Honestly, when we were first researching where to travel to, I thought that Geneva was Genovia, the place mentioned in The Princess Diaries, which is actually a fictional place! I’d always fancied handing to Switzerland as I’m a massive fan of cheese and chocolate and if this is your favourite combo, Geneva is the place for you! If you’re thinking about taking a Geneva city break, look no further than my itinerary!
Day One
As you arrive at Geneva airport don’t forget to pick up your free 80 minutes of travel. There’s a machine located where the bag pickup is and as the airport isn’t too far from the center this will get you into the center in no time at all!
If you’re staying in a hotel, you’ll get all of your transport free. As we were staying in an Airbnb we didn’t have this luxury, therefore, purchased the Geneva Pass at the airport. For 72 hours it cost 45 CHF (around £34) which gave us transport and access to a lot of activities and attractions, not entirely sure I’d recommend the pass as we found a lot of what we wanted wasn’t available, but for the transport it was great.
After an early morning flight and after checking into your hotel or Airbnb, it’s time for lunch! And what better way to start the trip than with cheese fondue?! With cute little plates and a basket of bread, we couldn’t wait to tuck in!
After being full of cheese, it was time to head to a chocolate workshop at Chocolaterie Stettler, it was 40 CHF (around £30) for an hour workshop, where we got to try different types of chocolates as well as learn about the history. We got to try the infamous Pavé De Genève, which has to be kept in the fridge else it melts. It was incredible and would highly recommend everyone tries this chocolate when in Geneva, from Stettler it costs around £23 for 6 pieces, which is a bit expensive, but it’s worth it!
After freshening up I’d recommend heading to Café Papon, I was craving a cheeseburger and this one was incredible, washed down with a glass of Rose!
When on holiday find a cute rooftop cocktail bar! We found this with Rooftop 42, it was 22 CHF (around £16.50) for a cocktail, which is a lot for a cocktail but again, as we’re on holiday you can’t not treat yourself! Think about your favourite cocktail and then you can adapt each to whatever you fancy, I went for a passionfruit mojito!
There’s also a photo booth on your way out, so be sure to head in and get a good keepsake!
Day Two
After a good and well-needed sleep, head for some brunch! We found this cute little café, Le Petit Vingt Trois, which served up an alternative breakfast, it was the best way to start our day! I’d recommend finding a little café on your trip and discovering something new!
After filling up on some food, take the cable trip to Mont Salève which is included on the Geneva Pass, it’s around a half an hour bus trip from the center. You get one of the best views over Geneva and can cross into the French border while you’re in Switzerland! Make sure you dress for it, it was snowing and extremely cold when we headed up, and I most definitely was not dressed for the cold!
On the Geneva Pass, there are a number of boat trips which are included. We actually did a few of these, the first had no commentary so I wouldn’t recommend. We did the mermaid trip which had commentary! If you don’t have the Geneva Pass you can wander down near the riverfront and there are lots of little stalls where you can purchase a ticket.
One of the most famous landmarks in Geneva is the Jet d’Eau, which shoots water 40 feet into the air. If it’s windy then the jet is switched off, it was switched off on one of the days we were there as it was very windy!
When in Geneva, go chocolate shopping! Spend the whole afternoon wandering around the many chocolate shops, finding your new favourite! I loved the Blonde chocolate from Auer and of course the Pavé De Genève, which you can also buy from Auer and it cost around £20 for 22 pieces!
We’d booked a table at Restaurant Les Armures, which is a five-star restaurant based up in Old Town. It’s well known as Bill Clinton visited back in 1994 and it’s supposedly the best fondue in town! We opted for the bacon and mushroom fondue with boiled potatoes and bread to dip in. This fondue was definitely better than the first we had, probably as it had no alcohol in it (we found the one with alcohol in a bit too sickly).
Entering through Bleu Nuit, at the back of the restaurant lies Le Frigo, a secret little cocktail bar which you enter via a fridge door! It’s quite small so if there’s a lot of you, you may not all fit if it’s busy but it’s a good quirk to discover! We got a cocktail each which cost 17 CHF (which is around £13).
Day Three
Every day at 11 am there’s a free walking tour, allowing you to delve into Geneva via the locals! It takes between two and two and a half hours, you find out some handy information which you wouldn’t have otherwise. After walking around Geneva, discovering some hidden gems and hearing more about the history of the city, I’d recommend wandering by the rivers. The waters are SO blue, you can literally look to the bottom!
One of the other highlights of Geneva is La Jonction, which is where rivers Rhône and Arve meet, it’s a stunning sight! You have to travel out a little bit further to see this, but I’d highly recommend making the trip. The best views are from up by the train station, as you can get the full view!
On your final few hours in Geneva, I’d recommend heading to the Cathedral. You can take a look around as well as heading up the stairs to get another fab view of Geneva, it was sunny too which made it an even better view! This was also free on the Geneva Pass, so we knew it was one we wanted to do.
To finish our weekend, we wanted to indulge in a nice desert! Who doesn’t love a freakshake?! When we found out they had a Black Tap in Geneva, it was a given we had to go! Opting for the cookie one, honestly, it was incredible! The milkshake was thick and you couldn’t fit much more on top of the shake!
I hope this three-day itinerary for a Geneva city break has helped give you some inspiration for your trip or has persuaded you to take a trip! It’s a lesser known city, but has so much to offer, in particular, cheese fondue and chocolate! It’s quite an expensive city, which is something to bear in mind. But nonetheless, it’s a city with a lot of culture!
Have you been to Geneva before? Let me know if there’s anything else which should be done in the comments!
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