We are ending a riverboat cruise in early part of September 2017 in Lyon, France. Since we are so close to Geneva, we thought we would spend some time there before our return to Paris for our flight back to SFO. Never been to Geneva. Would that be a good place to stay and then do day trips to Gruyere, Annecy, Lausanne? It looks like there are some nice day trips by boat on Lake Geneva as well. For day trips outside of Geneva, we would be very comfortable renting a car. Any recommendations for a small boutique hotel in a good location in Geneva? Has anyone done a trip similar using Geneva as a home base?
many thanks. jc
Posted by
Long Beach, California, USA
3398 posts
I would recommend staying outside of Geneva. It's a nice city but there are limited things to see and do there. The cathedral and old city are interesting and then there is the Jet d'Eau but that's about it. You can visit CERN if you're interested in the particle collider as well.
I would stay in one of the beautiful towns on the north shore of Lake Geneva; Lausanne, Vevey, or Montreux. My favorite is Vevey.
Driving in this part of Switzerland is easy and you can take really lovely day trips to Gruyere, Chateau Chillon, Valais, the St. Bernard Pass (the dogs were originally bred here and still are!), and take a cruise on one of the old pleasure boats that run between the towns on the lake. With 5 full days you might also consider driving to Chamonix (drive east from the north shore of Lake Geneva to Martigny, and then drive over the pass to Chamonix - about 90 mins to drive there depending on where you are staying. Zermatt is 2.5 hours or so away if you have a day with clear weather. Valais is an area not frequented by tourists but is well worth visiting. The valley is dotted with castles and surrounded by the Alps. Sion is my favorite town here with a nice medieval town core with two hills in the middle topped by a castle and an ancient church...the valley is full of orchards and has vineyards climbing up the side of the hills...in September I would imagine that the colors would be starting to turn on the vines - beautiful!
Posted by
OP
8 posts
So helpful Anita. Thank you! I have always preferred smaller towns so your suggestions are wonderful.
Posted by
Montreux, Switzerland
262 posts
I can recommend Vevey as well. Public transport is very easy here and I would not recommend renting a car. Vevey is a charming town and has very popular local market at the marche on Tuesday and Saturday mornings. You may also want to consider Montreux as a base which is a ten min bus or train from Vevey, still only an hour from Geneva by an easy train. Many of the tourist trains depart from Montreux including the train/bus to visit Gruyere and the chocolate factory. Chateau Chillon in Montreux is very popular with tourists. If you enjoy walking, I recommend visiting the Unesco Vineyards. The views are stunning and the towns you walk through are very charming. The boat ride that Anita mentioned runs all along the lake. You can get on/off depending on what you want to see, but I also recommend taking it to Yvoire, France which is short ride away and exceptionally charming. Here's a couple of links for the area which may be helpful in deciding what to see.
https://www.region-du-leman.ch/en/Z138/montreux-riviera
Posted by
OP
8 posts
Thank you so much for all this information. It is so very helpful. Each town mentioned is more beautiful than the one before!