Free Walking Tour Geneva: Old Town to Broken Chair

Twelve stops from Calvin's cathedral through the Bastions and Plainpalais, along the Rhône to the Jet d'Eau and out to the Broken Chair.

12 Stops 8.6 km ~1 h 59 min walking
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Route map for the Geneva walking tour
Stop 1 of 12
40 m·1 min
St-Pierre Cathedral
Head north to the Museum of the Reformation, right next door.
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What This Geneva Walk Covers

The route links 12 stops over 8.6 km, from St-Pierre Cathedral in the Old Town to the Broken Chair opposite the Palace of Nations. Pure walking time is 1 h 59 min; with the museums, plan a full day of about eight hours.

The cathedral nave, the parks, the lakeshore and the Broken Chair are free. Tickets are needed for the Museum of the Reformation, the Barbier-Mueller Museum, the Patek Philippe Museum and the Bains des Pâquis. The GPS route is free in your browser; the AI Tour Guide is optional.

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This short shows highlights of the route. All 12 stops follow below.

The Route

Walking Map of Geneva: Old Town, Rhône and Lakeshore

12 stops 8.6 km 1 h 59 min walking
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The 12 stops along this route

  1. St-Pierre Cathedral in Geneva, stop 1 on the self-guided walking tour
    1St-Pierre Cathedral
  2. Museum of the Reformation in Geneva, stop 2 on the self-guided walking tour
    2Museum of the Reformation
  3. Barbier-Mueller Museum in Geneva, stop 3 on the self-guided walking tour
    3Barbier-Mueller Museum
  4. Parc des Bastions in Geneva, stop 4 on the self-guided walking tour
    4Parc des Bastions
  5. Plaine de Plainpalais in Geneva, stop 5 on the self-guided walking tour
    5Plaine de Plainpalais
  6. Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva, stop 6 on the self-guided walking tour
    6Patek Philippe Museum
  7. Bâtiment des Forces Motrices in Geneva, stop 7 on the self-guided walking tour
    7Bâtiment des Forces Motrices
  8. Jet d'Eau in Geneva, stop 8 on the self-guided walking tour
    8Jet d'Eau
  9. Pont du Mont-Blanc in Geneva, stop 9 on the self-guided walking tour
    9Pont du Mont-Blanc
  10. Brunswick Monument in Geneva, stop 10 on the self-guided walking tour
    10Brunswick Monument
  11. Bains des Pâquis in Geneva, stop 11 on the self-guided walking tour
    11Bains des Pâquis
  12. Broken Chair in Geneva, stop 12 on the self-guided walking tour
    12Broken Chair
  13. That's the full route.

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Your Geneva Walking Tour from St-Pierre to the Broken Chair

  1. 1

    St-Pierre Cathedral

    St-Pierre Cathedral in Geneva, stop 1 on the self-guided walking tour

    Start on the hill where Geneva began. Long before any church stood here, the Allobroges built a fortified settlement on this hill to control boat traffic on the Rhône, and beneath today's cathedral an archaeological site still holds the tomb of one of their chieftains from the 1st century BC. In the 4th century Geneva became the seat of a bishop, and the first Christian church rose here, built between 350 and 375 on the ruins of a Roman sanctuary.

    After a fire in the year 500, King Sigismund of Burgundy rebuilt the church and asked Pope Symmachus for relics of St Peter. The building you see now was begun around 1160 under Prince-Bishop Arducius de Faucigny, in Gothic style; the Neo-Classical main façade was only added in the 18th century, so the front and the body of the church belong to very different eras.

    Inside, the emptiness is the story. When Geneva embraced the Reformation, the rood screen, the side chapels and every decorative work of art were removed, leaving only the stained glass. Since 1535 this has been the main church of Geneva's Protestants, and John Calvin preached here. Compare the bare nave with any Catholic church you have seen and you understand the break in a minute.

