This house contains artifacts of daily life in Geneva from the Middle Ages through the late 1800s and gives a concise history of the city and its frosty relations with France and the rest of Switzerland (Geneva was an independant republic for many years). There is even the guillotine which Geneva was forced to install (by French Revolution law) in Place Neuve in March 1792. The attic contains a scale model of pre-1850s Geneva when walls still surrounded the city.

Skip the overpriced archeological remains under St Peter's Cathedral as this museum tells you more about Geneva's history and has free entry. Great for children.

Follow the signs to the museum from Cours St Pierre in the old city

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The Promenade des Bastions runs from the old city down to Place Neuve (the main square of Geneva) and goes past the Mur des Reformateurs - check out the chess boards with giant-sized chess pieces for the public to use for Sunday afternoon games.
There are also numerous cheap cafés.

The Promenade des Bastions is a 30 min walk from Cornavin train station and 20 mins from St Peters Cathedral in the old city

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The co-op on Rue du Commerce has sensibly-priced souvenirs for the tourist and of course the obligatory Swiss chocolate. It's also a great place to buy lunch.

Rue du Commerce - a 30 min walk from Cornavin train station

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The Jet d'eau is the most famous landmark in Geneva and it's quite impressive as it shoots water to a height of 400ft.

It's better if you walk along the jetty which extends from the port to the fountain itself.

The Jet d'eau is on the Rive Gauche side of Lake Geneva - a 30 min walk from Cornavin train station

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If you want to see the UN building then I recommend that you hop onto Tram 13/15 from outside Cornavin train station heading for Nations - aim to get there before 8am as there is practically nobody there at this time and the hordes of tourists don't descend upon Place des Nations until 9.00am.

Don't miss the massive wooden chair - a monument to landmine victims.

Place des Nations
Trams 13 and 15 depart from a stand directly outside Cornavin train station
Tram fare is 3 CHF for a one hour ticket (this is perectly adequate if you only want to see the outside of the UN building and not do the whole tour)

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Les Paquis is one of the smartest parts of Geneva as it's right next to Lake Geneva and has some trendy (ie expensive) shops as well as some cheaper souvenir shops.

There are shady little squares and swish mansions and is a good part of the city to see on your way back to Cornavin train station.

Beware of pickpockets though!

Les Paquis is on the Rive Droite side of Lake Geneva and is west of Quai Wilson

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For a comprehensive tour of Geneva I recommend this route:

From Cornavin train station, go down Rue du Mont Blanc and cross the river Rhône via the Pont Mont Blanc, stopping to admire superb views of Lake Geneva, St Peter's Cathedral, Ile Rousseau and Pont des Bergues.

Once across Pont Mont Blanc, walk alongside the Rhône river via the embankment to see Port St Gervais and enter the shopping district of Geneva.

Walk along Rue de la Conféderation, Rue de la Croix d'or and Rue du Rhône.

Turn off Rue de la Conféderation at Place Madelaine and walk up into the old city to Place Bourg Four (good cheap cafés here) and climb Rue de l'Hôtel de Ville to look at the murals depicting the history of Geneva and the cannons.

Enter Cours St Pierre and visit St Peter's Cathedral. Then descend back to the shopping district and head to the Jardin Anglais to see the famous Jet d'eau and flower clock.

Walk alongside Lake Geneva (Rive Gauche) - for children there is a beach on this side of the lake.

Go through the Jardin Anglais, go across Pont Mont Blanc and walk alongside lake Geneva (Rive Droite) stopping to admire views of Mont Blanc across the lake and see the Brunswick monument.

Return to Cornavin train station via Les Paquis district (to the west of Quai Wilson). Go up Rue de Lausanne and follow signs to Cornavin train station.

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A lido jutting out into the lake. Perfect when Geneva is hot and you are feeling envious of the ducks paddling around - you can join them. Entry is super cheap, there is a good cafe serving substantial salads and terrines and showers/ loos/ changing rooms. There are different sectioned off swimming areas, some deeper, some shallower (and with a pebbly beach for little ones). Super relaxing and quite fun to be bobbing around next to a family of ducks. It's open from early til 8pm and they also have a hammam and massage facilities (but think hammam is currently being refurbished and you definitely need to book for massages).

Quai du Mont-Blanc 30
1201 GENEVE

www.bains-des-paquis.ch/

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For the tyke with a sensitive palate, now the £ looks down disdainfully on the Swiss Franc, it's worth a visit to Rolle, in the Canton of Vaud, about 25 kms from Geneva. Filets de perche, an amazingly delicate fish, from the Lake Leman (fifty yards away), where they have their own fisherman. Drink their own wine from the local vineyard. Perfect chips

For the Cafe du Port, take the Route du Lac for 25 kilometres, from Geneva Airport. At the entry to Rolle, follow the sign that says "Port". Booking essential
Tel: 00 41 21 825 15 20

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