Laila Rodriguez
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Here’s an excellent idea for when you run out of ideas for what to do with your out-of-town guests: guided walking tours of Geneva.
The Geneva tourism department offers guided walks that range in price from CHF10 for students and seniors, to CHF15 for adults. Free for children under 14 years of age.
Explore Old Town, Carouge, the financial district, or take one of the themed-walks: watch-making history, Calvinism and the city, parks and residences, tales and legends, Rousseau, Henry Dunant & the Red Cross, and in December only, the Escalade with its famous hot soup and hidden trails.
Squeeze through the Passage de Monetier opens only once a year
Exiting the Monetier dressed as back in the day
Tours are offered in French, English and German; Spanish, Italian, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, and other languages available upon request.
Enjoy Geneva in winter!
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Laila Rodriguez
View of some of the trails at the UN Park - Photo Jean Marc Ferre, UNIS
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – If you are one of the few still left in Geneva during the summer holidays, or have guests this month, consider a visit to the beautifully manicured lawns and gardens of the United Nations.
The tour of the Palais des Nations Park takes place every Tuesday and Thursday during the summer, at 11:00 and 14:30, and lasts about an hour-and-a-half.
For more information on the guided tours in English call: +41 (0) 22 917 4894 or email ndawe@unog.ch.
View of Room XX decorated by the Spanish artist Miquel Barcelo - Photo Jean-Marc Ferre, UNIS
Other UN tours
If you are interested in visiting the UN buildings, including some of the rooms where international policies are created, remember that from September to April tours operate on weekdays only.
For more information on those tours visit the UN website. Remember valid identity documents, such as passports, may be required.
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Laila Rodriguez
Many churches across Switzerland hold special religious services on Whit Monday
Geneva, Switzerland - Geneva, Vaud, and a number of other Swiss Cantons are enjoying a three-day Pentecost weekend. Pentecost is one of the most ancient feasts of the Christian church, celebrated according to experts, early enough to be mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles.
Whit Monday, Pentecost Monday, or Monday of the Holy Spirit is a Christian holy day celebrated the day after Pentecost. The latter commemorates the descent of the Holy Ghost, fifty days after Easter (pentecost or 50 in Greek), or ten days after Ascension Day.
Pentecost is a recognized federal holiday in Switzerland and one of several with religious connotations but unlike Ascension Day, it is not recognized nor celebrated by all cantons in the Confederation.
Canton Valais for example does not observe the holiday and instead commemorates the Fête-Dieu or Corpus Christi on 23 June.
Laila Rodriguez
The Auffahrtsumritt, which celebrates Ascension Day in Switzerland - Photo ©Auffahrtsumritt Beromünster
Switzerland – Most residents of Switzerland are enjoying a Thursday off; for many this is the beginning of a four-day weekend courtesy of an ancient Christian tradition: Ascension Day.
In Christian faith, Ascension Day, or the Feast of the Ascension, celebrates the day when the resurrected Jesus went up to heaven, 40 days after Easter Sunday.
Ascension is a recognized Federal holiday in Switzerland and one of several with religious connotations. What is particular about this holiday is that it is recognized by both Catholic Church and Protestant Reformed Church cantons.
The most colorful celebration takes place in the German-speaking part of Switzerland.
It is known as the Auffahrtsumritt in German and Cavalcade de l’Ascension in French, a procession on foot and horse through the streets of Beromünster in canton Lucerne.
The tradition dates to 1509 (or 1402 according to other accounts), when, according to its organizers, people used to pray for the good health of the crops, for happiness and the welfare of the family and home.
In 1780 the number of participants, mostly on horses, increased, and it became a popular celebration in the country.
Happy day off and Happy Father’s Day (today is not only Ascension Day in Germany but also Father’s Day.)
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Laila Rodriguez
Annecy castle one of the places to visit in town (enlarge)
Annecy, France – One of the most quaint and beautiful cities in surrounding France, Annecy at less than 50 km from Geneva now has one more reason to make it a must-visit this summer.
This city, full of history and located on the Lac d’Annecy, boasts a captivating medieval center, picturesque -although sometimes much too crowded streets- and crystalline blue waters in its lake.
Laila Rodriguez
The Ariana museum in Geneva, guided tours
Geneva, Switzerland – Here’s another bargain I found to add to my list of “free or low-cost” Geneva resources.
Free English-speaking guided tours are now available at the Art and History Museum, one of the oldest in the city of Geneva as well as at the Rath Museum, which recently reopened and at the beautiful Ariana Museum.
The 2010 sessions have been scheduled as follows: Read more…
Laila Rodriguez
PostBus for those wanting to see Switzerland and not worry about parking
Geneva, Switzerland – Now that the weather is nice, the questions for many would-be explorers are where, when, and… how, if there’s no car involved.
Leave it to the Swiss – masters of planning – to help you pick a region, a date, and a bus (CarPostal) to take you there while enjoying the beautiful scenery.
Pick any sort of holidays: hiking, swimming, bicycling, or other family oriented activities.
The PostBus Switzerland website allows you to interactively pick a region, an activity, and a date. My pick? The Ticino, with family, in the Summer. The result: 23 suggested itineraries.
Laila Rodriguez
Sightseeing Geneva by foot
Geneva, Switzerland – Here’s a great resource for exploring Geneva on foot, a virtual guide of the city and suggested walks.
“Geneva at a walking pace” is an initiative to motivate tourists, and residents alike, to explore the city and the canton at a leisurely pace.
The walking plan incorporates pedestrian routes approved by the city council in 2001 and by the canton in 2004, ranging from the pragmatic – Geneva airport to the stadium, to classic city tours – the Jet d’eau to Carouge.
Walking times shown on the map are based on a 5 km/hour pace.
Happy walking!
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Laila Rodriguez
Voltaire's salon
Geneva, Switzerland – Here’s an idea for a lazy afternoon: visiting the Voltaire’s museum, his one-time residence in Geneva.
Les Délices de Voltaire is the name of the beautiful chateau located in the heart of the city of Geneva where the French philosopher lived from 1755 to 1760.
The chateau is today a museum dedicated entirely to Voltaire’s work, including a library with 25,000 books related to his work and to the 18th Century.
Some items that once belonged to Voltaire or that decorated the house while he lived there, such as those shown in the picture at left, have returned to the chateau to be part of the exhibit.
Laila Rodriguez
The Rumine Palace on the Riponne Plaza in Lausanne
Geneva, Switzerland – The perennial question, “what’s there to do on Sundays in Geneva or Lausanne?” lingers on and stays floating in the air as if waiting for a magical answer to materialize. Well the simple answer is, don’t wait, plan ahead for those lazy Sundays in the Lake Geneva area.
Planning, not improvising, seems to be in the Swiss-top-10 list of values. With that in mind, here are two tips for the first weekend of each month: