Old town and Plainpalais
Where can you take the pulse of Geneva and discover its history? In the old town! This historic center is built around the Place du Bourg du Four and the Saint-Pierre cathedral. It is bounded by the Grand-Rue, on the lake side to the north, and the line of the old walls, the current Promenade des Bastions to the south. Next to the Place du Bourg de Four stands the courthouse, museums, stores and restaurant terraces. Go to the other side of the old city to reach the bastions and the Plainpalais district, towards the wooden bench of the Treille, supposed to be the longest in the world! Below, the Place Neuve, the opera house, the Rath museum and the Bastions park stretch out. A real green lung, it is home to the University of Geneva and the famous wall of the Reformers.
The old town. It is one of the favorite places for the Genevans to walk with the numerous sloping paved streets and the Place du Bourg de Four. The old town is to be walked quietly in order to grasp the two thousand years of history it contains. This historical center presents the judicial power through the building of the court house, museums, stores and restaurants. The setting of the establishments is often unique as along the Grand-Rue between antique and art stores, bookshops, galleries, chocolate shops and small designer boutiques. The many fountains, like the one on the Place du Bourg du Four, are places to meet and gather. In many typical restaurants, the cuisine is delicious, both inventive and traditional, and you will find many establishments offering Swiss specialties. Don't miss a drink at La Clémence, a café that has been gathering passers-by for five hundred years. Have fun looking for the only king of Geneva (Gondebaud, Burgundian period) hidden in a small niche. Political, religious and judicial center, the old city also assumes the functions of cultural and educational center. The rue des Chaudronniers, which starts at the Place du Bourg de Four, leads to the medieval arcades of the Collège Calvin or the neoclassical colonnades of the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire (rue Charles-Galland). A little further on, the golden bulbs of the Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross astonish by their rounded and deeply oriental aspect, in perfect contrast with the sharp projections of the Saint-Pierre Cathedral. The Tavel House(Museum of the Reformation) on Jean Calvin Street is a medieval architectural ensemble dating from 1334. The State Chancellery on rue de l'Hôtel de Ville has been the heart of Geneva's political power since the 16th century. Below the old town, you will find the "lower streets" district.
The Bastions Park. Below the old town, on the Plainpalais side, it is reached by the picturesque rue de la Terrasse or the Treille ramp, from which a beautiful panorama opens up over the entire south of the city and neighboring France. From the lower streets, in the extension of the rue de la Corraterie, one finds the Place Neuve with the Grand Théâtre, the Conservatoire de musique and the Musée Rath. From this square, one enters the Parc des Bastions which is a very popular place for walking with its life-size chess games and its beautiful lawns. In this green setting, you will find the charming restaurant des Bastions with its beautiful terrace in summer which becomes an ice rink in winter. The park also contains buildings of the University of Geneva erected in 1873, such as the library, and thus remains a student gathering point. The Parc des Bastions still contains several unique trees from the time when it was the city's first botanical garden, in 1817. It is especially visited by visitors for one of the city's famous monuments: the Wall of the Reformers, where the emblematic figure of Calvin can be found, which is a symbol of the importance of the Protestant faith in Geneva. It is also a rallying point for the city's major events, such as the Escalade race and the outdoor skating rink in winter.
Follow the cultural trail published by the city of Geneva: www.ville-geneve.ch/faire-geneve/promenades/sentiers-culturels
Plainpalais is a former commune of the canton which was integrated into the city in 1931. Its suburbs, Palais (a marshy plain), Saint-Léger and Saint-Victor, distributed between the Rhone and the Arve, became districts of Geneva (Plainpalais, la Cluse, Jonction, Tranchées, Champel, Bout-du-Monde, Acacias and les Vernets). Bordered by the Rhône to the north, the old town, Bastions and Rive to the east, the Arve to the west and to the south towards Carouge, the Plainpalais district is organized in a geographical diamond shape on either side of Avenue du Mail and Boulevard Georges Favon, around the "Plainpalais plain". This former marshland has remained free of any construction thanks to its public utility classification. It remains a privileged gathering place and hosts occasional events (big screens for major sporting events, concerts, Swiss national holiday, Knie national circus) and a large flea market on Wednesdays and Saturdays (8am-3pm) and every first Sunday of the month, which attracts the discerning bargain hunter and second-hand dealer. Under the plane trees, most of which are a hundred years old, the vegetable market is held every Tuesday, Friday and Sunday, and the flea market every Wednesday, Saturday and first Sunday of the month from 6 am to 6 pm in winter and from 6 am to 7 pm in summer.
