Geneva - Lonely Planet

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Geneva
POP 189,000 / AREA 282 SQ KM / LANGUAGE FRENCH
Includes 
History.......................... 42
Sights............................ 42
Tours............................. 47
Festivals & Events......... 48
Sleeping........................ 48
Eating............................ 49
Drinking & Nightlife...... 52
Entertainment.............. 54
Shopping....................... 54
Information................... 54
Getting There &
Away.............................. 54
Getting Around............. 55
Best Places to Eat
¨¨Buvette des Bains (p49)
Why Go?
Sleek, slick and cosmopolitan, Geneva is a rare breed of
city: it’s among Europe’s priciest, its people chatter in every
language under the sun and it’s constantly perceived as the
Swiss capital (it isn’t). Superbly strung around the shores
of Europe’s largest Alpine lake, this is only Switzerland’s
third-largest city.
Yet the whole world is here: 200-odd governmental and
nongovernmental international organisations fill the city’s
plush hotels, feast on its international cuisine and help prop
up Geneva’s famed overload of banks, luxury jewellers and
chocolate shops.
But where’s the urban grit? Not in the lakeside’s silkysmooth promenades and iconic fountain of record-breaking
heights, nor in its pedestrian Old Town. To find the rough
cut of the diamond, dig into the Pâquis quarter or walk
along the Rhône’s industrial shores where local neighbourhood bars hum with attitude. This is the Geneva of the
Genevois…or as close as you’ll get to it.
¨¨Brasserie des Halles de
When to Go
l’Île (p50)
¨¨Being a busy business city, Geneva has markedly cheaper
¨¨Le Relais d’Entrecôte (p51)
hotel rates at weekends.
¨¨Auberge d’Hermance (p55)
¨¨April and May see boats going back in the water and
¨¨Le Grill (p50)
Best Places to
Drink
¨¨La Buvette de Bateau (p52)
¨¨Le Bateau Lavoir (p53)
¨¨Yvette de Marseille (p52)
¨¨L’Atelier Cocktail Club (p52)
¨¨La Barje (p53)
the lake’s quays coming alive with city dwellers walking,
rollerblading and hanging out in waterfront terrace bars.
¨¨July and August are the months to swim in the lake, dive
off jetties, discover the city’s alfresco cafe society and picnic
in its many parks.
¨¨Winter, with its December festivals, toasty lakeside sauna
bars and fondue cuisine (not to mention nearby skiing) is a
real charmer.
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Geneva Highlights
1 Dash beneath the Jet
d’Eau (p42) then plunge
into the Old Town (p42).
2 Bone up on the Big Bang
at CERN (p47), the UN at
Palais des Nations (p46)
and communications at ICT
Discovery (p47).
3 Indulge in a shopping
spree (p54) in Geneva’s
Old Town and Pâquis’
boutiques.
4 Sail a paddle steamer to
Yvoire (p55) in France.
5 Chink glasses with locals
in a trio of summertime
pop-up terrace bars (p53)
on the water’s edge.
6 Watch a box-office
hit against the romantic
backdrop of twinkling stars,
boat lights and the rippling
water of Lake Geneva at the
Orange Cinéma (p54).