My 14 year old son and I are joining my husband on a work trip to Geneva. We will fly in and out of Paris and will explore there prior to my husband's conference in late March. We will have 3 nights after the concert before flying back to the US from Paris. We are weighing options for exploring more of Switzerland versus somewhere along the way back to Paris. We'd love to get a feel for smaller towns or cities than the hustle or bustle of the two cities we already have planned. Realizing it is March and we do not ski, any ideas of what else we should consider doing? We are excited and open to ideas! Thanks!
Posted by
Chicago
8164 posts
Annecy, France, is 50 minutes away on the bus
Posted by
Florida
1450 posts
Montreux is on Lake Geneva and has a great castle.
Posted by
Carmel, CA, USA
2456 posts
You could go to Lausanne to visit the Olympic Museum and then could continue up to the unique hilltop village of Gruyere. Lots to do there, and cheese making and selling down near the train station. This is a great full day from Geneva, I did this in a day WAYYY back in 2011.
Posted by
OP
OH, USA
2 posts
Thanks for the ideas! Looks like Annecy is the winner. :) My son and I will do a day trip to the Castle in Montreaux while my hubby is conferencing. Also planning a trip to CERN - wow!
Posted by
Austin, TX
110 posts
If the weather is clear, Chamonix. You can visit Augille du Midi and Montenvers.
Posted by
Knoxville, TN, USA
7209 posts
We did a trip to CERN and were extremely excited to do it...until we actually got there. We were met with a guide and lecturer who drones on and on for hours about in-depth scientific studies. People in our group were getting up and just walking out because we just couldn’t take the hours of monotonous droning.
You may well enjoy it, but beware of what you’re getting into before you find your precious vacation time going down the tube.
Posted by
Knoxville, TN, USA
7209 posts
And by all means get out of Geneva which is NOT the switzerland that most tourists are looking for. I’ve visited several times because my daughter and Swiss son-in-law live there.
We also took a day trip to Gruyere which was fun but know ahead of time that the actual hilltop castle/village is extremely small and full of H.R. Giger really weird art and sculptures all around. I love Aliens movie, but the Giger museum and surrounding oddities distracted from the medieval castle and cheese making that were very nice.
BTW, all of the castle, train transport, giger museum is free with the Swiss Pass.