I guess it depends how strenuous of hiking you are planning to do & in what season you plan to do it. I've vacationed in the Lac Leman area 5 times (friends in Vevey and Montreux) and sneakers was all I needed for the summer day hikes we did.

For every day purposes it doesn't snow all that much there, since Geneva is at 'lake level' not up in the Alops. Some winters they get some snow, some years not.

For me I live in Seattle, so I'd go with similar footwear to what I need here. The climates are very similar.

oops, Alps!

A 3-in-1 jacket, rainproof Gore-tex or similar outer jacket with hood and a zip-in-zip-out fleece lining, will serve you well all year round: thin rain jacket for wet days in the summer half of the year, fleece jacket for chilly dry spring and autumn days and cool summer evenings, weatherproof jacket with lining in winter.

It guess just depends how you usually dress. I don't own one single one of those items, and like I said my home town of Seattle is very similar weather to Geneva. I have a girlfriend who lives there so we compare often the two climates.
I use a wool dress coat in winter. And an umbrella if it rains. I do have waterproof boots. That's about it.

OK for serious hiking, maybe the boots and a decent outdoors type coat. But I really don't think you need to buy 5 different new jackets!

Exactly, that's why I suggest having one which serves for different purposes and is of use all year round. A wool coat is about the most unpractical item for travelling I can think of - heavy and takes ages to dry - and searching for an university student in a wool coat in Central Europe will take a while. People wear practical clothes in these parts of the world and outdoor-type jackets can be seen everywhere in cities whenever the weather turns bad.

Quokka and Suze, thanks so much for your replies. They have both been very helpful.

But she's not a student "traveling" around Europe. She's living in Geneva for 1 year.

If I were living in Geneva for a year, I'd use the same clothes I wear here in Seattle. I wouldn't go out and purchase Gortex and fleece, because that's nothing I'd wear around a city (and would use only maybe IF I WAS in fact out hiking in the mountains).

That said... I do think I might be misreading your recommendation, quokka. Are all those descriptions in that paragraph describing just one single item (jacket)?

> I've been told that it rains a lot, so both rain and snow boots have been suggested.

I live in Geneva and I have no idea " it rains a lot " . (And I have no rain boots !). It snows always at least a few times a year for which you could have a pair of boots (I have only a pair, not a very heavy one, they are light and short kind). I just wonder if it's worth taking all those boots, etc. Don't they take lots of space in your luggage or is that fine? You could buy a pair once you are here. There are shops from cheap to very expensive.

Yes, suze, you misread quokka's recommendation: it's one single item, thus so very practical and highly recommended. I'm with kappa - I doubt the climate in Geneva and Seattle is very similar.

When I was 17 I went to France for a year as a scholarship student. Two very nice seamstress friends, strangers to me, read of this and kindly whipped me up some very beautiful clothes...none of which I ever wore. Going to the fittings was very exciting and I felt like royalty, but they just weren't "me" and though beautiful, I had no appropriate place to wear them at the university. I felt bad they had worked so hard for nothing.

Fast forward a generation...my niece spent a semester at Malagà, Spain last year and flew up with 6 new friends to spend a weekend with us last winter. They all had bought local boots, jeans, scarves and/or hats at their local outdoor markets in Spain. They looked soooo cute and cutting edge! and fit right in with the local Heidelberg university students.

I suggest you bring the minimum of what you think you will need, that is what you feel comfortable wearing, and plan on purchasing local items to "fill-in" as needed. If you aren't used to cooler weather, I might suggest a pair of Cuddle-Duds (or similar thin, soft, silk undershirt/pants) as they make a world of difference to my comfort level...and there's nothing more miserable than being humid-cold all day.

Kappa1,

Any chance that I could ask you a few questions about Geneva?
My e-mail address is malia1@mindspring.com

For how humid it is, I would not skip a Goretex jacket/raincoat and hiking weather proof shoes no boots.

