This 19th-century industrial building straddling Lake Geneva was constructed in the 1840s to provide the city's public fountains with water. Today it hosts temporary art exhibitions on its 1st floor and La Collection Swatch – the world's largest collection of the funky Swiss watches, dating from 1983 to the present – on its 2nd.
Cité du Temps
Geneva
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
0.56 MILES
When landing by plane, this lakeside fountain is your first dramatic glimpse of Geneva. The 140m-tall structure shoots up water with incredible force –…
4.7 MILES
Founded in 1954, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), 8km west of Geneva, is a laboratory for research into particle physics. It…
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23.79 MILES
Twenty-three generations of the De Menthon family have lived within 1000-year-old Château de Menthon-St-Bernard. The birthplace of St Bernard in 1008 –…
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Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques
1.6 MILES
Geneva's premier botanical park – renowned for its Botanical Conservatory – boasts over 12,000 species of plants from around the world, meticulously…
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Musée d'Ethnographie de Genève
0.64 MILES
Admission is free to the permanent collection of this excellent hands-on museum, which examines the similarities and differences of our planet's myriad of…
14.33 MILES
Slumbering in the shadow of a 14th-century castle and enclosed by walls, the Jardin des Cinq Sens is designed to be experienced through sight, touch,…
21.14 MILES
It’s a pleasure simply to wander aimlessly around Annecy’s medieval Old Town, where emerald-green canals flow beneath stone bridges and pastel-painted…
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0.42 MILES
A stroll around Geneva's beautiful Old Town is a must. Its main street, the Grand-Rue, shelters the Maison de Rousseau et de la Literature at No 40, where…
Nearby Geneva attractions
0.25 MILES
This refined private gallery space, opened in 1977, is filled with objects from ancient societies – think pre-Columbian South American art treasures,…
0.27 MILES
Across the traffic-busy square from the green city park, Parc des Bastions, is this historic building – Switzerland's oldest purpose-built museum dating…
3. Maison de Rousseau et de la Literature
0.29 MILES
A 25-minute audiovisual display traces the troubled life of Geneva's greatest thinker, Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He was born in this house in 1712. The…
0.29 MILES
In the Jardin Anglais you'll find Geneva’s most photographed clock, crafted from 6500 living flowers. It's been ticking since 1955 and boasts the world’s…
5. Musée International de la Réforme
0.32 MILES
This modern museum in an 18th-century mansion zooms in on the Reformation. State-of-the-art exhibits and audiovisuals bring to life everything from the…
0.34 MILES
Geneva's cathedral is predominantly Gothic with an 18th-century neoclassical facade. Between 1536 and 1564 Protestant John Calvin preached here; see his…
7. Site Archéologique de la Cathédrale St-Pierre
0.34 MILES
The highlights of this small archaeological site in the basement of Geneva's cathedral are its 4th-century floor mosaics and the tomb of an Allobrogian…
0.35 MILES
A tree-shaded park with benches, sandpit and see-saw for kids, and a fine rooftop and cathedral view.