A Year In Geneva

While in quarantine for the Coronavirus pandemic, I thought this might be a good time to write out my experience having in Geneva for (nearly) a year. I hope reading this can give you a few ideas if you ever have a chance to visit (or if you are already living here).

Outdoors

Switzerland is known for being a place of breathtaking natural beauty. The well-run SBB train system makes much of this easily accessible. If you plan to live in Switzerland for an extended perion of time, I would strongly recommend you buy the Swiss Half-Fare Card. For around 120 CHF (~$120) you can get half price on nearly every ticket in Switzerland (including even boats).

Geneva itself surrounded by two sets of mountain ranges, the Jura mountains (giving the Jurassic period it’s name) and the Alps. Both of which are within reach and quite nice to hike.

Mont Saleve

Mont Saleve is around 3 miles from the area of Plainpalais where I live. It is easily accessible by the 8 bus (with a picture of a Telepherique on it), or you could take a jog along the Arve river if you’re really feeling sporty. My instructions for my favorite hike are:

1. Take the 8 bus all the way to Verniers Tourrnettes
2. Walk to the Telepherique (plenty of signs)
3. Take J.J. Rousseau Road
4. Take a right onto Chemin de Crevin
5. Left at the first fork on the trail
6. La pommiere trail to Le coin
7. Take a right at Grande Gorge rock
8. Find your way up from there

There is also a nice bouldering area (I have yet to try) called Le Coin Boulders not far away.

Bains des Paquis

In the middle of the city lies Lake Geneva (Lake Leman for those not in Geneva). There is a very nice beach that you can swim at during the summer time. They have a rock wall, a ~ 50 ft diving board, a zipline, and serve food throughout most of the day. In the winter you can get fondue, and apparently there is also a sauna. Highly recommended.

Fort L’Ecluse

A relatively easy “Via Ferrata” (Iron Road). Very difficult to get to without a car. You can get gear (and more info) from the people at Cactus Sports in Carouge.

Pays de Gex

You can take a bus here for Cross Country skiing (the F to Gex, then a ski bus). The bus in total costs something around 10 Euro, and the rentals for the day (skis and boots) costs around 15 Euro. A cheap day that is quite a good time. Just make sure not to miss the last bus headed back to Gex!

Climbing Gyms

Pan d’Escalade

Quite literally a hole in the wall. There are no signs, but the place is worth it if you can find it. I would avoid weeknights if you can (it can get quite crowded). That said, Monday night they do live music on their stage

TOTEM

A bit outside of the city, but regularly updated and less crowded. Taking a car is ideal, otherwise the regional train from Gare Cornavin will do the job.

Blate

There are no staff here, it is really just a room in a warehouse that got converted into a small climbing gym. The walls are falling apart a bit, but if you live closeby it may be worth visiting. Actually getting inside is a bit tricky, I’ll just post the instructions my friend gave me.

“Pass the Emaus secondhand store on your left, keep walking down the road, look in through the windows and you’ll see the climbing room. If there’s no one in it, keep walking past it till you can take a left turn under the covered portion of the building. Once you turn left, there’s a door on your right with a mailbox in front of it, the keys should be inside. Good luck! ^_^”

Restaurants

• Parfum de Beyrouth - Excellent Lebanese food, and not too expensive to boot.
• Chez Ma Cuisine - Simple grilled chicken place that does it very well. I will sometimes break being vegetarian to visit this place (all the chicken is locally raised). Make sure to get the petite cousine for dessert!
• Luigia’s - Fantastic pizza place, their tomatoes are grown in volcanic ash. Whatever they’re doing, it tastes great.

Bars

• La Barge - Nice spot along the river to visit with friends during the summer.
• Au Coin Mousse - Lots of beers on tap with a cozy vibe.
• Lady Godiva Pub - Trivia on Monday nights at 8pm, questions are quite good with some fun word puzzles.

Out of the City

There are many other places in Switzerland that are worth checking out. Here are a few that I would recommend (in order)

• Lauterbrunnen - Where J.R.R. Tolkien got inspired to write The Hobbit, this valley surely does seem magical. This is the likely the valley that you see when looking at pictures of Switzerland
• Montreux - They have a great Jazz festival here in the summer time, and the views are second to none, including mountains and Lake Geneva.
• Gruyere - Here you can go to the cheese factory, visit a castle, go to the H.R. Giger Museum or just go for a hike (I recommend Jaun)
• Les Gets - A nice Ski resort (in France) with some nice “hors piste”, if you’re into that kind of thing