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
0.79 MILES
When landing by plane, this lakeside fountain is your first dramatic glimpse of Geneva. The 140m-tall structure shoots up water with incredible force –…
4.89 MILES
Founded in 1954, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), 8km west of Geneva, is a laboratory for research into particle physics. It…
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23.36 MILES
Twenty-three generations of the De Menthon family have lived within 1000-year-old Château de Menthon-St-Bernard. The birthplace of St Bernard in 1008 –…
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Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques
2.02 MILES
Geneva's premier botanical park – renowned for its Botanical Conservatory – boasts over 12,000 species of plants from around the world, meticulously…
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Musée d'Ethnographie de Genève
0.39 MILES
Admission is free to the permanent collection of this excellent hands-on museum, which examines the similarities and differences of our planet's myriad of…
14.68 MILES
Slumbering in the shadow of a 14th-century castle and enclosed by walls, the Jardin des Cinq Sens is designed to be experienced through sight, touch,…
20.72 MILES
It’s a pleasure simply to wander aimlessly around Annecy’s medieval Old Town, where emerald-green canals flow beneath stone bridges and pastel-painted…
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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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
6. Site Archéologique de la Cathédrale St-Pierre
0.23 MILES
The highlights of this small archaeological site in the basement of Geneva's cathedral are its 4th-century floor mosaics and the tomb of an Allobrogian…
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…
0.26 MILES
A tree-shaded park with benches, sandpit and see-saw for kids, and a fine rooftop and cathedral view.