Parc des Bastions

Geneva


It's all statues – not to mention a giant chess board – in this green city park where a laid-back stroll uncovers Red Cross cofounder Henri Dufour (who drew the first map of Switzerland in 1865) and the 4.5m-tall figures of Bèze, Calvin, Farel and Knox (in their nightgowns ready for bed). Depending on what's on, end with an art-driven exhibition across the square at Le Rath.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Geneva attractions

1. Maison de Rousseau et de la Literature

0.17 MILES

A 25-minute audiovisual display traces the troubled life of Geneva's greatest thinker, Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He was born in this house in 1712. The…

2. Le Rath

0.17 MILES

Across the traffic-busy square from the green city park, Parc des Bastions, is this historic building – Switzerland's oldest purpose-built museum dating…

3. Vieille Ville

0.19 MILES

A stroll around Geneva's beautiful Old Town is a must. Its main street, the Grand-Rue, shelters the Maison de Rousseau et de la Literature at No 40, where…

4. Musée Barbier-Mueller

0.21 MILES

This refined private gallery space, opened in 1977, is filled with objects from ancient societies – think pre-Columbian South American art treasures,…

5. Cathédrale St-Pierre

0.22 MILES

Geneva's cathedral is predominantly Gothic with an 18th-century neoclassical facade. Between 1536 and 1564 Protestant John Calvin preached here; see his…

7. Musée International de la Réforme

0.24 MILES

This modern museum in an 18th-century mansion zooms in on the Reformation. State-of-the-art exhibits and audiovisuals bring to life everything from the…