Attractions

You can see most of Geneva on foot. The best way to familiarize yourself with the city, however, is by taking a walking tour, which covers all the major sights.

Geneva's top attractions -- all premier sights -- are the Jet d'Eau, the famous fountain that has virtually become the city's symbol; the Flower Clock, in the Jardin Anglais, with 6,500 flowers (it was the world's first when it was inaugurated in the 1950s; today, it's less of a showstopper); and Old Town, the oldest part of the city. All these sights, and more, are detailed in our walking tour.

Religious Monuments

The Old Town, or Vieille Ville, on the Left Bank, is dominated by the Cathédrale de St. Pierre, cour Saint-Pierre (tel. 022/319-71-90; www.saintpierre-geneve.ch), which was built in the 12th and 13th centuries and partially reconstructed in the 15th century. Recent excavations have disclosed that a Christian sanctuary was here as early as A.D. 400. In 1536 the people of Geneva gathered in the cloister of St. Pierre's and voted to make the cathedral Protestant. The church, which has been heavily renovated over the years, has a modern organ with 6,000 pipes. The northern tower was reconstructed at the end of the 19th century, with a metal steeple erected between the two stone towers. If you don't mind the 145 steps, you can climb to the top of the north tower for a panoramic view of the city, its lake, the Alps, and the Jura Mountains.

To enter the St. Pierre archaeological site, called Site Archéologique de Saint-Pierre, go through the entrance in cour Saint-Pierre, at the right-hand corner of the cathedral steps. The underground passageway extends under the present cathedral and the High Gothic (early-15th-c.) Chapelle des Macchabées, which adjoins the southwestern corner of the church. The chapel was restored during World War II, after having been used as a storage room following the Reformation. Excavations of the chapel have revealed baptisteries, a crypt, the foundations of several cathedrals, the bishop's palace, 4th-century mosaics, sculptures, and geological strata.

The cathedral and the chapel are open June to September daily from 9:30am to 6:30pm; March to May and in October daily 9am to noon and 2 to 6pm; and November to February daily 10am to 5:30pm. There is no admission charge to visit the cathedral, although donations are welcome; tower admission is 4F. Sunday service is held in the cathedral at 10am, and an hour of organ music is presented on Saturday at 6pm from June to September. The archaeological site is open June to September daily from 11am to 5pm, and October to May Tuesday to Sunday from 2 to 5pm; the admission charge is 8F for adults, 4F for students and seniors. Take bus no. 2, 7, 12, or 36.

Next door to the cathedral is a Gothic church where Calvin preached, known as the Temple de l'Auditoire, or Calvin Auditorium. It was restored in 1959 in time for Calvin's 450th anniversary.

Parks, Gardens & Squares

If you walk heading north along the quays, you'll arrive at some of the lushest parks in Geneva. Parc Mon-Repos is off avenue de France and La Perle du Lac is off rue de Lausanne. Directly to the right is the Jardin Botanique (Botanical Garden), which was established in 1902. It has an alpine garden, a little zoo, greenhouses, and exhibitions, and can be visited free from April to October daily from 8am to 7:30pm, and from November to March daily from 9:30am to 5pm.

You can take a boat to the other side of Lake Geneva and get off at quai Gustave-Ador. From there you can explore two more lakeside parks -- Parc la Grange, which has the most extravagant rose garden in Switzerland (especially in June), and next to it, the Parc des Eaux-Vives.

When you leave the Botanical Garden on the Left Bank, you can head west, along avenue de la Paix, about 1.5km (1 mile) north from the Pont du Mont-Blanc, to the Palais des Nations in the Parc de l'Ariana.

Les Pâquis District

One of Geneva's most animated and colorful districts, Les Pâquis offers a view of a workaday world that's far removed from the luxurious consumerism and (some say) indolence of better-heeled neighborhoods closer to the lake. Its main thoroughfare, the rue des Pâquis, runs parallel to the rue de Berne. To reach it, head north along quai des Bergues, which leads into quai du Mont-Blanc. On your left, at the intersection of quai du Mont-Blanc and Gare Routière, stands the Brunswick Monument, the tomb of Charles II of Brunswick, who died in Geneva in 1873. The duke left his fortune to the city with the provision that it build a monument to him. Geneva accepted the fortune and modeled the tomb after the Scaglieri tombs in Verona.

Les Pâquis is a sector of bistros, nightclubs, ateliers, hipster boutiques, and banks. The word pâquis comes from the Latin pascuum, meaning "pasture." The cows that grazed here are long gone, but from about A.D. 1330 the district consisted of a vast expanse of fields, pastures, and wastelands. It was far from the heart of the city and its protective ditches, and exposed to the permanent danger of invasion.

From the 14th century, as the city developed a stronger defense system, this unincorporated territory became safer, and more and more people made homes here. In the 15th century the Pâquis was home to potters and fisher folk, and eventually homes and small industries began to take root.

In 1831 the French writer Chateaubriand settled at the Hôtel des Etrangers, 22, rue des Pâquis. From 1851 on, development was fairly rapid, with the construction of quai du Mont-Blanc and of the Rotonde, the English church. An American church was also constructed, and in 1857 quais Pâquis and Eaux-Vives were erected. Construction on the Cornavin railway station began the following year. The Pont du Mont-Blanc was erected in 1862. Soon, the lake promenade, the façade des Pâquis, and quai du Mont-Blanc became fashionable.

In 1873 construction began on the Hôtel National (Palais Wilson); from 1925 to 1936 it would house the first secretariat of the League of Nations. The Kursaal was built between 1874 and 1879. One of the most infamous events in the history of the area was the assassination of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, in 1898, at the landing stage facing the duke of Brunswick's mausoleum.

After wandering through the district with no particular fixed itinerary, visitors may tour Lake Geneva in a lake steamer. Steamers leave from quai du Mont-Blanc.

Especially for Kids

Geneva is a city with many attractions of interest to the younger set. The following are perhaps the coolest of the cool:

Visiting the Musée International de la Croix-Rouge et du Croissant-Rouge (Red Cross Museum) is like attending an adventure movie, as kids are enraptured by the sweep and drama of this heroic organization, which has always been near the "core of the action."

One of the best natural-history museums of Europe, the Musée d'Histoire Naturelle delights children with its tropical birds, mammals, and exotic reptiles.

Jet d'Eau and the Flower Clock are exciting introductions for children. After viewing both of them, parents can take their kids for a tour by steamer on Lake Geneva.

For the Literary Enthusiast

At 25, rue des Délices, you'll find the house -- now the Institut et Musée Voltaire (tel. 022/344-71-33; www.ville-ge.ch) -- where Voltaire lived from 1755 to 1760 and from time to time after that up to 1765; he wrote part of Candide here. The museum displays furniture, manuscripts, letters, and portraits, as well as a terra-cotta model of the famous seated Voltaire by Houdon. The museum is open Monday to Saturday from 2 to 5pm, and admission is free. Take bus no. 6, 7, 11, 26, or 27.