The square is also home to a huge skate park with a concrete bowl that is a delight for skate lovers.
In another register, you will be surprised by the impressive and frightening bronze statue of Frankenstein's monster. In the novel by author Mary Shelley, written in Cologny (near Geneva), the monster crosses the Plainpalais plain in its flight.
You will find a wide variety of restaurants in this area, which is very popular with students. Along the cosmopolitan rue de Carouge, they are mostly inexpensive, with a culinary orientation of world flavors, a total change of scenery. Parallel to the rue de Carouge, the rue Prévost-Martin, which extends to the place des Augustins, has some good addresses for a quick meal, in a trendy setting with design bars.
The Jonction district and the Bains district. On the other side of the Plainpalais plain, in the Jonction district, you will appreciate the student cafés-restaurants of the rue de l'École de Médecine, the refined, contemporary, artistic establishments of the "quartier" des Bains, but also the latest novelties and designer boutiques located along the boulevard Carl Vogt, which has been undergoing a major transformation over the past few years. The quartier des Bains wants to be "the platform of modern art" with the presence of the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art(MAMCO). It is delimited by the rue de l'École de Médecine, the Arve, the rue des Bains and the rue du Stand. The association of the Bains district gathers fifteen art galleries and renowned cultural institutions. Its objective? To make contemporary art shine." In this perspective, it organizes, once a year, the famous Nuits des Bains.
Push the doors of alternative cafés for café-concerts, café-conferences and workshops. As for trendy ready-to-wear boutiques, you should prefer the small adjacent streets, such as rue Jean Violette, rue Prévost-Martin, or place des Augustins. On Boulevard Carl Vogt, your eyes will be captivated by an unusual architecture: a roof pierced by lozenges housing the Musée d'Ethnographie de Genève (MEG). Under this aluminum iceberg, you will discover the vast and rich collections of works from the five continents. A life-size journey open to the culture of the world.
La Jonction. Going down towards the Rhône, you arrive in a district that the Genevans call "Jonction", because it precedes the confluence of the clear waters of the Rhône and those of the more turbid Arve. This district gathers many bars. It is the heart of Geneva's alternative universe. You can quench your thirst in the bars near the Forces Motrices building. Erected in 1883, the BFM, built in the middle of the Rhône, was originally a factory whose function was to supply the fountains, houses and factories of Geneva. Completed in 1892, the building was then classified as a historical monument in 1898.
It is a fascinating, monumental place. Chosen to house the new Grand Théâtre in 1994, its rehabilitation and redevelopment are remarkable. Set on the Rhone, with its huge windows along elegant buildings, the site could be a work of art in itself. The place is well worth a visit. Concerts, dance performances and exhibitions are organized in a unique setting. L'Usine is an unmissable place to go out, famous in the world of the night and the Geneva nightlife. Installed in a former gold refining factory, this self-managed association represents the alternative cultural life. The cultural center organizes concerts and plays. It is also home to the famous and popular nightclub.
Along the Rhône, the atypical Barje des Lavandières bar (a trailer from May to September) welcomes bathers from the Rhône in an ephemeral manner.
Rive and Eaux-Vives
Rive is a group of streets dedicated to commerce: the rue de Rive, the lower streets below the old town, the cours de Rive with its numerous arcades and the boulevard Helvétique which hosts the markets and the famous Halles de Rive. The famous rue du Rhône and the quays are more touristy and middle-class areas, with a wide range of tapas bars and lounge bars, rooftops and gourmet restaurants. The Eaux-Vives district extends from the harbor to the route de Malagnou, from the Rive traffic circle to the Eaux-Vives and La Grange parks. The popular Eaux-Vives district has its own identity. The backbone is the rue des Eaux-Vives. All along it are various restaurants and stores. Close to the lake, the city center and beautiful parks, it offers a range of more affordable restaurants than on the quays, with a wide variety of culinary universes.
