Three Day Trips from Geneva

The beautiful Swiss city of Geneva is a great place to go for a holiday, but if you book a hire car for use during your stay, you can explore the area around the city and get a real taste Switzerland. Here are details of three places that you can visit as part of a Geneva car hire holiday:

1. Lausanne. Like Geneva, the city of Lausanne is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva. Lausanne is packed with cultural attractions, including many museums and art galleries. The city is also known for being the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee (I.O.C.). You can visit the Olympic Museum, take a walk through the Old Town district, explore the lakeside district of Ouchy or head for the city’s shops. It will take you about 40 minutes to drive from Geneva to Lausanne in your hire car.

2. Montreux. The town of Montreux is about an hour’s drive from Geneva and is situated on Lake Geneva’s north-east shore. It’s most famous for its annual jazz festival, which is held in July, but there are also several other annual festivals in the town, and it also has an excellent Christmas market. Take a walk along the lakeside, see the Freddie Mercury statue in Place du Marche, or take a boat trip to the Chateau de Chillon, the castle which inspired Lord Byron’s poem, “The Prisoner of Chillon”. You can also take a break from your hire car with a train trip to Rochers-de-Naye, which overlooks Montreux, for fantastic views of Lake Geneva and the Alps.

3. Bern. The city of Bern, also known as Berne, is situated in the centre of Switzerland and it’s a popular tourist destination. The centre of the city has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Bern’s attractions include Bern Cathedral, the Botanical Gardens, the Clock Tower (Zeitglocken Turm), the Bear Park and the Dählhölzli Zoological Gardens.

Tags: Bear Park, Bern, Chateau de Chillon, driving holidays, Geneva, Lake Geneva, Lausanne, Montreux, Olympic Museum