﻿Do you have 24 hours to spend in Geneva, Switzerland?
Then you clicked on the right video. Let me help you plan a successful layover trip in Geneva.
In this video, you will see an overview of a layover trip
in Geneva and get suggestions on what to do and what to avoid.
These tips and suggestions are based on my recent trip to Geneva and some hard-learned lessons.
Before I get into it, I’d appreciate it if you subscribe to this channel and give it a
thumbs up if you enjoyed this video, so I can keep making videos like this and help travelers around
the world plan better. Without further ado, let’s get started.
Once you arrive at the airport, the best way to get to the city center or downtown is by train.
I would not recommend Uber or taxi, because taking a train is a no-brainer.
It's the fastest, cheapest and most reliable way to get to the city centre.
Walk 5 minutes through the shopping area inside the airport.
You will see train schedules and ticket booths or vending machines. Get a ticket for 3 euros.
Walk to the platform and hop on a train. All trains make a stop at the city center.
Within 6 minutes, you will arrive at the Cornavin station, which is in the central downtown area.
I was told that I can get a free train ticket at the baggage claim hall.
I briefly looked at it and couldn't find it.
And the staff at the airport told me I should buy the ticket.
So I don't know who to believe.
But the ticket cost only 3 euros and it's not worth sweating over.
Though here’s a mistake I made.
Before I hopped on a train, I google-mapped the directions. It told me that it would be a 20-minute ride.
So I took a seat and got myself comfortable for a 20-minute ride. The thing is...
So I had to rush out of the train.
The moral of the story is
don't trust Google on this.
Ask locals and staff at the train station
they know better than Google. Once you make your way into the city center, check
Once you make your way into the city cetner
check in to your hotel or at least leave your luggage so you can start exploring the city. Here’s the tip.
Choose an inexpensive hotel in the city center like near the Cornavin station.
It was super convenient to travel from and back to the airport, and everything I needed was within walking distance,
including a pharmacy.
You will see why I mentioned pharmacy later in this video.
Before anything, we needed a big cup of coffee. So we went to Starbucks. Here’s the mistake number 2.
We ordered 2 grande Americanos without checking the price.
Turns out grande Americano was almost $7 USD.
I’ve heard things are expensive in Switzerland
and now I know even the average joe doesn't have the average price tag.
Don’t get me wrong though, the coffee tasted great,
and when it comes to sandwiches and pastries, Swiss starbucks had better menus and prices.
So take advantage of that. Finally, we were ready to go sightseeing,
except there was something definitely wrong…
As we were walking towards Pont du Mont-blanc to explore the city,
we noticed all the shops were closed and there weren’t many people on the streets.
So here comes the biggest mistake I made. I was in Geneva on Sunday
because on Sundays, almost everything in the central area is closed.
Usually, I’m not big on shopping
but in Geneva, I was looking forward to going for a little shopping at a place like the victorinox flagship store.
So I was bummed out that I had to scratch off a few of the things I planned in Geneva.
If you’re interested in shopping and people-watching in Geneva, avoid Sundays.
Good thing though the beautiful Geneva lake is open 24/7.
Bad news?
I missed another major thing that I planned in Geneva, which is seeing Le Jet d’eau in action.
There goes my mistake number 4. I didn’t check the operating schedule of this iconic water fountain in advance.
The fountain is operated during certain times, and the schedule
varies depending on the season. I arrived there a little after 4pm, and unfortunately for me,
the fountain stopped operating at 4. Here’s another tip for you. Check out the website
Here's another tip for you. Check out the website I've linked down below to find out the schedule for your next trip.
One thing I didn’t screw up in Geneva was fondue dinner.
I called a restaurant ahead and made a reservation, which I highly recommend.
This restaurant was packed with people on Sunday evening
and I see why. They do justice to Swiss fondue.
We ordered a pot of fonduefor two
and a small portion of Raclette, which tasted pretty much like the fondue.
So here's the tip.
If you are not big on cheese, just order a small portion of raclette. You will get the taste without
You will get the taste of Swiss fondue without making too much commitment.
Personally, I can never have too much cheese, so I devoured both dishes.
While the successful fondue dinner made up for all the planning mistakes I made in Geneva,
there’s one more major mistake I have to admit. Thankfully,
Thankfully the pharmacy was open till night and they took us in even though we showed up at the
last minute without making an appointment.
The test was free of charge, and the result came out within 15 minutes.
Thanks Switzerland.
If we weren’t lucky, we wouldn’t have been able to fly back to the U.S.
Covid is still not over yet especially if you're traveling from or to the U.S.
I’ve heard stories of American people stuck abroad
because they catch covid during the trip and cannot fly back to the U.S.
Let's enjoy ourselves but let's not get too relaxed about taking covid precautions while traveling.
Anyways, that’s the end of our layover trip
and if you ask me if the trip was worth it, I’d say yes, because Geneva isn’t
so big that a day trip was sufficient.
If you can get a much cheaper flight by making a stop in Geneva, then definitely do it
and check Geneva off your list. I hope this video was helpful and made you
want to click subscribe and give it a thumbs up. Thanks for watching, see you next week.