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Things to do – All Year Round
- Go to the Museums: They aren’t the Smithsonian, MOMA or the Met, but admission is free every first Sunday of the month. And the cafes at the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire and Maison Grütli are a perfect anti-dote to a rainy day – cosy, calm, with free wifi.
- Go to the Movies: What is playing, when, and where. Try another site.
- Cultural agenda of the City of Geneva: Website run by the City of Geneva’s Department of Cultural Affairs, with a monthly agenda of all that is cool in the city.
- The Geneva Welcome Centre: The CAGI organizes bi-monthly happy hours and social mixers in the city and at their premises next to the UN for professionals, students, and anyone else (website in French and English). The website offers the option to signup for a newsletter (no spam, useful).
- Sindy: They say they connect Geneva. More to the point, they throw massive parties every few months. Summer parties are outdoors, free entrance, and good fun. Winter parties are crowded and the music is iffy. Still, to each his own. They also run the website GenevaOnline (very useful for newcomers).
Things to do – In Summer
- Fête de la Musique: Geneva’s version of France’s music festival, and while it may be smaller, it lasts longer – an entire 2.5 days.
- Cinelac: Open air cinema by the lake, with stunning sunsets over the Jura to complement or salvage a Geneva price movie.
- Fête-de-Genève: outdoor festival by the lake with rides, bars, music and lots of tourists. Astonishing fireworks display to mark the practical end of summer fun.
- Windsurf: The windsurfing school offers private lessons for 240 CHF and group lessons for less. Wind isn’t always reliable, so check (see practical info below) before you go.
Things to do – In Winter
- Congratulate yourself for making friends in summer.
- Ski: The Geneva airport website lists ski resort distances from the city. The most frequented ones are in France, towards Chamonix – reached by road (my personal favorite is Les Contamines for its intermediate, moderately crowded slopes). If you have time, head to Valais – by road (bus) or train (CFF) – (Verbier, Crans-Montana, Les Diablerets) for a weekend of stunning views.
Practical Information
- Local weather & wind: French-only website with real-time local wind information from Bellevue. Particularly useful for sailors and windsurfers, it plans to provide updates by SMS, but requires (free) registration.
- Gare-Routiere: The bus station provides frequent and cheap transport to the wild blue yonder. In winter, the round-trip ski tickets are a great deal.
Eating Out
- Mortimer’s: Go there for, and only for, arguably the best fondant chocolate cake you’ll find.
- Cafe Gandhi: One of only three decent Indian restaurants in Geneva, all of them located in Paquis. This one’s mid-range, and popular with all my foreign friends.
- Chez ma Cousine: Better known as the ‘cheap chicken place’, the rotisserie chicken is also excellent, and the place a popular destination. One of the few ‘bargains’ in Geneva.
- Le Thé: I cannot stop raving about this place in Cirque (65 rue des bains) since it was introduced to me. Really a tea-room, this place boasts a 10-page menu, with 2 for Chinese dim-sum style food, and the remaining 8 for teas of all types. The place is tiny, seating only 10, but the food is excellent and the environment intimate, so that the effort of making a reservation is well worth it.
- Le Basilic: One street down from the train station, the Thai and Chinese food is better than most, though the place has no pretensions. Nothing like the chicken noodles takeaway for a good bargain (10CHF).
- Bains des Paquis: The only ‘beach’ in Geneva also has a nice restaurant with a good ‘plat du jour’ or Greek salad in the afternoons through summers and Fondue for dinner in winters. Worth it for the environment too.
