Geneva in January

[Lisa in Ottawa]

I never thought I'd be posting a thread for Switzerland. and in January. But Ron has work there and I decided to go along. We will be staying in a studio apartment near train station. I plan to train to Lausanne and Bern. No matter how cold and snowy, it won't be as bad as Ottawa.

Pauline, sadly, no hiking in the Alps.
Thoughts???
Ps Still planning March trip to Portugal.

 

[Pauline]

Many of the mountain towns keep miles of walking paths clear in winter. It might be fun to go to one and see what it is like in snow. From Geneva you can easily get to our favorite area - Gstaad (jet set!), Saanen and Lenk (all in Berne canton). Lenk is where we were last July and a year ago. Not jet set. The tourism websites should tell you which towns clear paths.

You could also look in the Valais.

Or even south of Lake Geneva in the French alps. Evian, on the lake, is interesting. We spent a week in Samoens south of there.

 

[Lisa in Ottawa]

Thought I'd give an update from Geneva. So...well its small and cosmopolitan and fairly attractive especially with lake and mountain view. Transport is a breeze and free! Which is good because it is so expensive! More on that later.
We rented a car from Sixt for w/e. Worked out very well. A brand new Mercedes. We're used to twingos or some such small vehicle. Very comfy. Not too pricey.
Sat went to Annency in France. Just lovely. Very lively. Lots of families enjoying the unseasonably mild weather. Just about an hour from Geneva.
Sunday everything more or less closed. Drove to Montreux. Gorgeous lake walks with sea and mountin views. Lunch at a. Small brasserie. 1 green salad (small), 2 burgers(small), 2 glasses local wine. Bill $75,ch. About $100cdn. But even if you didn't convert $75 US for lunch.
Another example. Went to a coffee bar hoping with young folk. Ordered 2 small flat whites and 1 cookie. 13ch. Swiss franc(ch) is about equivalent to euro.
Just saying.....
Other than food prices enjoying myself. 1st full day on my own as Ron off to meetings. I plan to explore the "bohemian" neighborhood of Carouge. I leave for 3 days in Venice tomorrow.

 

[Pauline]

The prices in Switzerland are shocking aren't they? We don't eat in restaurants when we are there, but even buying groceries is more than twice as expensive when compared to France. But, I still love Switzerland.

We've driven a Mercedes a few times on trips - very nice.

We spent a day in Annecy on our 2014 trip when we spent a week in Samoens in the French Alps. I thought it was pretty, but a bigger city than I had expected. We like Montreux also.

We've only stayed in Geneva once, several years ago. We are more familiar with Zurich. Have fun exploring the city!

 

[Lisa in Ottawa]

It's hard not eating out. For variety and a scene if nothing else. We're in a very small studi with limited cooking facilities. But for sure having meals out every day would break the bank. But nice sitting outside sipping a coffee and watching world go by. I discovered a lovely area. Carouge. Very Italian with a villagey feel. Almost felt like I was in Trastavare in Rome. But most shops closed Sun and Mon so not quite as lively as Rome.
Went grocery shopping at Manor dept store. Huge! I love that wandering the aisles looking at food. If I don't think of sinking Canadian dollar not so bad.
We brought granola,coffee and pb with us so good for breakie. Really it's dinner. Ron's at meetings all day so am sure he's having lunch out. I'm off to Venice tomorrow. I wonder if I'll notice a price difference.
Honestly not having to pay for transportation is a big savings.

 

[Lisa in Ottawa]

Final thoughts on Geneva now that I'm back home. A lovely, clean cosmopolitan, very expensive city. I think it would be a great place to live if you had a decent job and were paid in Swiss currency. It seemed very safe, clean of course being Swiss, beautiful lake and mountains, great transport, lots of cafes with easy access to the rest of Europe. But it's not a vacation spot. If you're not there for work, there is no real reason to visit. This may sound harsh. I enjoyed my time there but doubt I'd ever return. I'd need a bank loan.

 

[Pauline]

Final thoughts on Geneva ... If you're not there for work, there is no real reason to visit. This may sound harsh. I enjoyed my time there but doubt I'd ever return. I'd need a bank loan.

I agree. We spent two nights in Geneva once when flying in from the US for a month of hiking in the mountains, and we had a nice jet lagged time, but on two recent trips we chose to stay in Nyon instead. We fly in, get a rental car, drive for 30 minutes and stay in the smaller lakeside town for one night before heading to the mountains.

Zurich is different for us, but I think for reasons that may only apply to us. On our long Europe trips a decade ago we would fly into Zurich, spend 3 nights, then go off to the mountains. There were two fabulous vegetarian restaurants that we liked going to (since then one closed, but the other got better - Hiltl), we liked walking around the old town and along the lake. So going there now is more about memories of our earlier trips.

But it is all staggeringly expensive - hotels too. The last time we were in a tiny room, with no AC during a heatwave, and hookers outside the door - and it was 200 Euro per night!!! (Best Western)

It is cheaper in the mountain towns, but groceries and meals out are still expensive. We don't eat out much (too much meat and cheese for us anyway), we do go to cafes. And the hiking is not expensive in the areas we go to.

 

[Lisa in Ottawa]

Meat and cheese. Yes, the less expensive places are fondue spots. And I don't do fondue. Ugh! I love my cheese but I'm particular how I consume it. And I'm particular about the meat I eat. having said that, I think Geneva has a high quality of restaurants. If you can afford it. Our last night I sighed and just went with it. We found a lovely French restaurant. There are many in Geneva but this was truly very sweet and the food and service were excellent. I think price wise it would be considered a mid range Geneva restaurant but by my range high end. However, I got the special and I thought the 3 courses were very good value. (for Geneva). I had fish but you could have gone vegetarian. So in the end, I felt ok.

We didn't pay for our accommodation, thank goodness. Or rather the cost will be reimbursed. We thought it was very good value but when we got the bill we realized we had read the price as if it were in Canadian $ not Swiss francs. Oops.