Will be staying for a week in Doussard in the French Alps. It’s just over an hours drive from Geneva – do you think it’s worth a day trip? Could you spend the day there? We have a vignette, as we will be going in to Switzerland in the following week anyway.

do you think it’s worth a day trip?

it’s not even worth a spare hour. Avoid.

Also, for all the mighty Swiss OCD organisational prowess, christ Geneva traffic is bad.

+1 Stoner.

The wife & I booked a later flight back from skiing one year to spend a few hours in Geneva before our flight. They were a long 4 hours walking around. Unless you’re in the market for an expensive watch, avoid.

Thanks chaps. That’s saved me a 2hr + round trip.

I would say avoid.
Good for car spotting as you sit in another very long traffic jam.
Great for spotting ladies who spend money for a living , and thats about it.
Got the train in from skiing , then a bus across town , then a lift back past where I had just come from to a mates house . 3 hours of my life I will never get back. Annecy however , much nicer.

come on, Geneva’s not that bad!!
Just back from a short holiday with my eldest, as a father-son bonding holiday, before he goes off to university, he’s dead keen on science / engineering so off to CERN for one afternoon (well, two afternoons!), in between that did local bike trip, looked round few places, boat trip, cable car up Saleve and a hike along the escarpment.

It’s not cheap, I’ll grant you that. And the traffic is a bit on chaotic side (though no-one seemed to getting run down or knocked off, they even managed to cycle up the tram lines if not actually in the tracks without incident..

well, the lake looks nice, and you can see the mountains.

on the other hand it has the prices of Oslo, the architecture of Birmingham and the people of Knightsbridge. So if that sounds appealing… 😉

Thonon les Bains is a nice place to spend a day, a bit along the southern shore of the lake from Geneva.

Far nicer than spending a day in Geneva anyway.

It’s not really a city break/tourist destination as such. I go a few times a year but that’s for sailing at the yacht club. If you wish visit some of the two wins along the lake. For example Yvoire on French side is a medieval town (bit touristy) and you can take a ferry ride over to (say) Nyon a smal town on the Swiss side. There are a few tourist boats too. Geneva would be a good place to work due to all the leisure options around but not so much as a place to visit

EDiT just seen you are staying on Lake Annecy so more / bigger lake at Geneva not so appealing. Take a day trip to Chamonix and take cable car to Aiguille Midi or Brevent ?

I have friends in Rolle, just around the lake on the north side. I hate having to go anywhere near Geneva for anything. Avoid.

Doussard is nice though and Annecy is worth a trip in. I’ve just had a week there and now in the (pissing rain) in La Cluzaz.

@Blazin – La Clusaz: are you mtb-img, any thoughts ? Weather miserable in UK in case you are wondering

I’ve stayed in Yvoire. That’s a nice old lake side town.

I wouldn’t. The most soulless place I’ve ever had the misfortune of being in, and I’ve been to both Slough and Coventry.

genuine Tea / Laptop interface there because of you muppetWrangler .

After all the lifts in Cham were shut on the last day of our Ski trip for of us went for half a day. The shopping centre we parked in reminded my of Newcastles Eldon Square – in the 80’s, we managed a coffee in a weird cafe and felt like we were too poor to get near the lake. We couldn’t even bring ourselves to put on German accents and do the usual gold jokes. It is however better than the gate areas at Geneva airport.

Take a day trip to Chamonix and take cable car to Aiguille Midi or Brevent ?

Was thinking about a day trip to Chamonix. We spent a few days there a couple of years ago and love it. I think it’s about 1.5 hrs away from where we’re staying, but worth the drive I think.

May avoid Geneva itself then, but there does sound like there are some nice towns around the lake.

Thanks

If you want to see Lac Leman then keep on trucking and come to Lausanne. It’s loads better than Geneva… 🙂

As mentioned, Yvoire is nice if a bit touristy.