Wishing you all the best wishes for 2018 after our adventurous trip to Geneva Lake (Lac Leman) Hope you enjoy reading this and find some useful information and inspiration for your visit.


We have arrived to Geneva Airport (GVA) and as an aviation freak, it fascinated me with its unusual way of gates and parking system for airplanes. There are small circular parking points in different spots which looks like an drive-in fast food place only surrounded but up to 4 airplanes. You go to that points underground and you board your plane outside of it.
I think this is quite unnecessary information already for people who has no interest about aviation 😁

We have planned our trip with a rental car this time so unfortunately i will not be able to provide you with public transportation info. (i will be giving small tips about some observations tho) After a quick check in with rental car provider we have learned that they have given us a car upgrade. We walked down to the parking and found out that the upgrade was huge since we have booked a small compact car and we get a SUV type. (feeling lucky already but who would have guessed Switzerland prices will compensate this gesture in the long run. 😵 )

We have arrived our first Airbnb location in Sergy(FR). A small village 10 km from Geneva to the French Alps. After a calm sleep and rest, we have decided to start with some nature intake and headed up to Col de la Faucille (1.323 mt/Mount Jura) As we climbed up with the car, snow started to get heavier and finally we had to stop and park the car at the tele-combi station. Clouds and mist took over the place and only tele-siege for skiers were available. We have waited in a small cafe until the heavy snow shower stops and also mist is gone. Then we took a little walk in one of the tracking routes down into the forest. It was super calm and empty. While we are on it we had our time to make even a weird looking snowman.

After a tiring and relatively cold day in nature , we decided to see the city of Geneva and discover some of the local tastes. If you read our first blog for Copenhagen , you already know we love food and try to find the best tastes with affordable prices. OK i have to admit that might not be exactly possible for Switzerland but we tried anyways.
Of course we wanted to see the monumental places of Geneva and luckily there is a place called Bain des Paquis . Located just across the famous Jet d'Eau (will come back to this later) with a very cozy restaurant and lovely sight through the water. This place gave us lovely sights for pictures as the sun came down. You can almost the most coastal part of Geneva from here. And also you can access to Lighthouse of Geneva (Le phare des Paquis). We have arrived here around 4 pm so it was relatively empty. We ordered the famous cheese fondue and ate it like crazy person , we also realized that place started to get crowded. Place is very big but also very popular by local people. So if you are planning to go there for dinner make sure you make a reservation or come early like we did. Place was full house around 7 pm. So the prices were relatively less than other Swiss cafes or restaurants. But of course Swiss standards are already high. Cheese fondue was 25 CHF(22 Eur) and perfectly fine for 2 persons. With the drinks and aperitifs we have paid 48 CHF(42 Eur) in total which was totally worth with the taste and also the views we had.

After this we take a night walk alongside the coast and visited Old Town in the central part of the city. Along the way you can also see the famous Flower Clock and St.Pierre Cathedral. Sorry we could not take a picture of Flower Clock but you have some pictures from cathedral.
Summarizing our first part of the Lac Leman trip that Geneva is really beautiful city but of course with high prices. You will definitely enjoy the views, parks, art and culture in this city as you walk through it. People are friendly and most of them speaks English.

Here are some tips you might find useful.

1. It is a beautiful but expensive city. If you travel with a limited amount of budget just avoid eating out and shop in the supermarkets.
2. Trains and buses are well connected in the city or other cities in the country. We had a rental car so we can not really give more information to be useful.
3. It is not a crowded place so you do not feel overwhelmed at any part of the city. There are some attraction points but still quite easy to visit and enjoy.
4. All the places that must be seen are located very close to each other. It is a small city after all. You can walk all points in half a day including the visiting times. 
5. Art and culture is quite rich and you can see different type of art pieces in different corners of the city. 
6. Food is in general above average in sense of taste but way too expensive comparing to other European cities. (Almost double)
7. 2 nights trip is more than enough to discover this small city and also visit the nature alongside French Alps.
8. Car parking might be trouble since it is limited time during the day. So we always used private parking places and paid around 2-3 Eur/hour.

Luckily we only find a contemporary light event Geneva Lux Festival 2017(Festival de Lumieres) during our visit! And it was really interesting to see all projectioons on the buildings and lights around the city. (Don't tell my wife 😉)