Geneva or Lausanne for 24 hours
 

Hi,

My husband and I are flying from Geneva to Nice and have 24 hours in Switzerland. We are trying to decide on whether we should spend our short time in Switzerland in Geneva or Lausanne. We haven't visited either city before and would appreciate thoughts and recommendations on which one to visit in our short stay in Switzerland.

Thanks!

Vevey or Montreux.

Not Geneva.

Not Lausanne.


Thin

Where will you come from?
What are your interests?
Must it be a town or would you be interested in smaller places too: Lake Geneva steamboat ride, Chillon castle, Rochers de Naye viewpoint, etc?
In 24 hrs, you could also go into the Alps: Chamonix, Glacier3000, Crans-Montana, Aletsch Glacier area, Zermatt, etc.
http://www.geneve-tourisme.ch/en/see...ing/must-sees/
http://www.lausanne-tourisme.ch/en/
http://www.chillon.ch/en/castle
http://uk.leman-sans-frontiere.org/carte.html

If just the two then Geneva - both are fine nice modern cities with several things to see and do - both are on beautiful lakes so all in all save travel time and money and go Geneva, which to me has a bit more to do than Lausanne - take the boat cruises in Geneva that glide by the villas of rich and famous living and dead along the shore.

Montreux and or Vevey are sweet more romantic small towns - could do both in one day and the Chillon Castle made famous by Lord Byron to boot.

Thanks for the feeedback. We will be coming from Annecy & Chamonix where we are spending a couple of days. Instead of driving to the French Riviera, we booked a flight from Geneva to Nice and have 24 hours in Geneva. Since it's a short stay in Switzerland, we are looking to enjoy the beautiful scenery and have a relaxing trip. A smaller place instead of a city would work too.

If you want the advantages of a city (museums, churches, interesting neighborhoods), I don't think you would lose with either Geneva or Lausanne - you'd just have to look over the options each city offers and decide which set appeals to you more. But it sounds like you are looking more for scenery, in which case the idea of Montreux (for the Rochers de Naye or Chateau de Chillon) might make more sense despite the extra travel time.

Hi Traveler_2012,

I don't like cities, and both Geneva and Lausanne are too big for my taste. I would recommend you stop in a smaller place where you'll be able to see and experience more in such a short time.

I would recommend either Nyon (fairly large town, nice Roman ruins, between Geneva and Lausanne), Morges (nice small town with a lovely flowered promenade, between Geneva and Lausanne), or Lutry (beautiful town in the vineyards of the Lavaux on the other side of Lausanne).

Have fun as you plan!

s

Spend your 24 hrs at Montreux (2 1/2 hrs by scenic train from Chamonix)and you will be fine

Thanks everyone for the feedback. We will have a rental car in Chamonix and have decided to drive from Chamonix (through Martigny, Montreux) to Lusanne. Instead of spending time in Geneva, we have decided to drive the beautiful route and enjoy one or two smaller towns. We will then return our rental in Geneva and fly from there to Nice. Your feedback was very helpful!