Slow Travel: Geneva, Switzerland

A travel diary of the first stop on our summer trip to Europe...

My family started this thing when I was younger. Rather than try and hit as many spots as we absolutely could on one given trip, we’d just stay in one or two places for an extended period and truly soak up the culture and experience there. Sure, we may have missed out on seeing certain spots, but the memories I created in those specific places will last me a lifetime.

This is what I call slow travel.

Instead of following a jam-packed schedule (though those kinds of trips can definitely be fun!) and trying to see everything, we focus on just a few key experiences each person wants to do in one place and enjoy that. We plan our lunch at breakfast, our dinner at lunch, and our breakfast the next day at our dinner. We wind down random alleys and stop at shops that look appealing. We say, “We can always come back one day” if we don’t get to a specific thing on our list. And while I absolutely recognize it is a privilege to say that and to have to opportunity to potentially come back, I think it’s more about our viewpoint in that we don’t have to cram everything in at once as if we will never return. If we’ve made it here once, we can make it again.

It’s always about the journey more than the destination for us, and I will forever cherish that outlook through travel.

So, we are here in Switzerland! I decided to soak in every day as much as I possibly could, while also keeping a light diary of our time here to share with you. So below you’ll find a little rundown of each day and the highlights through the photos I took while there. I hope you enjoy it and feel like you were right there with me!

Day One

After a very (thankfully) uneventful travel day, we arrived to our hotel in Geneva around lunchtime. Our rooms weren’t ready yet, so we ventured onto the terrace for some food. I enjoyed this delicious pesto gnocchi and Maverick ate copious amounts of fruit. We then had that lovely post-flight nap, before walking into the Old Towne for dinner. We’ve had to adjust Maverick’s nap and sleep schedule while being here because the restaurants don’t open until 7 every evening, her usual bath time. So now we have a city baby going to bed at 10:30/11 each night and sleeping until 8:30 or 9. When in Rome, right?

Day Two

Our second day was for relaxing and catching up to the time change. We spent a few hours by the pool and my mom, sister, and I took turns getting massages in the spa. It felt very luxurious and was the perfect way to unwind from a long travel day.

Day Three

Today we finally caught up to the time change and were ready to venture outside of Geneva. We took a day trip across the border to Chamonix, France. As we were casually driving through the border, we realized none of us had even brought our passports! Thank goodness for the lenient borders in the EU since we never had to stop. We made it to Chamonix just as the shops and restaurants were opening. It was such a beautiful town and is known for its famous ski resort. The mountains tower around you and the old cobblestoned streets lined with beautiful European architecture on every corner made it such a magical spot to visit.

After driving for an hour or so, we let Maverick run around the town until her heart was content and she absolutely loved it. She even found a dog that would stand still long enough for her to pet. She misses our dog at home, who she greets every morning with kisses. She kept trying to give this dog kisses but unfortunately, he wasn’t having it. Still, she absolutely loved the experience. When we had walked through the entire main street, we headed back to this very authentic Swiss restaurant for lunch called La Calèche. I feel like even though we were in France, we still very much had the Swiss influence. This menu was full of two things — meat & fondue — and we had both in excess. It was all insanely delicious, and the roast with carrots and polenta might have been my favorite meal of the entire trip.

Once our bellies were full, we wandered around a bit longer and walked down to the ski jump area before loading back up in the van and heading back to our hotel.

Day Four

This is my favorite day because my sister and her boyfriend got engaged! Alex, my sister’s now fiance, told me back in November that he wanted to propose. I am notorious for being horrible with secrets, but thankfully I’ve kept this one! By the time the trip came along, he had asked my dad for his blessing, talked to his parents, and worked with my mom to get a ring made. My mom brought it with her on the trip and he decided he wanted to propose in Switzerland. After going back and forth on some ideas, he settled on proposing while we were on a bike ride. So, we rented a bunch of electric bikes and took off for a very, very exciting day. We rode around the lake for a while, secretly scouting locations, before stopping for a lovely lunch along a pier. After biking around for a while longer, we found “the spot” where Alex got down on one knee and I had the honor of taking the pictures, all while my parents looked on and Maverick napped in the cargo bike. It was magical and wonderful and the perfect way to kick off their sweet engagement. So for the rest of the trip, we’re celebrating!

We then headed back to the hotel where we ate at a Lebanese restaurant right down from the lobby. It was divine. So delicious and the perfect ending to a perfect day.

Day Five

For our last day in Geneva, we had intended on going to the Chocolate Museum for the Swiss Chocolate Adventure, but unfortunately, you had to be six years old to ride and Maverick isn’t even two yet. So, we wandered around the city of Geneva and stopped at all the shops — everything from chocolate to clothes to toys. We decided to branch out and try a Chinese restaurant for lunch called Le 33, where we ended up having some of the best Chinese food we’ve ever had. This day was just for us to explore the city and spend our last few hours enjoying everything it had to offer.

And now, we are off to our next stop— Italy! I hope you enjoyed following along on our visit to Geneva, Switzerland. I’d love to know if you’ve been before, and if so, what did you think? I feel like Geneva was very much a traditional European city, so I’d love to go back to Switzerland and try a smaller place somewhere off the beaten path in the future. But, it was a great way to start our trip and a beautiful country to visit!