    One famous piece made for this church survives elsewhere: Konrad Witz painted the St Peter Altarpiece for it in 1444, today in the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire. Its Miraculous Draft of Fishes places the biblical scene on a real view of Lake Geneva, the earliest known topographically accurate landscape in Western art.

    The nave is free, so step in even if you are short on time. The tower visit costs extra and closes half an hour before the building; with it, give the cathedral about 40 minutes. The Museum of the Reformation is only 20 m away, a 1 minute walk.

    Local name
    Cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Genève
    Hours
    Summer (1 Jun–30 Sep): Cathedral Mon–Fri 09:30–18:30, Sat 09:30–16:30, Sun 12:00–18:30; winter (1 Oct–30 May): Mon–Sat 10:00–17:30, Sun 12:00–17:30; tower access closes 30 min before building
    Price
    Free admission to cathedral nave; tower visit: CHF 7 adults, CHF 5 reduced, CHF 4 youth (7-16 years)
  2. 2

    Museum of the Reformation

    Museum of the Reformation in Geneva, stop 2 on the self-guided walking tour

    Right beside the cathedral stands the Maison Mallet, a patrician house built in 1723 by the French banker Gédéon Mallet. His family were Huguenot refugees who had settled in Geneva after the St Bartholomew's Day massacre. The house occupies the site of the former cloister of the cathedral canons, and that ground carries weight: it was here, on 21 May 1536, that the people of Geneva adopted the Reformation.

    The museum follows the movement from Martin Luther's protest in 1517 to Calvin taking it up in Geneva in 1536, and on to a faith still present around the world today. Nine rooms hold the permanent exhibition and five more host temporary shows, spread over the ground floor and the basement. Expect manuscripts, engravings, portraits and caricatures, Bibles and old printed books rather than large objects.

    It opened in 2005, received the Council of Europe Museum Prize in 2007, closed in 2021 for a long renovation and reopened on 27 April 2023. It also sees itself as a place for open discussion about religion today, with exhibitions and talks that bring different faiths together.

    Is it worth an hour? If you want to understand why the cathedral next door looks the way it does, yes; the caricatures alone show how fierce the arguments were. If printed pages and documents are not your thing, the cathedral already gives you the essence. From here it is 160 m, about 2 minutes, to the Barbier-Mueller Museum.

    Local name
    Musée international de la Réforme
    Hours
    Tue–Sun 10:00–17:00, Mon closed
    Price
    CHF 13 full, CHF 8 reduced (seniors/AVS/AI/unemployed/students/apprentices 17-25), CHF 6 youth (7-16), free for children under 7
  3. 3

    Barbier-Mueller Museum

    Barbier-Mueller Museum in Geneva, stop 3 on the self-guided walking tour

    At number 10 rue Jean-Calvin, an Old Town house holds a collection you might not expect in Calvin's city: several thousand pieces of tribal and classical antiquity, sculptures, textiles and ornaments from cultures once dismissed as 'primitive'. The museum was founded in 1977.

    It grew from one man's obsession. Josef Mueller was born in 1887 into a wealthy family in Solothurn, where his father ran a factory making watch parts. Orphaned at six and raised by a governess, he studied engineering in Zurich and seemed destined for the family business. Then, in 1906, visiting a classmate's parents, he stood in front of a Rose Period portrait by Picasso they had just bought. He later bought that painting himself.

    At twenty he spent a full year's income on a large nude by Ferdinand Hodler. In Paris he met the dealer Ambroise Vollard, who steered him to Cézanne's Portrait of the Gardener Vallier. By 1918 he owned seven Cézannes, five Matisses and five Renoirs. After settling in Paris in 1922 he followed artists like Derain, Vlaminck and Tristan Tzara in seeing African sculpture, still widely mocked at the time, as art of the first rank.

    Around 45 minutes is enough for most visitors; if masks, textiles and jewellery from distant cultures interest you, you will stay longer. Then walk 680 m, about 9 minutes, down to the Parc des Bastions.

