortunately (though we did find time to hop across the French border to visit Mont Saleve)! I think what I liked most about Geneva was its walkability with most sights within walking’s distance of each other and if you are feeling just a bit lazy you can easily hop on one of the convenient and efficient trams.

Photos are here.

The Experience

We, or I, crammed a lot of our sight seeing into our Saturday visiting most of the major sights as below. To do this we did a LOT of walking but it was such amazing weather that the walking was extremely pleasant. In between we had a few food stops including indulging in some Swiss specialities (raclette and Filets de perch) at a restaurant where Bill Clinton ate (the plaque said so anyway!) and eating a lot of yummy ice-cream. Mmmm.

We also found ourselves mucking around on few kiddie play areas as Geneva has some pretty cool things on their playgrounds. (DISCLAIMER: No children were harmed in the making of this holiday.)

Some things worth doing:

• Visiting the Cathedral De Saint Pierre. The cathedral itself is beautiful but the most interesting aspect is the climb up to the North Tower which gives you access to sweeping views across the city. There was also apparently an archaelogical site for those who are interested in such things.

• The Old Town.

• A walking tour that takes you past key sites such as the Jet d’Eau, the Flower Clock (I’m sure much more impressive in spring) in the Jardin Anglais, Monument de la Reformation (91 meters long it represents the four Genevese reformers. Just around the corner are the giant chess, checker and other board games), Town Hall (where the first Geneva Covention was signed), and the Promenade de la Treille where you can see the longest wooden bench in the world.

• International Red Cross Museum. The museum highlights the origins of the Red Cross and is always recommended by the guide books. For me it was rather bleak and sombre but gives an understanding of all that the Red Cross has done for humanity.

• Jardin Botanique (Botanic Gardens) has lots to offer including deer, farm animals, an aviary and lots of, well, gardens. A nice place to spend some lazy time.

• Tour of the United Nations. If you haven’t done the tour in the New York UN building you can do one here but a visit will require careful planning as tour times are limited and finish relatively early.

As we pretty much covered everything we wanted to on the Saturday on Sunday we took a quick bus trip across the border to Mont Saleve in France (as an alternative to the longer day trip required for Mont Blanc). Mont Saleve is a limestone ridge not too far south of Geneva and though you do have to bring your passports with you for the border crossing in all honesty the guards didn’t seem to be too concerned as they must see a lot of tourists going back and forth. There is a small walk from the bus stop to the cable-car but it is well signed so you won’t get lost. Actually we had a friendly local guy chatting with us on the way there. I felt a bit lazy after finding out that whilst we would be taking a 6 minute cable-car ride to the top he would be hiking up for about 3 hours to reach the same point! Once at the top you get great views over Geneva and there are a number of hiking trails you can do which will take you even higher. The weather was mild enough for us to do a hike which, though unexpected, was a great way to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday.

Overall I found Geneva an extremely likable city and an easy one to do on a weekend (discounting the numerous day trips available that is.)