Explore Geneva and its surroundings by area

Geneva anchors this hub, and everything else fans out from it across eight regions covering the city, its lake and the wider Alpine and pre-Alpine arc around it — Geneva itself sits at the western tip of Lake Geneva, Europe's largest lake, shared between Switzerland and France. Geneva groups the old town around Saint Pierre Cathedral, the Jet d'Eau fountain on the lakefront with its 140-metre plume, the international quarter and the Palais des Nations, seat of the United Nations' European headquarters, CERN in the suburb of Meyrin, the Sardinian-styled district of Carouge, and Mont Salève just across the French border, reached by cable car from Veyrier.

Swiss Riviera covers Lausanne, about 40 minutes away by train, the UNESCO-listed terraced vineyards of Lavaux, Vevey, Montreux and the Château de Chillon at Veytaux on the lakeshore. French Lakeshore takes in Yvoire's walled medieval village, Thonon-les-Bains and Évian, all on the French side of the lake. Annecy, about 45 minutes south, groups its own lake, Talloires and Menthon-Saint-Bernard. Chamonix Mont-Blanc, roughly an hour and fifteen minutes by road, covers Chamonix itself, the Aiguille du Midi at 3,842 metres, the Mer de Glace reached by the Montenvers train, and the resorts of Megève and Morzine, all under the shadow of Mont Blanc, at 4,806 metres the highest peak in the Alps.

Gruyères & Fribourg groups Gruyères and its cheese, Fribourg and Neuchâtel. Valais Alps covers Sion, Verbier, Crans-Montana, Gstaad, Glacier 3000 above the Col du Pillon, and Zermatt beneath the Matterhorn. Further Afield closes the loop with longer single days to Interlaken and Lucerne. Public transport in Geneva runs on tpg trams and buses under the unireso network, and hotels issue a free Geneva Transport Card, while the airport hands out a free 80-minute ticket at baggage claim — each destination page below sets out what's actually there rather than a generic description of "Switzerland".