    Hours
    Mon–Sun 11:00–17:00 (open 365 days a year)
    Price
    CHF 8 full, CHF 5 reduced (seniors/AVS, students, children 12-17, job seekers, groups >10), free for children under 12
  4. 4

    Parc des Bastions

    Parc des Bastions in Geneva, stop 4 on the self-guided walking tour

    The park lies at the foot of the old city, beneath the Promenade de la Treille, on the strip of ground between the 16th and 17th century fortifications. It was laid out from 1720, when Geneva closed itself off against the plague raging in Marseille and its people needed somewhere to walk inside the walls. They called it the 'Belle promenade'. Part of it was vegetable gardens, and through the 18th century it slowly fell into neglect.

    Its history is more turbulent than its lawns suggest. While Geneva belonged to France between 1798 and 1813, the park was renamed 'Lycée de la patrie' and housed the stables of the French garrison. It saw festivals in memory of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, but also executions. In 1816 and 1817, during the famine that followed the eruption of the Tambora volcano, it was cleared and planted with potatoes.

    In 1817 the botanist Augustin Pyrame de Candolle created Geneva's botanical garden in the middle of the promenade, with an orangery and greenhouses added in 1818 to plans by General Guillaume-Henri Dufour. A monument to Rousseau had to make way and was replaced by a bust in front of the orangery, among other Geneva botanists. In 1904 the garden moved across the Rhône.

    Look for the Reformation Wall, inaugurated on 7 July 1917, which ties the park straight back to the cathedral you started at. The park is free and always open. From here it is 460 m, about 6 minutes, to the Plaine de Plainpalais.

    Hours
    Open 24/7
    Price
    Free
  5. 5

    Plaine de Plainpalais

    Plaine de Plainpalais in Geneva, stop 5 on the self-guided walking tour

    This vast open diamond, 640 m long and 200 m wide, covers 78,135 square metres. It sits in the middle of the delta the Arve forms before joining the Rhône, and it began as an island; in the Middle Ages its marshes were drained and turned into pasture.

    Over time it became a place for leisure. Trees were planted around it from 1637, and it took its present size and shape in 1662, when the city's fortifications here disappeared. In 1848 it passed to the commune of Plainpalais, and in 1896 it hosted the Swiss National Exhibition. From then on it regularly held the region's fruit and vegetable markets.

    At the northern tip, the Place du Cirque recalls the second half of the 19th century, when this corner was Geneva's entertainment district. Switzerland's only permanent circus building stood here from 1857 to 1955, run by the Rancy family, later turned into a cinema and finally demolished in 1955. The Auditorium Arditi occupies the site today.

    The southern end holds a darker memory. A monument recalls the shooting of 9 November 1932: at the spot that is now the entrance of Uni Mail, at 21:34, three sections of army recruits called in to support the police felt cornered in front of the old exhibition hall and opened fire on the crowd. The plain is free and always open; the Patek Philippe Museum is 220 m away, a 3 minute walk.

    Hours
    Always open
    Price
    Free
  6. 6

    Patek Philippe Museum

    Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva, stop 6 on the self-guided walking tour

    The building itself is part of the story. William Henssler designed it in 1919 and 1920 at the edge of the Plaine de Plainpalais as a watch and goldsmith workshop for Heller & Son. Piaget used it from 1967 to 1977, then Ateliers Réunis, a Patek Philippe company, made watch cases, bracelets and necklaces here. When those workshops moved to the new manufacture in Plan-les-Ouates in 1996, the building stood empty.

    Philippe Stern, president of Patek Philippe from 1977 to 2009, decided to show his collection here. The building was fully restored between 1999 and 2001, gaining an extra floor, and his wife Gerdi Stern designed the interior. The museum opened in November 2001.

