36 Hours in Geneva, Switzerland
36 Hours in Geneva, Switzerland
My first weekend in Spain found my friends and I furiously planning weekend trips for the semester, and the first order of business was to find a destination to celebrate my friend Kendall’s 20th birthday.
Enter a cheap flight to Geneva.
For $52 roundtrip on EasyJet, we found ourselves in Switzerland for the weekend. We arrived mid-day on Friday and flew out early Sunday morning, but we had sufficient time to get to know the city.
First impressions of Geneva? Cute and expensive. Like ridiculously expensive. I thought Berlin was pricey, but I was blown away by Geneva. Meals at most restaurants started at 20 Swiss Francs, which is about the same as $20. Not exactly perfect for the college student budget, but we made it work.
First, we stayed in an Airbnb. Even prices for a dorm bed in a hostel were upwards of $50 a night, so the Airbnb that we shared for about $50 a person for 2 nights was a steal in comparison.
Second, we bought groceries for a lot of meals and spent ample time searching for reasonable restaurants when we did eat out. Grocery store prices were not terribly insane, so we picked up Ramen, microwavable meals, and some breakfast pastries. We shared meals in our Airbnb along with cheap sangria, wine, and cider.
Third, we did a lot of free sightseeing. On our first day there, we walked around the city. We explored the charming Old Town on foot and window shopped and free sampled our way through the shopping district.
A view of the Old Town of Geneva from St.Pierre’s Cathedral.
The vaulted ceilings of St.Pierre’s Cathedral, at which entry is FREE!
When I say we free sampled our way through the shopping district, I mean we went into any chocolate shop we passed angling for a free piece of chocolate and we spent an embarrassing amount of time in Lush sampling everything in sight. No shame.
We also went to the Victorinox store, which is where visitors can buy the famous Swiss Army knife directly from the source. I personally don’t have a vested interest in Swiss Army knives, but my friend Ross is obsessed. Like wildly obsessed.
Ross at the Victorinox store in Geneva.
We left him to his devices and went off in search of more free chocolate, and he picked a classic red Swiss Army knife with several tools after much deliberation.
On both days in the city, we spent a lot of time walking along beautiful Lake Geneva. The entire city is situated around the lake, and it features their famous Jet d’Eau. This city landmark is basically a no-frills fountain that pumps 500 liters of water 460 feet into the air every second of every day. It’s so large that we could see it from the plane as we flew in.
A view of Lake Geneva and the Jet d’Eau.
Kendall and I standing in front of Lake Geneva and the Jet d’Eau.
There were also many charming details and buildings around the city that we admired as we wandered around.
The group in front of the functional Swiss flower clock by the Lake of Geneva.
But the two best parts of the weekend?
The United Nations and cheese fondue.
If you didn’t know, the European Headquarters of the United Nations, or the Palais de Nations, is in Geneva. As Global Studies students, we were eager to go, so we forked over the $10 fee for the guided tour and were not disappointed. We were able to see the beautiful grounds, the conference rooms where the action happens, and amazing works of art and entire rooms gifted to the organization from member nations.
The flags of member nations on the lawn of the United Nations.
A primary conference room. Nations sit in alphabetical order under this ceiling art gifted by the Spanish government.
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- The earpiece from which delegates and visitors receive live translations.
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- Translation rooms where dedicated translators provide live translations.
We were able to sit in this conference room with a lot of history – it was built for the League of Nations, and it was in this room that all assets of the League of Nations was transferred to the United Nations in 1956.
The grounds of the Palais de Nations.
A conference room gifted by the United Arab Emirates meant to emulate the desert – the pricetag: a mere $20 million.
The 10 meter high broken chair statue in front of the United Nations is meant to represent opposition to land mines with its broken leg. It was used as a tool to gain votes for the Ottawa treaty, which banned land mines internationally.
And the fondue, oh the fondue.
I did not expect to have Swiss fondue, largely due to the fact that I traveled to the land of cheese and chocolate with a vegan and two lactose intolerants. Go figure.
However, we stumbled upon a restaurant after the United Nations visit that suited our diets and price ranges, and happened to have fondue. As a devout Melting Pot go-er, I was super excited to try fondue from where it originated.
It was delicious.
Gosh, I love cheese.
Anyways, despite the steep prices in the city, I thoroughly enjoyed our brief visit to Switzerland. It was surreal to be able to fly to a different country for the weekend and try out my French (it’s terrible, but I can handle ‘bonjour’ and ‘merci’). It was incredible to be able to get a sense of the country and visit one of the headquarters of one of the most important international organizations in the world.
Not bad for our first weekend trip, if I do say so myself.