Shoreline and lower streets. Rue du Marché, which becomes Rue de la Croix d'Or on the way to Rive, is the city's main shopping street. It is crowded on Saturdays. In Switzerland, almost all the stores are closed on Sundays and you have to hurry to do your shopping before 6pm on Saturdays. The "lower streets" are known to offer an interesting composite of 18th and 19th century buildings as well as more recent achievements. Like the Genevans, we appreciate the Place du Molard and its beautifully illuminated cobblestones in the evening. It is a very good place to have a drink on the terrace and enjoy the colorful atmosphere of the place between neoclassic and medieval. You can also enjoy a meal in one of the restaurants on the square or go directly into Globus, one of the two big stores of the city, which offers excellent food on the first floor and well-stocked clothing departments on the upper floors.
On Eaux-Vives. Eaux-Vives was a separate commune from Geneva in the early 19th century. It was a fishermen's village on the shores of the lake with several pontoons where their boats were moored, including the Port Noir from which the Mouettes (seagulls) still leave for the right bank. The banks of the lake were then undeveloped shores. There were also craftsmen who occupied the high streets of the district, some of whose arcades are still visible, notably on rue Maunoir. The district changed especially after the European revolutions of 1840-1850, when aristocratic families came to seek refuge in peaceful Switzerland from the turpitude of the creation of nation-states. The great Geneva politician James Fazy gave the city an unprecedented urban impulse and transformed the harbor. Along the new alley that runs along the lake, houses were built throughout the end of the century. These large and sometimes eccentric residences, "the mansions", belonged to rich local and European families. Let's mention two beautiful examples of this seaside architecture: the Maison Royale (48, quai Gustave Ador, 1885) on the left bank of the harbor and on the right bank the Hotel Beau Rivage (13, quai du Mont-Blanc, 1865) belonging to the Pâquis district. The city became a favorite vacation spot for the upper middle class and the European aristocracy, who could no longer rest in a Europe that was in the grip of the social revolutions of the second half of the 19th century.
This seaside touch became a reality with the first baths in Eaux-Vives, created by the Société des Bains du Soleil et du Lac in 1916. Today, the district is both urban and lakeside like its right bank counterpart, the Pâquis. The Eaux-Vives district is one of the most pleasant, it is preserved by its magnificent parks. It is also in this neighborhood that you will find the brand new public beach of Geneva, which will be built in 2019.
Grottos, Pâquis and Nations
Can you describe in a few words the Grottes, Pâquis and Nations districts? On the right bank, it is the base camp of the world citizens. They are the common point between these three districts, which are truly multicultural. The Grottes district is characterized by its popular and supportive side, the Pâquis district by its cosmopolitan and lively aspect, and finally the Nations district gives Geneva this truly international dimension, with the presence of the European headquarters of the UN, the UNHCR, the International Red Cross and two hundred other international organizations. The superb parks, in the extension of the Pâquis, stretching along the shores of Lake Geneva and leading to the Place des Nations, the entry point of the UN, are well worth a visit. The Botanical Garden, in front of the WTO, is a small and beautiful plant paradise for children and parents.
The Pâquis district. The Pâquis, located on the right bank of Lake Geneva, was separated from Geneva until the 19th century. They owe their name to the pastures going down to Lake Geneva and belonging to the commune of Petit-Saconnex. Fortifications placed on the current boulevard du Mont-Blanc delimited the district. The urbanization of this district took place at the beginning of the 19th century, when in 1850 the Pâquis were attached to Geneva and became one of its suburbs. It is this late urbanization that gives the architectural homogeneity of the streets forming the Pâquis. Already at that time, hotels and inns were built around the Cornavin gate, a point of convergence between the roads serving Switzerland and neighboring France. Before going to Geneva left bank, one stops in the district to recover from his journey and to spend the night there. Moreover, the location on the south side of the riverbank soon became a favorite place for luxury hotels, which were established on these new lands facing the lake. At the same time as this seaside aspect, the interior of the district was given over to pleasures: casinos, then estaminets and finally brothels appeared at the beginning of the 20th century. The identity of the district is marked by these contrasts, a clever mix of elegant bourgeois houses, palaces where aristocratic families stay and hot alleys where they can get wild. Since the 1860s, the atmosphere has changed! The district is a major tourist center, bringing together hotels, restaurants, entertainment and trendy places, full of both electric and diverse atmospheres. The restaurants offer a wide range of cuisine from all over the world. The district also concentrates many hotels, with a wide range of prices. The current Pâquis district is crossed by the street of the same name, along which bars, restaurants of all horizons with spicy flavors and trendy places follow one another. The rue de Berne also marks the entrance to the red district, which is very controlled but which can be surprising because of the lack of transition with the chic banks of the quai du Mont-Blanc. The cultural mix of the district favors the establishment of restaurants with global flavors. A heterogeneous universe that represents the cultural diversity of Geneva.