    About 3,000 exhibits cover five centuries of Genevan, Swiss and European watchmaking: watches, automata, precious objects and enamel miniature portraits. The collection is split in two, antique timepieces on one side and Patek Philippe's own production since 1839 on the other. It also shows the decorative crafts tied to watchmaking, such as engraving, enamelling, gem setting and guilloché, and keeps a library of more than 8,000 works on timekeeping.

    If you care about mechanics or fine craftsmanship, this is the museum to prioritise; allow at least 75 minutes. From here it is 800 m, about 11 minutes, to the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices.

    Hours
    Tue–Fri 14:00–18:00, Sat 10:00–18:00, Sun 14:00–18:00, Mon closed
    Price
    CHF 10 full, CHF 7 reduced (seniors/AVS, AI, unemployed, students 18-25), CHF 5 groups (10+ people), free for children under 18
  7. 7

    Bâtiment des Forces Motrices

    Bâtiment des Forces Motrices in Geneva, stop 7 on the self-guided walking tour

    This stately building in the Rhône stands close to where the river leaves Lake Geneva. It was the power house of a hydraulic plant built between 1883 and 1892 to harness the river's flow. The plant pumped water under pressure into the city's drinking supply and into a hydraulic power network, and its weir also regulated the level of the lake.

    In 1882, 'power plant' did not yet mean electricity. The idea was to deliver pressurised water to local workshops, which used it to drive their own machines. Electricity came in 1887, generated in a nearby building by machines driven by pressurised water from here. The network needed a pressure valve beside the building, and that valve was the forerunner of the Jet d'Eau.

    The building lost its role as a power source in 1963 but kept pumping Geneva's drinking water until 1988, and its weir worked until 1995, when the Seujet barrage about fifty metres downstream took over. In 1997 it reopened as an opera house and concert hall, designed by architect Bernard Picenni.

    It opens only for performances, so unless you hold a ticket you admire it from the outside, which takes ten minutes. Then comes a long stretch: 1,950 m, about 27 minutes, to the Jet d'Eau, the fountain that grew out of this building's safety valve.

    Hours
    Open during events and performances only
    Price
    Varies by event/performance
    Website
    bfm.ch ↗
  8. 8

    Jet d'Eau

    Jet d'Eau in Geneva, stop 8 on the self-guided walking tour

    The 140 m column of water in the harbour has been Geneva's emblem since 1891, and you now know where it came from. Geneva grew fast in the 19th century, from 64,000 people in 1850 to over 100,000 in 1890, and needed water for industry and homes. The hydraulic plant at the Coulouvrenière went into service on 17 May 1886 to deliver the Rhône's power to the city's craftsmen.

    In the evenings, when the craftsmen switched off their machines, pressure surged, and the plant's mechanics had to rush to stop the pumps without knowing exactly when it would happen. The fix was a safety valve that let the excess water shoot into the sky: the first jet, 30 m high, at the end of the plant. By 1889 a reservoir at Bessinge, near Cologny, had taken over the valve's job.

    In July 1891, for the 600th anniversary of the Swiss Confederation, the city decided to recreate the jet for its beauty, at the end of the Jetée des Eaux-Vives in the heart of the harbour. The new jet reached 90 m, had four smaller jets fanned around the central one that were later removed, and ran only on Sundays. From 1891 it was lit by projectors on a raft; yellow, green, violet, red and white were tried in turn, and white won as the most spectacular.

    Watching it is free, though its hours change with the season and it pauses for maintenance in November. Give it about 20 minutes, then walk 1,150 m, around 16 minutes, to the Pont du Mont-Blanc.

