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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If you go to Ile Rousseau to see the bird sanctuary or to have a drink at the café, wait until after 9am when the waiters of the café have gotten rid of the homeless people and tramps who inhabit the benches of Ile Rousseau.

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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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St Peter's Cathedral can be seen from everywhere in Geneva and is the symbol of the old city of Geneva.
Its interior is truly impressive and for 3 CHF you can climb the 157 steps up to the tower for stunning views (tip: if you can't or don't want to climb up to the tower than the same view can be seen on a poster just next to the entrance). The exterior of the cathedral is a curious mismatch of building styles too with a Romanized façade (columns).

Cours St Pierre - a 30 min walk from Cornavin train station
Free entry

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The combined streets of Rue de la Conféderation, Rue du Rhône and Rue de la Croix d'or are lined with some of the most expensive shops in Switzerland (the others being in Zurich) so if you have serious Swiss francs to burn than this area is the place to go, otherwise it's great just to look at those watches and clothes which you can't have. Even the brand name stores of H&M and C&A are not as cheap as you may think they are.

There are numerous undercover shopping malls just off each street too which are great places to escape from the summer heat.

The Rue de la Conféderation is a 20 min walk from Cornavin train station, just follow Rue du Mont Blanc, cross the Rhône river via the Pont Mont Blanc and turn into Rue de la Conféderation which becomes the Rue de la Croix d'or and then becomes the Rue du Rhône

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Chamonix train station is the chocolate-box image of a country village station with flower boxes, a clock and wooden pavillons. Built in the eighteenth century, it's one of the finest stations in France and easily beats the modern ugly train stations in the beauty stakes.

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The Aiguille du Midi is what every tourist comes to Chamonix for. It's the highest cable car in the world and the €38 return ticket is worth every cent. In just eight minutes you're whisked from Chamonix town centre to Plan d'Aiguille where you change cable cars and in another eight minutes you're taken up to the Aiguille du Midi station where you're rewarded with stupendous views of Mont Blanc and Italy.

Fortunately, I chose the right time to go (7.30am) as the light shone on Mont Blanc in just the right way and there were only six tourists on the highest terrace which looks over Mont Blanc, be warned though the cable car does get cramped with all of the skiers with their skis and poles taking up every inch

Note to parents - children under two are not allowed on the cable car.

Aiguille du Midi cable departs from Place de l'Aiguille du Midi cable car station - just a 30 minute walk from Chamonix train station (but bizarrely there are no signs showing you the way from Chamonix train station).

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This wooden bridge links Chamonix town centre and the district where the posh (and expensive!) shops are. It offers great views of the Alps too.

Pont Cour lies between Avenue Michel Croz and Avenue Mont Blanc

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This church just outside the centre of Chamonix dominates the town and has a magnificent interior with colourful frescoes and a golden altar.

From Chamonix train station go straight ahead down Avenue Michel Croz, at the end of the street turn left on to Place de l'eglise, the church is on your right-hand side just after the town hall.

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This sweet and chocolate shop on the main street of Chamonix is delightful with free chocolate samples and gorgeous-tasting white and black chocolate, fill your bag with as much as you want - it's all good, but be warned it's not cheap!

Avenue Michel Croz.

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This large area of parkland and forest stretches from the eastern edge of Chamonix up to the Argentière valley. It's a peaceful haven for family picnics and strolls. It's a popular spot for hikers and cyclists as they continue towards Argentière and Vallorcine. You can also watch the paragliders take off and land on the parkland which surrounds Lac du Bouchet, there is also a fountain just beside the main road from which you can sample free and fresh-tasting mountain water.

From Chamonix train station go straight ahead down Avenue Michel Croz, then at the end of this road turn right onto Rue Whymper. Go straight across the roundabout. Pass the library on your right-hand side and keep going straight for about 500m and Lac du Bouchet is on your left-hand side.

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The St Laurent bridge connects the city centre of Grenoble to La Tronche - Grenoble's oldest district. This iron chain bridge is closed to cars and is a great place to take pictures of the famous "Bulles".
It's also the starting point for those who choose to take the arduous 45 minute walk up to La Bastille.

Follow the "Telepherique" signs, go past the cable car station, walk beside the Isere river for about 15 minutes and you'll see the bridge in front of you.

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The cathedral of Our Lady looks rather plain from the outside as it doesn't have the spires or the gothic façade which make it resemble a cathedral, but don't be put off by this - inside there are magnificent chapels with colourful and striking paintings and altars.

Cathedrale de Notre Dame is a 20 min walk from the train station

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Avoid the scruffy and dangerous streets in Grenoble city centre which stretch from the cable car station on the quayside beside the Isere river to
the Cathedrale de Notre Dame. Thiefs loiter here - especially at night, so women don't walk alone in this area!

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The main reason for taking the cable car up to La Bastille is to take in the 360° view of Grenoble's wide boulevards and motorways as well as the Dauphine Alps which encircle the whole city from the roof of the Terrase restaurant. If you're lucky and it's a clear day you can see Mont Blanc. I saw it and it looked so close!

The views are breathtaking and only from La Bastille can you appreciate the immense size of Grenoble.
Best of all the views are free!

For even better views there is a path which you can walk up which goes up from behind the fortress to the top of the mountain which it sits on.

Just take the cable car from Grenoble city centre up to La Bastille and follow the path behind the Terrasse restaurant to climb the stairs up to the roof.

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