Geneva's main train station, the Cornavin station, no doubt owes its name to the episcopal vines grown there in the past. It is a real crossroads for all public transport lines, at the intersection of the Mont Blanc bridge and the rue de Lausanne, which cover regional, national and international destinations. As the nerve center of the entire district, approximately 15,000 people pass through here every day. The station has an underground gallery with many stores, some of which are open later than usual in Geneva. During one of its renovations in the 1930s, the rubble accumulated during the demolition gave birth to Geneva Beach on the opposite bank. From its multiple renovations, it has kept its facade and its murals, dear to the heart of the Genevans and worth arriving early to observe them. In front of this imposing ensemble, crossing the square by the Passage des Alpes leads to the atypical Grottes district (opposite the lake), while the Rue James Fazi, which crosses the Rue Chantepoulet, leads to the Saint-Gervais district. Rue de Cornavin goes down towards the Rhône to join the small streets surrounding the Manor department store (which the Genevans call the placette, because of Place De-Grenus). These central alleys are the occasion for a shopping stroll and a walk to the quays of Bergues and the small islands built on the Rhone such as Ile Rousseau, the Pont de la Machine or the Quais de l'Ile. Upstream, the Avenue de France, then the Route de Ferney join the highway that bypasses Geneva towards France, and Lake Geneva towards the rest of Switzerland.
Stroll along the Quai du Mont-Blanc to admire the lake, which runs alongside the small marina before the Bains des Pâquis. After the pier, this is extended by the Wilson quay, stretching along the banks, in front of the palace of the same name, former headquarters of the League of Nations. It then leads to the magnificent Perle du Lac park (the first of the six parks making up the Monrepos park complex). On a clear day, this park offers a sumptuous panorama of the Mont Blanc massif. It includes the Villa Rose Lammermoor, the headquarters of the Hautes Études Internationales, the Villa Bartholoni, which houses the Science Museum, and the World Trade Organization (WTO) building. These elegant 19th century bourgeois houses have been converted into luxury hotels and palaces, the train station concentrates mid-range hotels, the more popular districts (Pâquis and Grottes) hotels for small budgets and youth hostels.
The Grottes district has nothing to do with a cave or even a grotto. Its name comes from a small river, often muddy, the Nant des Crottes, which was renamed in the 19th century to Nant des Grottes. It is a rather atypical district that you have to cross on foot to understand its urbanistic foundations and the participative vocation of its inhabitants. They are viscerally attached to their little neighborhood of popular buildings renovated at the beginning of the century and new constructions from the 1980s. Indeed, this neighborhood had a bad reputation at the beginning of the century. It was home to many immigrants and among them, political refugees wanted by the police all over Europe (Kropotkin and Lenin would have stayed there). The city intended to destroy it, but the various projects did not come to fruition and the 1970s saw the Caves become a district of squats and self-managed places. In short, an alternative world on the fringe of a Geneva at the height of its financial glory. This identity of squats remains very strong in this deeply united neighborhood. However, in the 1980s, we witnessed the construction of the Smurfs' houses (rue Louis Favre), buildings built according to Gaudí's architectural principles without right angles that look like colored mushrooms, as well as the renovation of the facades (which gave the pretty pastel colors to the walls). Rue des Grottes is the backbone of this little corner where from Siberia Street to Faucille Street, the shadow of the revolution is never far away. Les Grottes is now a collection of small tree-lined streets, communicating courtyards, associative spaces, self-managed stores and the charming Cropettes park, all of which are so popular with its inhabitants. A universe apart that you have to walk through and immerse yourself in the curious (for Geneva) identity of the neighborhood. It is the alternative district of Geneva with many self-managed spaces.