    Hours
    May 4 – Sep 13: daily 09:00–23:15; Sep 14 – Nov 1: Mon–Thu 10:00 to sunset, Fri–Sun 10:00–22:30; Nov 2 – Dec 3: closed for maintenance; Dec 4 – Mar 1: daily 10:00–16:00; Mar 2 – May 3: Mon–Thu 10:00 to sunset, Fri–Sun 10:00–22:30
    Price
    Free
  9. 9

    Pont du Mont-Blanc

    Pont du Mont-Blanc in Geneva, stop 9 on the self-guided walking tour

    This is the first bridge across the Rhône as the river leaves the lake; it marks where Lake Geneva ends. It links main roads on both banks and is often jammed with traffic, though usually clear outside rush hours. In a vote on 9 June 1996, Geneva's citizens rejected a further crossing of the harbour farther upstream.

    The first bridge, built in 1862 of sheet iron, was 250 m long and 16 m wide with 12 spans. It was poorly built for the loads it carried, and some of its slabs broke under heavy vehicles. When the tram network was electrified in the early 1900s, the city held a competition for a complete rebuild; of six entries a concrete design won, at a fixed price of 766,180 Swiss francs.

    Work began on 5 January 1903 without ever fully stopping traffic. The bridge gained 2 m in length and 3 m in width, enough for a double tram track down the middle, and it opened on 31 October 1903, two months ahead of schedule. In 1965 it was widened again to 26.8 m, with a 20 m roadway and two pavements of 3 m each.

    A practical detail: since December 2001 a pedestrian passage under the first arch on the right bank connects the Quai des Bergues and the Quai du Mont-Blanc, so you can avoid the busy junction. From the bridge it is 370 m, about 5 minutes, to the Brunswick Monument.

    Hours
    Always open
    Price
    Free
  10. 10

    Brunswick Monument

    Brunswick Monument in Geneva, stop 10 on the self-guided walking tour

    On the Quai du Mont-Blanc stands an ornate tomb that Geneva built in 1879 for a German duke it barely knew. It is listed in the Swiss inventory of cultural property as an object of national importance.

    Charles II became ruling Duke of Brunswick in 1815, aged just ten. As part of his education he spent two years from 1820 in Lausanne. His extravagant lifestyle and conflicts with the estates made him deeply unpopular, and after an uprising in 1830 he had to leave his duchy; in 1831 his brother William replaced him. Charles fled to London and, after a failed attempt to win back his throne, to Paris, where he was known mostly for scandals and lavish living.

    In 1870 the Franco-Prussian War drove him to Geneva, where he died on 18 August 1873 without direct heirs. His will named the city as sole heir, on one condition: a tomb built to his own plans in a prominent place. After his brother reached a settlement with Geneva on 6 March 1874, the city kept 24 million francs, said to equal about a billion Swiss francs today.

    After some debate the city built the tomb in the Jardin des Alpes and inaugurated it on 14 October 1879. Look at it as the duke's side of the bargain: Geneva got a fortune, he got his monument by the lake. It is free and always accessible; from here it is 640 m, about 9 minutes, to the Bains des Pâquis.

    Hours
    Open 24/7
    Price
    Free
  11. 11

    Bains des Pâquis

    Bains des Pâquis in Geneva, stop 11 on the self-guided walking tour

    These public baths on the lakeshore take their name from the Pâquis district. The first wooden baths were built here in 1872, between the harbour jetty of 1857 and the Pâquis shore, and became municipal baths in 1890. Entry was free on Sundays and holidays, and certain hours were reserved for women. In 1893 and 1894 the old jetty light was replaced by the Phare des Pâquis lighthouse.

    In 1932 the baths were rebuilt in Bauhaus style, in reinforced concrete and glass, by engineer Louis Arnichard and architect Henry Roche. What you see is largely that building.

    By the late 1980s the reinforcement was corroding and the city planned a complete modern rebuild. Users and neighbours protested, founded an association in February 1987, and in a referendum on 25 September 1988, 72 percent of voters rejected the project. The association commissioned its own surveys, which showed the damaged pillars could be repaired one by one, and raised money through events with artists, musicians and designers. After restoration between 1991 and 1995 it took over the running of the baths and opened them all year, with a sauna, Turkish bath, hammam and massage rooms.