Last week in Interlaken I wore my REI goretex raincoat all the time and my merrell hiking shoes no boots. In Montreux I wore Summer dresses with sandals and tennis shoes with shorts. For how the locals dress I saw women dressed dressy not as dressy and stylish as in Italy, with coats and umbrellas.

Ingo, well you'd be wrong about the climate of Geneva and Seattle being similar. because they are.

But it doesn't rain a lot in Seattle (like kappa, i do not own rain boots) and snows a few times each winter... that was my point. Temps are cool but usually moderate.

That's why for this person living and studying in Geneva in a city lifestyle I didn't think it requires buying a bunch of extra, rugged outdoor type gear, was the point I was trying to make.

Yes suze I described one single iten which can be used in three different ways, thuis is of use in all four seasons of the year. And yes, in Central Europe everyone wears these outdoor things in cities, too.

"Ingo, well you'd be wrong about the climate of Geneva and Seattle being similar. because they are."

Sorry, suze, you're incorrect. Ingo is right. While winters are somewhat similar, it snows more in Geneva than it does in Seattle. And Geneva is significantly warmer in the summer. I've been in Switzerland for most of this summer (and previously lived in Switzerland for several years) and on many days, Geneva was one of the two hottest places in the country (Sion or Basel sometimes edged out Geneva by a degree or two celsius...there were many days around or above the 90 F degree mark and many thunderstorms, neither of which are very common in Seattle).

Back to shoes, either buy a good pair of lightweight hiking boots at home and break them in well before you get here or buy a pair here from Jack Wolfskin's or Loewe (sp?) or Salomon, or (if you have the money), Kandahar. Also, try out the Nordic walking sticks - you will find they are very popular on mountain walks. I could have used a pair on our most recent hike from Wengen to Lauterbrunnen.

"That's why for this person living and studying in Geneva in a city lifestyle I didn't think it requires buying a bunch of extra, rugged outdoor type gear, was the point I was trying to make."

The point you're missing, Suze, is that with Switzerland's excellent train and bus system, it's routine for Swiss city-dwellers to get out into the mountains very frequently. Many of my urban Swiss colleagues head off to the mountains nearly every week-end for skiing/boarding in the winter and hiking in the summer. Young people, with their disgustingly flexible knees and spines, are even worse

OK I give up. I have a friend who worked in Geneva and lives in Vevey/Montreux. We talk on the phone and email all the time. I've known her for decades. We often discuss our weather similarities. It's freakish how often we are on a parallel pattern. But obviously I'm not going to win that argument here.

I'm not going to compare both cities, Seattle and Geneva although I've been in both areas I think I should stay clear....

I was just in Switzerland and I found it very tropical and humid. Montreux was very hot and humid, the day we arrived was about 20 and the landlord told me they have had the records high 35C this Summer although the day we arrived was cloudy, wet and cold, next two days was hot, hot and humid.

Interlaken was rainy, cold and wet, I couldn't believe how stormy the weather was, it poured rain like with buckets and sideways, later same day was open and sunny. Zurich again another stormy city, pouring rain, we hid in one store while it rained cats and dogs and I got a couple of blouses for $8 each

While in Interlaken we went to Glimmelwald one day and the next we did Lauterbraunen to Grindelwald, we took the gondolas all the way up to Murren and hike down 3.5 hrs to take the train back to Interlaken. Weather was misty, cold then sunny and I regret not buying a couple of sticks to bring to Colorado. Hiking was really challenging in some places and those sticks would've helped tons.
Things I regret not bringing was a pair of jeans.
While there I wore mostly my winter clothes and a light scarf as I've anticipated while packing.

If I were to live in Switzerland I would pack the same I would pack anywhere else, basics, jeans, fleece, scarf, hiking shoes no boots, rainjacket, winter coat, but you can buy anything you need there.
I live in Colorado and I found Switzerland similar in some regards, just a little more humid.