Sights Overview

Geneva pads the southwestern tip of Lac Léman, then bulges farther west into France. The city itself follows the lake as it narrows into the River Rhône. The two halves of this bisected center -- Rive Droite (Right Bank, on the north side) and Rive Gauche (Left Bank, to the south) -- have distinct personalities. The Old Town, the main shopping streets, and two-thirds of Geneva's museums fill the historic Rive Gauche. The Rive Droite includes the International Area and many handsome hotels. Most of the main neighborhoods are easily explored on foot.

Along the northern edge of the city, 10 minutes by car or bus from the pont du Mont-Blanc, is the International Area, Geneva's humanitarian and diplomatic zone, with the Palais des Nations as its core. Modern office buildings of the UN are threaded between 19th-century villas, which house nongovernmental organizations, embassies, and a handful of museums.