L’Escalade is Genève’s top family-friendly festival and overshadows other Advent events and Christmas markets in mid-December in Geneva. L’Escalade is the top event in Geneva’s festival calendar. L’Escalade is celebrated each year over a weekend in mid-December with parades, demonstrations, music, cannon fire, loads of chocolate, vegetable soup, and warm wine (vin chaud) – … [Read more...]
Christmas Markets on Lake Geneva in Switzerland
Montreux, Lausanne, and Geneva have the best Christmas markets (Marché de Noël / Weihnachtsmarkt), decorations, and lights in the Lac Léman region of Switzerland. The advent season before Christmas brings some color and holiday cheer to towns in the Lake Geneva region. Many towns will see an increase in cultural events – not all music will necessarily be religious in … [Read more...]
Photos of l’Escalade Celebrations in Geneva, Switzerland
L’Escalade is a great celebration in old town Geneva each mid-December with marches, parades, battle reenactments, cultural events, mulled wine, and chocolates. L’Escalade is a Genevan festival held each mid-December to commemorate a famous victory of Geneva over the Dukes of Savoy. On December 12, 1602, the Savoyards attempted to invade the free city of Genève through an … [Read more...]
Visit the Olympic Museum in Lausanne-Ouchy
The Musée Olympique in Lausanne on the shores of Lake Geneva is a modern museum with interactive displays on the Olympic Games, its history, organization, and athletes. The Olympic Museum (Musée Olympique) in Lausanne-Ouchy celebrates the Olympic movement including the history of the games, its organization and of course athletes. The museum is modern with many interactive … [Read more...]
Wine Tasting in the Lake Geneva Region of Switzerland
Open cellars, or Caves ouvertes, provide excellent opportunities to taste Swiss wines in an informal setting without pressure to buy expensive bottles. The cantons and wine-growing regions of Switzerland have open tasting days throughout the year with individual vineyards often allowing wine tasting on weekends. The larger cantonal and regional open days are mostly in spring … [Read more...]
Visit La Maison Cailler Chocolate Factory near Gruyères
The chocolate factory of Cailler in Broc near Gruyères in Fribourg is a pleasant day trip from Lake Geneva that combines well with visiting the old town and Château de Gruyères. La Maison Cailler welcomes visitors to one of Switzerland’s oldest and most important chocolate factories. During the factory tour, visitors learn how chocolate came to Europe and how the Swiss … [Read more...]
Visit the Free Morges Tulip Festival on Lake Geneva
The annual Fête de la Tulipe in Morges is one of the most beautiful spring events on Lake Geneva in Switzerland. Around 150,000 tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths can be enjoyed blooming in the Parc de l’Indépendence à Morges behind the chateau on the Lac Léman lakefront. Morges, a pretty town on Lake Geneva near Lausanne, annually hosts the Tulip Festival (Fête de la … [Read more...]
Swiss Classic British Car Meeting in Morges
Morges in Switzerland hosts a free but very impressive show day for around 1,500 British classic cars in the parks and on the quays of Lake Geneva. The Swiss Classics British Car Meeting is held annually in October in the castle-town Morges on the shores of Lake Geneva near Lausanne. Owners of British classic cars are invited to park their cars for free in the parks and on … [Read more...]
Photos of Grandvaux Vineyards in Autumn, Lavaux
The terraced vineyards of Grandvaux in Lavaux between Cully and Lutry near Lausanne, Switzerland provide hikers a spectacularly beautiful landscape in autumn. The UNESCO World Cultural Heritage-listed terraced vineyards in the Lavaux region in Switzerland provide some of the most spectacular scenery along the shores of Lake Geneva between Lausanne and Vevey. From spring to … [Read more...]
Photos of the Lavaux Vineyards in Autumn
The UNESCO World Cultural Heritage-listed vineyards of Lavaux on Lake Geneva are beautiful for most of the year but spectacular in autumn. These photos of the Lavaux terraced vineyards were taken in the triangle between Rivaz, St Saphorin (Lavaux) and Chexbres during late October 2010. Even driving through the region – lakeside road from Lausanne to Vevey or Autoroute exit … [Read more...]
