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[science_expat]

I'm going to a conference in Geneva in early September. I'm arriving on the Thursday afternoon but don't need to be in Geneva until Sunday evening.

I've never been to the Alps; any suggestions for how I should spend my mini vacation?

Cheers,
SE

[francie_]

Hi, SE!  From Geneva, it's not far to visit Chamonix in France.  You could hike (or ski) the glaciers.  I wish now that I had gone there while I was doing a study-abroad program in that region.  Bon voyage!

[expatinuk]

I love the Alps!!!! My suggestion is to do silly tourist things and make sure that you sit outside, drink beer and watch the view! Stay in one of the resorts around lake Geneva if you can afford it!

[starfleet_grad]

Take a drive along the main road from Geneva to Lausanne. You come through several beautiful towns in their own right, including Montreux, the place with the annual film festival. If you are in Lausanne, stand on the pier by the lake. The view across the lake to the mountains in spectacular. I do believe they offer short cruises. Otherwise, enjoy the cafes. French-speaking Switzerland is quite unique in its own right, but other places that are interesting are Interlaken (a bit of a tourist trap, but a beautiful view of the Jungfrau mountain) and a little father north the Vierwaldstätter See, where the three founding cantons of Switzerland are and William Tell supposedly lived.

One of the things that fascinated me the most was the language borders. I remember one drive my wife and I took down a rural highway, and we passed through a town with a German name and all shop signs in German. Outside the town was a hill (well, more of a bump in the road) we drove over, and the next village on the other side had everything in French.