(includes Bellevue & Coligny)
HOTELS
●Beau-Rivage, Geneva – 13 Quai du Mont-Blanc; 011-41022-716-6666; beau-rivage.ch; grand Victorian palace on Right Bank; many rooms have Alps and lake views; 5-story lobby.
●Grand Hotel Kempinski Geneva – 19 Quai du Mont-Blanc; 011-41-022-908-9081; kempinski.com.
●InterContinental Geneva – 7 Chemin du Petit-Saconnex; 011-41-022-919-3939; intercontinental-geneva.ch; Tony Chi designed.
●La Reserve Geneve Hotel & Spa – 301 Route de Lausanne (Bellevue); 011-41-022-959-5959; lareserve.ch; city-resort hotel cocooned in 10-acre park on Lake Geneva; French designer Jacques Garcia has created dramatic, transporting interiors that feel world away from city; lake accessed from private dock & guests can book trips on hotel’s own Venetian motoscaffo for picturesque lake tours or simple transfers to boutiques & restaurants; 4 superb restaurants, Le Loti, Le Tsé Fung, poolside summer grill & Café Lauren (part of 2K sq m La Réserve spa, largest spa in Geneva).
●Hotel President Wilson – 47 Quai Wilson; 011-41-022-906-6666; luxurycollection.com/presidentwilson; newly renovated with stunning Alps and Lake Geneva views.
SHOPPING
●Zeller Chocolatier – 1 Place Longemalle; 011-41-022-311-5026; chocolat-zeller.ch; only for chocolate-covered nuts; their chocolates are bad.
SIGHTS & SITES
●Arve & Rhone Rivers Junction – 27 Sentier des Saules; 011-41-022-418-5000; geneva.info/jonction; place where Rivers Arve & Rhône join each other, creating beautiful & unique natural phenomenon, each having different color; can see waters mix & join into one final river (Rhône); can watch this scenario best from bridge, just 40 meters after junction; get tram to Junction, walk across bridge & turn right, take path into forest (sign Cimetiére de Saint-Georges); walk path about 10 minutes by river, until come to red-white building, Cafe de la Tour, from where can see bridge & rivers joining; can sit here, but for best view, go on bridge (walking path).
●Art & History Museum – 2 Rue Charles-Galland; 011-41-022-418-2600; ville-ge.ch/mah; actually spread over 4 different sites.
●Bourg-de-Four Square – Place du Bourg-de-Four; geneva.info/place-du-bourg-de-four; notable for Medieval fountains.
●Carouge Museum – 2 Place de Sardaigne; 011-41-022-342-3383 geneve-tourisme.ch; 1789, Louis XVI master watchmaker residence; Sardinian garden makes pleasant destination for stroll in well-preserved district enlivened by numerous handicraft shops; permanent collections (viewed on request) consist mainly of earthenware produced by Carouge factory between 1810-1930, Noverraz Art Deco ceramic (1930-1960), and various contemporary ceramic works.
●CGN – 17 Avenue de Rhodanie (Lausanne); 011-41-021-601-1666; cgn.ch; vintage ferry operator that offers combined dinner-excursion experiences.
●Espace Ami Lullin – Promenade des Bastions; 011-41-022-418-2800; ville-geneve.ch/plan-ville/musees/espace-lullin-salle-exposition-bibliotheque-geneve; library holdings.
●Espace Rousseau – 40 Grand Rue; 011-41-021-310-1028; espace-rousseau.ch; house where Jean-Jacques Rousseau born in 1712; 30 minutes audiovisual tour through his life and works.
●Fondation Martin Bodmer-Bibliothèque et Musée Cologny – 19-21 Route du Guignard (Coligny); 011-41-022-707-4433; fondationbodmer.ch; Swiss heritage site; Bodmer Papyri and Gutenberg Bible.
●Glacier Express – 30 Rue du Mont-Blanc (Cornavin, main station); 011-41-022-732-7120 (main station number); glacierexpress.ch/en or sbb.ch/en/home.html (schedules in English); train that runs from Geneva to Zurich, through Alps; spine-tingling.
●Institut et Musée Voltaire – 25 Rue des Délices; 011-41-022-344-7133; ville-ge.ch/imv; Voltaire’s former residence; houses drawing, manuscripts, old editions, paintings, and sculptures; library offers glimpse into author’s day-to-day life; in lovely Parc Delices (which Voltaire described as Les Jardins d’Epicure).
●Jet d’Eau – Quai du General-Guisan Geneva; 011-41-022-909-7000; sig-ge.ch/corporate/l-entreprise-sig/notre-patrimoine/jet-eau/index.lbl; city’s landmark fountain.
●Maison Tavel – 6 Rue du Puits-St-Pierre; 011-41-022-418-3700; ville-ge.ch/mah/index.php?content=6.&langue=eng; museum for city’s history.
●MAMCO – 10 Rue des Vieux-Grenadiers; 011-41-022-320-6122; mamco.ch; museum of contemporary and modern art.
●Musée Ariana – 10 Avenue de la Paix; 011-41-022-418-5450; ville-ge.ch/ariana; Swiss ceramics and glass museum.
●Musée d’Art (& Cabinet d’Arts Graphiques) – 5 Promenade du Pin; 011-41-022-418-2770; ville-ge.ch; diverse collection, from ancient Egyptian artifacts to contemporary holdings.
●Musée Barbier-Mueller – 10 Rue Jean-Calvin; 011-41-022-312-0270; barbier-mueller.ch; “tribal art,” ethnographic museum.
●Musée de Ethnographie/Carl-Vogt – 65 Boulevard Carl-Vogt; 011-41-022-418-4550; ville-ge.ch; main “tribal arts” museum; closed through 2014.
●Musée de Ethnographie/Conches – 7 Chemin Calandrini; 011-41-022-346-0125; ville-ge.ch; ethnic collection from 5 continents; in old house in country-type setting.
●Musée de Ethnographie/Ports Francs – 4 bis Route des Jeunes; 011-41-022-418-4550; ville-ge.ch; cultural and ethnic history museum from around world.
●Musée Patek Philippe – Les Savoises; 011-41-022-807-0910; patekmuseum.com; watches.
●Old Town – preserved city portion.
●St. Pierre Cathedral – 24 Place du Bourg de Four; 011-41-022-319-7195; saintpierre-geneve.ch; Swiss Reformed Church begun under Arducius de Faucigny; John Calvin’s adopted home (includes his wooden chair); site dates back to 8thth-10th Centuries; German painter Konrad Witz painted altarpiece, St. Peter Altarpiece (1444, now in Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, Geneva), which contains his most famous composition, Miraculous Draught of Fishes; recently opened is multi-millenia, pre-Christian discoveries that encompass more than 30K square under Cathedral.
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