Family-Friendly Park Pré Vert at Signal de Bougy
Visit this free park with golf course, adventure park, restaurants, minigolf, animals, gratis kids play areas, and marvelous views of Lake Geneva, the Alps, and Mt Blanc. Parc Pré Vert at Signal de Bougy is a beautifully located green park on a hill overlooking Lake Geneva halfway between Lausanne and Genève in Switzerland. Admission to the park is free with many … [Read more...]
Visit the Free Natural History Museum in Geneva, Switzerland
The Muséum d’histoire naturelle in Genève covers a range of topics including animals, the solar system, the origins of man, fossils and dinosaurs, minerals, geology, and the Lake Geneva region. The Natural History Museum (Muséum d’histoire naturelle) is one of Geneva City’s major museums and free for all visitors. The museum’s main themes are animals, fish, birds, … [Read more...]
Enjoy Free Ice-Skating on the Lac de Joux in the Jura Mountains
Lake Joux freezes over most winters to become a huge free open-air ice-skating rink enjoyed by locals and tourists alike. Transportation is easy by car or train from most parts of Switzerland. In winter, when the Lac de Joux freezes over, the lake becomes the biggest free ice-skating rink in Europe. Skates can be hired at the lake while it is also easy to walk on the ice … [Read more...]
Visit the Roman Museum in Lausanne
The Musée Romain de Lausanne-Vidy with an archeological park explains the Roman history of Lousonna on Lake Geneva. Lausanne was a commercial port on Lake Geneva during Roman times. The small Roman museum in the suburb Vidy explains Roman life in Lousonna with the usual collections of archeological finds, models, and reconstructions. At a nearby free archeological park … [Read more...]
Visit the Olympic Games Museum Boat in Lausanne-Ouchy, Switzerland
The Olympic Museum in Lausanne has reopened and the museum boat is no longer in use. While the IOC Olympics museum in Lausanne-Ouchy is under reconstruction, a small exhibition on a boat in Lake Geneva and the Olympic Park are open for free during summer. →The Olympic Museum in Lausanne has reopened and the museum boat is no longer in use. The Olympic Museum in … [Read more...]
Visit La Maison Tavel Museum in Geneva
The Maison Tavel is free cultural-history museum in the oldest house in Genève, Switzerland. It has a magnificent architects model of mid-nineteenth-century Geneva. The Maison Tavel, in the heart of Geneva’s old town, is a small cultural history museum. Exhibits here covers a wide range including an amazing nineteenth-century model of Genève, bourgeoisie live in … [Read more...]
Transportation to Lac de Joux Lake in Switzerland
Getting to Lac de Joux Lake in the Jura Mountains in Switzerland is easy by car or train. Even in winter many Jura passes remain open while hourly trains arrive from Vallorbe. Lac de Joux is the largest lake in the Jura mountain range in Switzerland and France. The lake is a popular destination throughout the year with swimming and other water sports activities popular … [Read more...]
Photos of the Free Morges Tulip Festival in Switzerland
Each spring, Morges holds a Tulip Festival (Fête de la Tulipe) in a lovely shady park on the shores of Lake Geneva. Around 150,000 bulbs, including around 300 varieties of tulips, are planted in Morges’ Independence Park to provide one of the best spring photo opportunities in the Lac Léman region of Switzerland. The festival is held each year from mid-April to mid-May but as … [Read more...]
Enjoy Free Concerts at the Cully Jazz Festival
The annual spring-time Cully Jazz festival attracts international artists and Swiss musicians to the small town Cully on the shores of Lake Geneva in the Lavaux region between Lausanne and Montreux. Public transportation – go by train, return by bus – usually is the best way of getting to Cully Jazz concerts. Jazz is very popular in the Lac Léman region with several jazz … [Read more...]