For my fourth destination on my graduation backpacking trip in Europe, my friends and I did a day trip to Geneva, Switzerland! Switzerland was high on Rohini’s list for which countries we visited, specifically Interlaken, but it was easiest for us to get to Geneva.
I was excited to visit Geneva especially since it’s apart of the French speaking region in Switzerland. When I had visited Basel and Zurich last year, they were apart of the German and Swiss-German speaking region, so I was eager to see the cultural differences and also to be able to communicate with them!
Since we were visiting during late May, I feel like the weather here was perfect. It was warm outside, but the wind from the water kept us cool. And we could enjoy all of the trees and plants in bloom too!
In this blog, I’m sharing my full itinerary for a day trip to Geneva from Lyon, France! This day trip guide is perfect for backpackers taking the Eurail because the city is very accessible by train.
My itinerary at a glance:
FlixBus to Geneva
Breakfast at a Swiss café
Lac Léman and the Jet d’Eau
Finding the Best Fondue for Lunch
Boat Tour of Lac Léman
Catching the Train to Paris
Taking a FlixBus to Geneva
Coming from Lyon by FlixBus, it takes about 2 hours and 15 minutes to reach Geneva. Our bus left from the Perrache station in Lyon at 6:30am, so we slept most of the way there. Once we entered the city and had about 15 minutes till we reached the parking lot, we started putting on a little bit of make up because we didn’t want to wake up even earlier to do so back in Lyon!
We arrived in Geneva by 8:45am and immediately walked about 5 minutes to the train station in order to drop our bags off. Since after our day trip in Geneva we would be going to Paris, we had all of our belongings with us. Luckily at the train stations in Switzerland, they have a luggage drop off where you can pay to store your bags during the day. I had done this before in Zurich so I figured Geneva would have it too! This is super convenient and I definitely recommend doing this.
Breakfast at a Swiss Café
Once we dropped off our bags, we walked to Lac Léman and then found a little café nearby called Aure Cafétéria and sat down outside for a light breakfast. It seemed like this was a café that locals went to, because they all seemed to be dressed in business professional or casual and had a quick bite before they were off on their day. Here, I had a pain au chocolat with green tea. The pain au chocolat was pretty goof but definitely not as good as the ones from France!
Exploring Lac Léman
After our breakfast, we walked back to Lac Léman to explore more of it! I actually thought that the lake was called Lake Geneva, but that may just be because one of the Finger Lakes in New York is called Lake Geneva (I grew up nearby).
Lac Léman was absolutely breathtaking. I wasn’t expecting the lake to be so clean, clear, and turquoise! I also loved how there were so many swans on the lake with their babies. It was so cute to watch.
We walked over to the Jet d’Eau, or water jet, and it was spraying water everywhere since it was windy that day! This was really cool to see in person because the jet was spraying the water super high into the air. In English, it is known as the Geneva Water Fountain, and it was built in 1886 to control the water pressure of a hydraulic plant at La Coulouvrenière. Now it’s the city’s most recognizable landmarks!
While walking along the lake, we found a tourist office selling tickets for a boat tour of the lake, so we decided to buy tickets. They had options for a lunch or dinner cruise, but we just chose one that was about an hour long with no meal service, that way we could try a restaurant in Geneva. The tour wouldn’t be until 2:30pm, so we went to get lunch nearby in the mean time.
Fondue for lunch
Since Switzerland is known for their cheeses, especially in dishes like fondue and raclette, we knew we needed to have one of these for lunch. Despite it being 75-80 degrees Fahrenheit since we were here in May, we decided to choose a winter meal and go with fondue. I had never had fondue from a restaurant so I was excited!
We found this restaurant, Auberge de Savièse, on Google Maps, and it had really good ratings so we decided to try it out. They have been around for more than 50 years and are known for their traditional Swiss dishes in an ambiance that makes you feel like you’re in a Swiss cabin in the Alps!
We had the tomato fondue and it came with a side of bread and mini potatoes. We also all split a large salad, apples, and grapes to have in some fresh produce in our diet since fondue is a really heavy meal. The fondue was so tasty and honestly put me in a food coma afterwards! I definitely see why this is known as the best spot around for fondue!
Boat tour of Lac Léman
Once we had lunch, it was nearly time for our boat tour of the lake. At first, we thought we boarded the boat at the Genève Pâquis dock, but it turns out that is the dock we would get off at. We had to board on the other side of the lake at the Jardin Anglais (English Garden), so luckily we had enough time to walk over once we figured this out.
The boat tour was about an hour I believe, and we just sailed down the lake and back. We sat on the upper deck so we had plenty of sun and also some wind to keep us cool from the heat. Though, since we just had fondue for lunch, the boat tour put me to sleep and I was nodding off the whole time. But to be fair, there wasn’t anyone giving a history of the lake, we were all just relaxed and watching the views. We could have downloaded an app to give us an audio guide as we sailed the lake, but once we left the dock I didn’t have wifi to download the app. I decided to buy an espresso to wake me up a bit, and this gave me enough energy to last me to our train to Paris afterwards.
The boat tour was really peaceful and I would say that you should definitely do this when you visit Geneva! It’s a very peaceful activity that will give you a nice break from being constantly on the go, especially why backpacking in Europe. The tour cost 18 CHF or about $20.
Catching our train to Paris
After our boat tour, we still had about an hour and a half until our train left to Paris, but we decided to hangout at the train station until then. We felt that we had seen a good amount of Geneva, and we were also very tired and wanted to sit down and relax.
Rohini had been craving ice cream our whole day in Geneva, and once we got to the train station we ran into people giving away free ice cream! She was definitely manifesting this the whole time. I can’t remember the name of the brand because I didn’t take a picture of it, but the ice cream popsicles were so good!
Before we got on our train, we picked up food from Pret à Manger, which is a chain of cafés with ready-to-go food and drinks. They always have a lot of healthy options, even vegetarian, so this was the perfect meal for us on the go.
Once we were on the train, we all started to journal or watch Netflix. Eventually I took a little nap too. The train was about 2.5 or 3 hours, so it went by super fast.
I hope you found this detailed itinerary for a day trip to Geneva helpful! We kept our day trip very low key with mainly sight seeing activities. This guide is definitely perfect for those looking to explore the city without feeling rushed!
Stay tuned for my two day guide for Paris, coming next!