    Entry is cheap, swimming depends on the weather, and the buvette is there for a break by the water. Half an hour is enough to look around; stay longer if you want to swim. The last leg is the longest: 2,100 m, about 31 minutes, to the Broken Chair.

    Hours
    Daily 07:00–23:00 (beach/baths open according to weather, buvette open daily 07:00–23:00)
    Price
    CHF 2 adults (16+), CHF 1 children (6-15) and AVS/AI, free for children under 6
  12. 12

    Broken Chair

    Broken Chair in Geneva, stop 12 on the self-guided walking tour

    Across the street from the Palace of Nations rises a giant wooden chair, 12 m high and made of 5.5 tons of wood, with one leg torn off. Swiss artist Daniel Berset designed it and carpenter Louis Genève built it. It stands against land mines and cluster bombs, a deliberate reminder to every politician and diplomat who comes to Geneva.

    The idea came from Paul Vermeulen, co-founder and director of Handicap International Switzerland. He commissioned the chair in October 1996 to push as many countries as possible to sign the Ottawa Treaty on landmines. Handicap International set it up in front of the main entrance to the Palace of Nations on 18 August 1997, meant to stay for three months until the treaty was signed in Ottawa that December. After ratification by 40 countries the treaty took effect on 1 March 1999.

    Because many countries still had not signed and the public loved the sculpture, it stayed until 2005, when the square was rebuilt. It returned to the same spot on 26 February 2007, rededicated to the campaign for a treaty banning cluster munitions, which was signed in Oslo in December 2008. The sculptor had handed ownership to Handicap International in 2004.

    It is still a target for protest: on 13 December 2024, activists from the feminist group Femen used a chainsaw to cut into one of its legs, protesting Russia's war against Ukraine and what they saw as the UN's failure to stop it. Stand back far enough to take in the whole chair against the flags; the walk ends here, and it is free and open at any hour.

    Hours
    Open 24/7
    Price
    Free (public sculpture)
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Press start wherever you are, even hundreds of kilometres from Geneva, and the guide begins telling its stories right away. In the city, pick any of the 12 stops to start from: it leads you there, then talks with you the whole route, asking, listening, remembering, and shaping the tour around your answers.

12stops 8.6km 1 h 59 minwalking 13languages
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Shorter Ways to Walk Geneva

Not everyone has a whole day. These three cuts follow the same order and keep the walking legs exactly as they are on the full route.

Old Town and museums

Stops: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

For anyone who came for Calvin, art and watches. Just 21 minutes of walking, from the cathedral down through the Parc des Bastions to the Patek Philippe Museum. Tickets for the cathedral tower, the Museum of the Reformation, the Barbier-Mueller Museum and the Patek Philippe Museum.

Rhône, lake and the Broken Chair

Stops: 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

For a half day outdoors with almost no tickets: the old power house, the Jet d'Eau, the bridge, the duke's tomb, the lake baths and the Broken Chair. 1 h 28 min of walking; only the Bains des Pâquis charge a small entry.

From the cathedral to the Jet d'Eau

Stops: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

For those who want the Old Town and the story of Geneva's water power, finishing at the city's emblem. 59 minutes of walking; the same four tickets as the Old Town cut, the rest is free.

How Long Does This Geneva Tour Take with the Museums?

Pure walking time is 1 h 59 min. The day is planned so that you reach the Patek Philippe Museum in the afternoon. Start at the cathedral at 10:00, spend about 40 minutes there including the tower, reach the Museum of the Reformation at 10:41 and give it an hour, then the Barbier-Mueller Museum at 11:43 for 45 minutes.

You arrive at the Parc des Bastions at 12:37 and at Plainpalais at 13:03, which leaves you a free hour for a break before the Patek Philippe Museum. After 75 minutes among the watches you leave at 15:15, pass the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices at 15:26, stand at the Jet d'Eau at 16:03, reach the Bains des Pâquis at 17:13 and the Broken Chair at about 18:14. That is roughly eight and a quarter hours in total.

