Geneva Travel guide at Wikivoyage

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Mont Blanc can be seen from Geneva and is an hour’s drive from the city. The second main river of Geneva is the Arve, which flows into the Rhône just west of the city centre. Of the water in the municipality, 0.2% is composed of lakes and 2.9% is rivers and streams. The rest of the land, 14.63 km2 (5.65 sq mi), or 91.8%, is built up (buildings or roads), 0.49 km2 (0.19 sq mi), or 3.1%, is either rivers or lakes and 0.02 km2 (4.9 acres), or 0.1%, is wasteland.

As with buses and trams, tickets must be bought before boarding the train. This is a nice way to get from the Pâquis station near the Quai du Mont-Blanc in the northwest to the other side of the lake, e.g. to the Eaux-Vives stop near the Jardin Anglais. When you are on the bus, however, bus stops are both announced and visible on a screen (on most buses). Six stations are located along the lake, behind the railway station, in Eaux-Vives (Terrassière) the Plaine de Plainpalais and at Carouge. Except for the old-town, the city is fairly flat, and though there are some streets that are dangerous to ride, there is almost always a safe, fast route to your destination. The old-town can be easily visited on foot starting anywhere around the tour boat dock on Lake Geneva, or if you come from the Cornavin station, walk down to the Bel-Air island and continue straight on uphill to the old town.

Where is Geneva located?

The Gare des Eaux-Vives is another public transport station and it is situated on the south-eastern side of the lake on the other side of the river Rhône. 3.00 (valid for one hour) and can be purchased at machines at the bus stop and in the train station. All trains leaving Geneva Airport train station stop at the main train/bus station within approx. Get Out – Take a bike or boat ride to any of Lake Geneva’s other lakeside paradises or hop on an excursion bus at Gare Routiere to visit one of Switzerland’s famous mountain towns. Clustered on a hill around the Cathédrale Saint-Pierre and the pretty pedestrian Place du Bourg-de-Four, it’s well worth a stroll for its independent boutiques including The L Store, Nath and Jul and Caillou for stationary, fashion accessories and decorative vases.

Geneva’s 10 Most Iconic Attractions And Destinations For Your First Trip

In 1819, the city of Geneva and 20 parishes were united to the Diocese of Lausanne by Pope Pius VII and in 1822, the non-Swiss territory was made into the Diocese of Annecy. Condemned by both Catholics and Protestants alike, he was arrested in Geneva and burnt at the stake as a heretic by order of the city’s Protestant governing council. Many prominent Reformed theologians operated there, including William Farel and Theodore Beza, Calvin’s successor who progressed Reformed thought after his death. Prior to the Protestant Reformation the city was de jure and de facto Catholic. Geneva has historically been considered a Protestant city and was known as the Protestant Rome due to it being the base of John Calvin, William Farel, Theodore Beza and other Protestant reformers.

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Of the land in the city, 0.24 km2 (0.093 sq mi), or 1.5%, is used for agricultural purposes, while 0.5 km2 (0.19 sq mi), or 3.1%, is forested. Geneva flourished in the 19th and 20th centuries, becoming the seat of many international organizations. France tended to be at odds with the ordinary townsfolk, which inspired the failed Geneva Revolution of 1782, an attempt to win representation in the government for men of modest means. By the 18th century, Geneva had come under the influence of Catholic France, which cultivated the city as its own. In 1541, with Protestantism on the rise, John Calvin, the Protestant Reformer and proponent of Calvinism, became the spiritual leader of the city and established a “Protestant Rome”.

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In April 2019, Microsoft became the third U.S. public company to be valued at over $1 trillion.b As of 2024update, Microsoft has the third-highest global brand valuation. In 2018, Microsoft became the most valuable publicly traded company in the world, a position it has repeatedly traded with Apple in the years since. In September 2024, BlackRock and Microsoft announced a $30 billion fund, the Global AI Infrastructure Investment Partnership, to invest in AI infrastructure such as data centers and energy projects. In June 2024, Microsoft announced that it was building a “hyperscale data centre” in South East Leeds. In March 2024, Inflection AI’s cofounders Mustafa Suleyman and Karen Simonyan announced their departure from the company in order to start Microsoft AI, with Microsoft acqui-hiring nearly the entirety of its 70-person workforce. However, the plan was short-lived, as Altman was subsequently reinstated as OpenAI’s CEO and Brockman rejoined the company amid pressure from OpenAI’s employees and investors on its board.

