Lake Geneva's vast expanse of a lake is among the largest in Western Europe, and spans across the France-Switzerland border.
At the end of the lake lies the city of Geneva itself, at the foot of the section of the lake called Petit Lac, or "Small lake." The lake is absolutely stunning, and gives way to one of the world's most global cities.
Geneva is impressive. In terms of sheer size, it isn't very big. In fact, Geneva is only about one third the size of Montreal, though it's much more densely populated.
I visited Geneva in June of 2017 as part of a family Europe trip before heading off on my big journey to live in Seoul to teach English abroad for a year. Geneva was incredible, and I absolutely fell in love with the city!
Geneva is dominated by its lake, there's no doubt about that, but the city is extremely important on the global stage for several other reasons. Geneva is the city that hosts the highest number of global organizations in the world, and, as such, boasts incredible wealth. Some of the international organizations headquartered in Geneva are:
The International Bureau of Education
The United Nations Office of Geneva
The International Union for Conservation of Nature
The World Health Organization
The World Intellectual Property Organization
The World Meteorological Organization
The World Trade Organization
Médecins Sans Frontières
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
And many more... (you can find the entire list HERE)
Moreover, Switzerland and Geneva can be considered one of the watch capitals of the world, as watchmaking in the city traces its roots back to the 16th century. Most famously, Rolex has its headquarters there, but there are over a dozen famous watchmaking companies located in the city.
Given its international acclaim, logically, Geneva is one of the most expensive cities in the entire world. According to a CNBC study, Geneva ranked as the seventh most expensive in the world, and the second most expensive in Europe, behind only Zurich. The only other more expensive cities are: Luanda, Angola, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore and Seoul (I'm quite surprised about that one as well).
And expensive it was. It took us a good half hour of scouring through TripAdvisor to locate a restaurant within the city that sold good food at a reasonable price. We ended up settling for a chicken restaurant, one of the best in town apparently, and paid a whopping $20 CAD per person, but hey, at least it was quite a delicious meal! Actually, what freaked me out was that we had to pay for our pitchers of water at the restaurant even though there were an abundance of water fountains throughout the city offering up some nice, fresh water from the Alps...
What I did discover, however, was that alcohol in Geneva was actually not very expensive. A pint of beer would cost barely more than it would cost in other European cities. I think I paid around €5-6 for my pint of beer, which is actually quite affordable, especially compared to the outrageous Canadian prices that we pay.
Another nice gratuity offered by the city was the museums. Admission to all museums throughout Geneva is free at all times, so we took the time to explore the Museum of National History, which was quite the interesting visit. In fact, someone had recommended that we drop off our luggage in the museum's lockers (for free) instead of paying for a storage locker at the train station. Smart. We didn't want to spend too long inside the museum though, because the weather was beautiful and the city was just beckoning.
A summer day in Geneva is really the perfect moment to stroll around the city, so why not start with the vast lake? In the centre of Lake Geneva you can find the very famous jet d'eau, or water jet in English, which is actually 125 years old!
Did you know that, at any given time, there are over 7,000 litres of water in the air? In fact, 500 litres of water per second are jetted at an altitude of 14 metres. The water actually leaves the jet at a speed of 200km/h! We actually walked to the base of the jet and walked through it, dousing ourselves, of course.
Strolling through the Jardin Anglais and overlooking Lake Geneva and the jet d'eau is probably one of the best experiences in Geneva. It's very peaceful near the lake, and the vista over the two sides of the city is incredible.
The Jardin Anglais (English Garden) lies at the foot of Lake Geneva, and is most famous for its Flower Clock.
The garden is extremely charming and peaceful, and is teeming with tourists and locals alike gathering to enjoy the day.
Beyond the English Garden lies Geneva's Old City. Now, it's important to understand that Geneva, as a city, is quite French. Of course, it's not French, it's Swiss, but the city itself juts out from the rest of Switzerland, and is almost entirely surrounded by France, as we can see on this map.
It's actually not uncommon for people to work in Geneva and live in France, directly across the border. Due to Switzerland and France both being within the Schengen Area, and thus being allowed free movement between them, commuters can easily live in France and work in Switzerland without any restraints. In fact, one of my friends was doing an internship at UNESCO in Geneva this past summer and she did this to save money.
Due to the city's proximity to France, however, it is under massive French influence. Switzerland has three official languages: German, French and Italian, and the overwhelmingly predominant language in Geneva is French. Additionally, the city's architecture does look quite French, but with it's own Swiss spin. But don't get confused, Geneva is not in France! Apparently, actually, among other Swiss people, Geneva is kind of teased for basically "being French," so the city of Geneva had to plant Swiss flags throughout the city just to emphasize that they are indeed in Switzerland.
As was the case in many European countries historically, Geneva was also the site of many religious quarrels. Geneva was a predominantly Catholic city until the year 1523, when Protestants made their way into town from France, which kicked off the Protestant Reformation, which led to the Protestants taking over the city three years later. After some disputes involving alliances with other cities in Switzerland, the Catholics won their ploy to overthrow the Protestant government, and Catholicism was reinstated in 1532. The two religious groups would go back and forth for a few centuries, until, finally, in 1907, Geneva adopted the separation of church and state, which was aided by Catholic support, and the Protestants were paid off to leave the issue alone. Regardless of all this, one of Geneva's main landmarks is the "Reformation Wall," which is located on the University of Geneva campus and honours many of the individuals, events and documents that made the Protestant Reformation possible. It also serves as the ancient city walls.
Geneva is quite a green city, and its narrow streets are dotted with some very pretty plazas and some impressive views over the city.
I loved Geneva, I truly did. I would recommend this city to anyone in a heartbeat. The city's peaceful, radiant ambiance was captivating, and its stunning lake set the scene for an incredible journey into the Swiss lifestyle and culture. I do look forward to maybe going back one day and experiencing more of what this incredible city has to offer!
-Daniele