The Old Town cut takes close to five hours with all three museums, mostly because of the wait for the Patek Philippe Museum. Ending at the Jet d'Eau takes about six hours. The outdoor half from the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices to the Broken Chair fits into just under three hours, including half an hour at the baths.

Before You Set Off in Geneva

  • Start and finish: The recommended start is St-Pierre Cathedral in the Old Town, but you can join at any stop. The walk ends at the Broken Chair opposite the Palace of Nations.
  • Best days: The timetable above is planned for a regular weekday. Not every museum on the route is open every day, and the cathedral does not open equally early on all days, so pick your day with the museums in mind.
  • Jet d'Eau seasons: The Jet d'Eau does not play all year in the same way: it pauses for maintenance in late autumn and runs only for a few daytime hours in winter, so on the full timetable you would arrive after it stops. In winter, walk the lake section on a separate morning.
  • Costs: Route, map and GPS navigation are free. The cathedral tower, the Museum of the Reformation, the Barbier-Mueller Museum, the Patek Philippe Museum and the Bains des Pâquis charge admission. The AI Tour Guide starts with 100 free credits; after that you choose this tour all-inclusive for €19.99 with no time limit, or €5 per hour.
Walking tour route map of Geneva
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12stops 8.6km 1 h 59 minwalking 13languages
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What the AI Tour Guide Adds Between the Old Town and the Lake

This walk jumps between Reformation history, art collecting, Swiss watchmaking and water engineering, and the AI Tour Guide holds those threads together as a conversation. It greets you at the cathedral, tells the stories of each place as you arrive, asks what caught your interest and leans into it. Want to know what daily life under Calvin's rules was like for an ordinary family, or how a complication in a pocket watch actually works? Ask, and the conversation follows you; interrupt it whenever you like.

A Real Conversation A voice AI Tour Guide greets you, leads the whole route, and tells the stories and facts as you walk, asking what you want to see and keeping a real conversation going. Not a recording you press play on.
Map Navigation Follow the route on the map and walk at your own pace. You choose where to start and when to move to the next stop.
Ask Anything Curious about a building you pass? Ask your AI Tour Guide on the spot and the conversation carries on.
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Common Questions About Walking Geneva

Which parts of the route can I always visit?

Every outdoor stop from the Parc des Bastions to the Broken Chair is free and always accessible. Not every museum on the route is open every day, so on a day when they are closed, the lake half of the route is the better choice.

Are tickets cheaper or free for children and teenagers?

Yes. Every ticketed stop offers free or reduced entry for younger visitors, and at the Patek Philippe Museum teenagers also get in free.

Where can I go for a day trip from Geneva?

Annecy is 34 km away, Lausanne 51 km and Montreux 64 km. Each has its own free walking route that works the same way as this one.

Is the tour really free?

Yes. The whole tour is free: the route, the interactive map and the navigation cost you nothing. Only the voice AI Tour Guide is optional and paid: you test it with 100 free credits, then you pay either €5 per hour or €19.99 for this whole tour, with no time limit. Admission to 4 of the 12 stops is not included: Museum of the Reformation, Barbier-Mueller Museum, Patek Philippe Museum and Bains des Pâquis charge their own entry fees.

Do I need to download an app?

No. Everything runs in your phone browser. Open the route and start walking, no download and no sign-up required.

Do I need to book the walking tour in advance?

No booking needed. This self-guided tour is available anytime. Open the route in your browser and start walking. The AI Tour Guide works instantly, no app, no reservation required.

What languages is the AI Tour Guide available in?

The AI Tour Guide speaks 13 languages, so you take the tour in your own language and can switch at any time.

Can I skip stops or change the route?

Yes. Skip any stop, spend extra time at places you like, or start the route from any point. It is your walk, you set the pace.
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