The Nations district, at the end of the right bank, adjacent to the Conservatory, the Botanical Garden, the Ariana Park and the Glass and Ceramics Museum, occupies the hill overlooking Lake Geneva. Opposite, the Salève, the Alps and the Mont Blanc offer a magnificent panorama. It is the district of international Geneva and the best place to talk about diplomacy, health, economy or law. It is in this setting that the major institutions of multilateralism have been located since 1945 (and before that the League of Nations), with the UN in the lead, but also the UNHCR and the OPI (intellectual property). These organizations located around the Avenue de France and the Ariana Park are also places to visit such as the Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum or the Palais des Nations building. The Place des Nations and its emblematic three-legged chair (in reference to the support against anti-personnel mines) is the heart of international citizen gatherings, around the 192 flags that line it. The neighborhood is young, dynamic, multicultural, and many delegates from around the world stay in the area. The Botanical Garden, which the Genevans also call the UN Garden with its animals and greenhouse, is popular with children, while parents enjoy the exceptional view. Prégny-Chambésy and its Penthes domain with the museum of the Swiss in the world is a stone's throw away. Apart from the international organizations and a few establishments, the area is quite empty of stores and you have to go back to the center, or to the avenue de Lausanne, to find a little more shopping and restaurants.
The neighborhoods near the airport are located partly in Geneva (Petit and Grand-Saconnex) and partly in its surroundings (Vernier). The airport is also very close to Meyrin and CERN. In the vicinity of the airport, there is mainly a large shopping area, Emotions Airport Shopping (open on Sundays), Migros, Balextert, Ikea and offices. Restaurants are grouped near or in the airport (Swiss Chalet, Montreux Jazz Café, L'Olivo, L'Altitude) and in the surrounding communes, Petit and Grand-Saconnex (Café du Soleil) and a little further away: Vernier and Satigny (Café de Peney). It is also the place of museums and events with the Palexpo center which hosts the emblematic GIMS car show, or the Arena and its international shows of fashionable artists.
Carouge
It is sometimes called the "Greenwich Village" of Geneva. Only 10 minutes by streetcar from Place Neuve, Carouge has its own personality. It is different and knows how to cultivate its difference. Carouge has a special status in the history of Geneva and its canton. A small town detached from the left bank by the course of the Arve, it was built in the 18th century on the orders of the King of Sardinia to compete with Geneva.
Originally, it was made up of a few houses and belonged to the hamlet of Lancy. Between 1772 and 1783, a new town was developed, open to the modern Piedmontese urbanism, without fortifications or walls, with aligned streets and large squares. It advocated freedom and tolerance. Even today, this open-mindedness runs through its veins. It is appreciated for its cultural dynamism, its human size, its trendy fashion and craft stores, its art and design galleries, its inns and cafés, not to mention its terraces along the Market Square.
The name of Carouge comes from quadruvium, "crossroads", in the center of which Sigismund was crowned king of the Burgundians in 516. It keeps this quality of open city, after having been French, Italian and under the supervision of Geneva, it asserts its singular identity. A rare phenomenon in its position as a border town, it has never had any fortifications. Now a commune of the canton of Geneva, it has often been assimilated to a district of the city of Calvin. The inhabitants of Geneva and artists like to walk there to smell a little different air.
Since the 18th century, privileges were granted to foreigners to encourage their settlement and thus boost the economy of Carouge. The Turinese power made it an island of civil tolerance with 143 inns and cabarets in 1792, but also religious tolerance since Catholics, Freemasons, Protestants, Jews... Thanks to its strategic position on the banks of the Arve river which allowed the transport of goods on the Rhine-Rhone axis, without passing through Geneva, and its Arve bridge (a real road crossroads in the direction of Ain and Savoy), Carouge became an important center of trade and crafts. It was elevated to the rank of royal city in 1786 by King Victor-Amédée III. Ceded in 1816 by the Treaty of Turin, it became one of the communes of the Canton of Geneva. In 1862, it became the fourth European city, along with Geneva, to have a horse-drawn omnibus (the ancestor of the streetcar). Since then, it has become an industrial city while preserving the heart of its old town where it is pleasant to walk along the canal and in the shady streets. Classified as a "city of national importance", it is a unique example of post-medieval urban planning in Europe. The city was built and developed on both sides of the ancient street which crosses it diagonally from the Arve cove. The architectural style of the old town is popular, with a one-story gray rendered facade, arched windows on the first floor (often housing a workshop) and rectangular windows on the upper floor, and a courtyard side with a courtyard staircase and a small garden. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the buildings were enhanced and transformed. Carouge still has many historic houses, including the Montanrouge house (1789) which has housed the Carouge museum since 1984 (works by local artists, earthenware, pottery, paintings).
