More ideas for days out
Places that aren't already on the map, or more fleshed-out days involving multiple map points
In and around Geneva
-
Bike or walking tour of the centre of Geneva,
along the lake, or to Carouge
- Ice cream and/or picnic at the botanic gardens
-
Boats: pedalos, boat hire, CGN paddle steamers, kayaks/paddles?
- Special discounted day tickets for paddle steamers go on sale occasionally
- CERN and/or UN tour, but need advance notice
Further afield
- Montreux, Chateau Chillon (13.50 CHF)
and the modern fort opposite (25 CHF, open Wed-Sun)
- 1h by train to Montreux, then a lovely walk along the lakeside from Montreux to the castle
- 10-minute CGN paddle steamer hop back to Montreux, 11 CHF/person
- Combined train/castle/fort tickets available for a discount
- Gruyère: castle,
dairy,
chocolate factory
- Most easily reached by train (2h from Geneva)
- Chocolate factory tours (14-17 CHF/person) best booked in advance
- Combined chocolate factory/train tickets with discount
- Dairy tour (8 CHF/person) needs booking in advance
Example itinerary in 2025 (click to open)
- train 09:45 Genève-Aéroport - 11:13 Romont
- train 11:22 Romont - 11:41 Bulle
- train 11:41 Bulle - 11:57 Gruyères
- 12:00 cheese factory visit, 12:20 cheese-making demonstration, then walk to village (15 min)
- 13:00 lunch at Restaurant des Remparts (menu)
- walk around the village and back down to the station
- train 14:58 Gruyères (station) - 15:06 Bulle
- train 15:17 Bulle - 15:27 Broc-Chocolaterie
- 15:30 chocolate factory visit
- train 17:03 Broc-Chocolaterie - 17:37 Romont
- train 17:46 Romont - Genève-Aéroport
Tips
For group trips by public transport in Switzerland, get a group train reservation for 30% off the normal (non-saver) ticket price. Needs advance notice but you get reserved seats together.