Geneva for 1.5 days in June, what to do?
A traveler is heading to Europe next month with a packed itinerary, including stops in Geneva, where they have two days to explore. They are looking for close and similar experiences to the Matterhorn, as they will be near Geneva's airport before flying home to the US.
- Consider staying in Montreux for beautiful views and easier access to the mountains.
- Spend your time in Geneva at Bains des Pâquis for a local beach experience and enjoy the parks.
- The Lavaux vineyards offer stunning scenery, so they are worth a visit.
- Use trains or lake shuttles for easy transportation—no need for a car!
AI-generated summary-
Hello! We are traveling to Europe next month (JUNE) and have quite the itinerary as it is our first trip overseas and we are packing a lot in (London, Amsterdam, Zurich/Seeblick (husband has conference there for 3 days), Liechtenstein, Konstanz in Germany, Split in Croatia, then Geneva to fly home). We are locked in to getting back to Geneva on our last day as we are flying home to the US from Geneva. We have an option of getting into Geneva at 1000am on a Friday and having the rest of the day Friday and all day Saturday to explore (we fly home on Sunday). Someone told me we MUST go to the Mattterhorn however it looks like quite the drive to get there so we are looking for something much closer that might be a similar type experience. We will likely be staying somewhere close to the airport for those 2 nights (Friday and Saturday). Thank you in advance!!
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Hi LisaH, welcome to MySwissAlps!
I would probably stay in Montreux. It’s closer to the mountains and closer to Zermatt if you decide to go there. It also has its own mountain for great views: http://www.myswissalps.com/ro chersdenaye. For more information, please see http://www.myswissalps.com/mo ntreux.
There are direct trains to Geneva airport that take a bit more than hour.
You don’t need a car for sightseeing like this. The trains are more convenient: http://www.myswissalps.com/tr ain. Plus, most of them are free if you stay in that region: http://www.myswissalps.com/mo ntreux/hotels.
Hi Lisa H
You’ll have quite a trip, and by the time you are in Geneva you’ll be exhausted (well, I shouldn’t say that, not knowing you, just guessing). No need for me to tell you to skip Matterhorn, you’ll come to that conclusion yourselves. If the weather is bad you woun’t see the Matterhorn, if it is good look at Mont Blanc right from the Lake shore, in Geneva.
Have a day like the locals, spend a few hours at the iconic downtown lake beach, Bains des Pâquis, move from place to place on the lake transport Mouettes, have lunch on a terrace in a park, either La Perle du Lac or Parc des Eaux-Vives. For your culture, have a look at the Reformation Monument, and buy chocolate for the folks back home (secretary of State John Kerry’s favorite place was Auer's).
Hi LisaH!
Wow that sounds like quite the itinerary! I wholeheartedly agree with Snowman and Arno, Montreux and a day taking in the sights in Geneva (specially in nice weather) would be lovely.
On a clear day you will see the Mont Blanc from Perle du Lac.
The Lavaux vineyards are also worth it for the scenery.
If you really want to see dramatic mountain landscape, one option is to go to Chamonix on Saturday: http://www.myswissalps.com/ge neva
You can either take a train across Martigny http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable or a bus transfer from Geneva airport for the day.
As Arno said, no need to hire a car 🙂
Hope this helps and all the best on your trip!
Maria.
A trek out to Chamonix would be not much less tiring than a trip to Zermatt in my opinion
At the end of a long tour the advice to stick to Geneva is good, rather than adding to confusion about other possibilities. I’ve been visiting Geneva for 58 years and have still not seen everything, so a day and a half can easily be spent without going on any more day trips outside the city.
Beware however that Mont Blanc is not always visible from central Geneva, especially in cloudy or hazy weather conditions.
However there is still penty to do:
Botanic Gardens
UN
Musée Ariana
The Cathedrak and old town
Mouettes lake boat shuttles
Jet D’Eau
Central shopping street (‘Les Rues Basses’)
Reformation Monument
Jardin Anglais
Other parks
Floral clock
…
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