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 Botanical Gardens in summer
Geneva, Switzerland – It is Wednesday and workshop time at the Botanical Gardens! This means there’s more for your kids to do on Wednesdays in Geneva. Children aged 8 to 11 are welcome to the “green workshops” which includes building a bird house, setting up a herbarium and other mineral- and animal-kingdom related activities.
Children are taught and monitored by volunteer senior citizens making this an invaluable cross-generational experience for all involved.
Workshops are usually CHF12 – that is cheaper than the movies! Registration is now open. Go green kids!
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Laila Rodriguez
Happily using her newly acquired Carte Junior
Geneva, Switzerland – One of the first things we did when we arrived in Geneva was to buy a Carte Junior which gave our 8 year-old free rides on all public transport systems in Switzerland for one year! That is a bargain a parent cannot pass up.
Laila Rodriguez
Too cold to go swimming outdoors
Geneva, Switzerland – The days are getting shorter by the minute and Geneva will soon be submerged in that “perma-gray” that makes us all a bit stir-crazy.
One good way to beat the blues is by exercising and adding new physical activities to our routine. What is there to do in Geneva proper during the winter months?
Swimming! Indoor pools in Geneva offer courses for adults and children all-year round.
Laila Rodriguez
The Geneva art and history museum - Photo ©Laila Rodriguez
Geneva, Switzerland – If you’re a museum buff, or simply want to keep up with the many temporary exhibits in the city museums then this is a good resource for you: the ExpoPass.
In Geneva the entry to permanent collections in all of the municipal museums (14 in total) is free of charge while the entry to temporary exhibitions is free of charge the first Sunday of the month.
The ExpoPass covers the gap between the two options before.
Laila Rodriguez
Pedibus or "walking bus" for school children in Geneva
Geneva, Switzerland – Do you know what a Pedibus is? Well, it is sort of a school bus for small children. The Pedibus, just as any school bus line, collects students at scheduled stops. But the similarity ends there.
The pedibus can be described as an ambulatory service relying on the children’s own force to usher them to school grounds.
Laila Rodriguez
Carousel at the botanical gardens in Geneva
Geneva, Switzerland – A fun weekend activity for kids and adults in Geneva is to visit the Botanical Gardens, its exhibits, and the incredible carousel on its premises.
The Carrousel des fables was created as a tribute to the fables written by French poet, Jean de la Fontaine. The metal structure recreates many of the characters in the fables. A truly formidable mix of machinery and imagination.
Laila Rodriguez
Water jets at Nations Plaza in Geneva
Geneva, Switzerland – Visiting the UN might not sound like the kind of “fun” activity for entertaining kids on a summer afternoon in Geneva, but the scene of little ones in swimsuits dancing among the synchronized water jets at the UN Plaza during the summer, tells a different story.
Everyday groups of parents, grandparents, child minders and kids spend time in front of the Broken Chair monument in Place des Nations, or Nations square, directly across from the UN Palace in Geneva.
Laila Rodriguez
Swim away to a healthy end-of-summer
Geneva, Switzerland – Imagine dipping in the waters of Lake Geneva, overlooking some of the most expensive real estate in Switzerland and working on your crawl stroke in a one-to-one swimming lesson, all without breaking the bank.
The private instruction costs only 10 francs per adult/per lesson and just 5 francs for children’s lessons.
During the summer, the entrance fee to the Bains des Paquis is 2 francs per adult, and 1 franc per child. Thus the total bill for an individual swimming course for a parent and a child comes to less than 20 francs. That’s a great deal in Geneva.
Laila Rodriguez
Lawn chairs, parks and fun in Geneva - Photo by Gabriela RRB
Geneva, Switzerland - Geneva is a city of parks. There are 310 hectares of green areas divided in 800 small and large plots, which according to the Department of Social Cohesion, Youth and Sports, represents 20% of the urban territory.
Since 2003, the City has been offering free lawn chairs in parks around town during the summer.
This year the nine participating municipal parks are: