Geneva Activities Worth Your Money
Geneva is a francs-not-euros city, and the good news is half of what’s worth doing here costs nothing at all. Here’s how to spend both your time and your money.
Free first
Walk out along the Jetée des Eaux-Vives to watch the Jet d’Eau throw 500 liters a second, 140 meters up, though it shuts down in a hard bise wind or a frost, so check before you make a special trip. St. Pierre Cathedral’s nave costs nothing, and so does every permanent collection in the city’s municipal museums, including the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, every single day, not just on a discount date. Add Parc des Bastions for the Reformation Wall’s five-meter statues and a free outdoor chessboard big enough to walk on.
CHF 2 to CHF 25, worth every franc
Bains des Pâquis puts you on an 1872 pier for CHF 2, with a warmer CHF 22 sauna and hammam option if the lake feels cold, and a CHF 27 fondue au crémant at the buvette if you call ahead (+41 22 738 16 16). Climbing St. Pierre’s north and south towers is CHF 7, the archaeological crypt underneath a separate CHF 8, or CHF 12 combined for both. Book a CGN Lake Geneva cruise on Viator for the one-hour harbor tour, CHF 20 direct from CGN, or push further to CHF 25 for a guided Palais des Nations tour: adults pay CHF 25, students, seniors and disabled visitors CHF 22, ages 14-17 CHF 14, and children 6-13 CHF 13, booked only at ungeneva.org , passport or national ID mandatory at the Pregny gate.
CERN, if you plan ahead
The Science Gateway in Meyrin, reachable on Tram 18 from Cornavin, is free to enter, and booking a timed slot online up to a month out is worth doing in the busy months. The guided lab tours are a different animal: those release on-site through the CERN app two hours before each start, first-come first-served, so don’t build your whole day around landing one.
Carouge for a change of pace
Cross the Arve on tram 12 or 18 and you’re in a different town: Carouge was laid out by the House of Savoy in the 18th century, and its Italianate courtyards, small ateliers and shaded squares around Place du Marché are worth an unhurried afternoon rather than a rushed stop.
The verdict
Front-load the free stretch, the cathedral nave, the lakeshore, Bastions, on your first day, and save your one big booking, the UN tour or a CERN slot, for a day you’ve planned ahead, since neither works as a walk-in. Staying overnight at a registered hotel, hostel or campsite gets you a free Geneva Transport Card by email covering trams, buses and the yellow mouette boats for your whole stay; compare Geneva hotels on Booking.com if you haven’t booked yet. For a tighter landmark-by-landmark rundown, see the Geneva sightseeing guide .
Before you go
Reserve UN tour slots the moment they drop, on the 20th of the prior month; there’s no same-day ticket and no self-guided option at the Palais des Nations.