Lake Geneva (Lac Léman) and Jet d’Eau

Geneva is a global city, an international financial centre, and a worldwide centre for diplomacy, which has led to it being called the “Peace Capital”. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. For developers, LinkedIn provides an API that allows programmatic access to user data and functionalities. Some users may maintain multiple LinkedIn accounts for various purposes (e.g., personal vs. professional branding, different business units). In her spare time, Kilman enjoys hiking and traveling to new locations with her family. She was born and raised in California and graduated with a degree in public relations.

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As the second largest city in Switzerland, Geneva attracts countless tourists who want to stay in a lakeside town with a rich history, fabulous nightlife, and countless museums. City tram and bus routes converge at a stop located directly outside the front doors of the station, called Gare Cornavin and making transition from train to public transit extremely easy. It’s the largest museum in the city, with exhibits covering everything from prehistoric to modern times. With more than 1 billion members worldwide, including executives from every Fortune 500 company, LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network. In a company memo, the company stated that Puget Sound-area employees will be expected to follow the new policy, including those located outside of Washington, who will also phase into the revised schedule. The “Connector” does not compete with the public bus system and works with it to provide a cohesive transportation network not just for its employees but also for the public.

The city is very international, which can be observed in the variety of its restaurants. The museum spans three floors of exhibits and it covers nearly 500 years of watchmaking history with extravagant, unique timepieces. Geneva is home to so many museums that I had a very tough time narrowing the list of best ones to visit to just seven, most of which are included in the Geneva City Pass.

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Whatever your interest, Geneva has a wide range of hotel options to accommodate your stay offering renowned service and easy access to the city’s major sites. For a change of pace take a cruise on the lake or relax in one of Geneva’s main waterfront parks. Geneva’s most famous monument, Jet d’Eau, is the world’s tallest water fountain and provides a constant landmark for exploring the city. Today, the city of Geneva is a cultural center second to none featuring world class entertainment, top rated restaurants and unlimited opportunities for recreation. Yes, you can pretend you’re royalty and sip a martini in the bar of one of the city’s most exclusive waterfront hotels – but there are also more imaginative ways to go about it.

• On July 19, 2024, a global IT outage impacted Microsoft services, affecting businesses, airlines, and financial institutions worldwide.
• Bus stops in France that are served by the Genevan transport authority do not have ticket vending machines, instead you have to buy the tickets from vending machines on board the bus when travelling from France.
• The initiative is meant to speed innovation through simple software changes in telecommunications networks, wireless networks, data centers, and other networking areas.
• This is also what the city’s main station is called.

According to the Federal Statistical Office (OFS), the largest share of the population, 51.1%, identified as either having no religious affiliation (48.8%) or as having an unknown affiliation (2.36%). William Monter calculates that the city’s total population was 12,000–13,000 in 1550, doubling to over 25,000 by 1560. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was an increase of 135 and the non-Swiss population increased by 3181 people. At the same time, there were 2933 non-Swiss men and 2662 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. In 2008update, there were 1,147 live births to Swiss citizens and 893 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in the same time span there were 1,114 deaths of Swiss citizens and 274 non-Swiss citizen deaths. For a list of the largest groups of foreign residents see the cantonal overview.

134,429 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 12,489 businesses in this sector. 9,783 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 1,200 businesses in this sector. As of 2008update, there were fiveclarification needed people employed in the primary economic sector and about threeclarification needed businesses involved in this sector. In addition, the canton is home to the largest concentration of foreign-owned banks in Switzerland, such as HSBC Private Bank, JPMorgan Chase, or Arab Bank. Wealth management is dominated by non-publicly listed banks and private banks, particularly Pictet, Lombard Odier, Edmond de Rothschild Group, Union Bancaire Privée, Mirabaud Group, Dukascopy Bank, Bordier & Cie, Banque SYZ, or REYL & Cie.

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• In October 2014, Microsoft revealed that it was almost done with eliminating 18,000 employees, which was its largest-ever layoff sweep.
• Follow the lakeside promenade from Quai du Mont Blanc to Parc Mon Repos for an easy, 15-minute walk starring boats, sculptures, and fabulous lake and mountain views.
• For more a more historical perspective, head to the Art and History Museum or the Maison Tavel – the oldest house in the city.
• The largest strains grown in Geneva are gamay, chasselas, pinot noir, gamaret, and chardonnay.

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It created one of the world’s largest private bus systems, the “Connector”, to transport people from outside the company; for on-campus transportation, the “Shuttle Connect” uses a large fleet of hybrid cars to save fuel. At the time, data centers consumed up to 2% of all global electricity, and this amount was projected to increase. In July 2025, Microsoft announced another round of layoffs, cutting approximately 9,000 employees in its largest workforce reduction in over two years. In May 2025, Microsoft announced that it is laying off more than 6,000 employees, around three percent of the company’s entire workforce.