Swiss Highlights
From a tree-lined concrete esplanade, the long Lignon housing block, its facade a light-and-dark checkerboard, tiers away on the left, while a tower in the same checkerboard pattern rises on the right against a blue summer sky.

Geneva

Regions

The canton of Geneva brings together 5 places referenced on Swiss Highlights: 1 natural site, 0 heritage or cultural sites, 3 villages and 1 town.

Not to miss

From a tree-lined concrete esplanade, the long Lignon housing block, its facade a light-and-dark checkerboard, tiers away on the left, while a tower in the same checkerboard pattern rises on the right against a blue summer sky.

Modernist estate · Geneva

Cité du Lignon

Built between 1962 and 1971 on former farmland in Vernier, the estate holds 2,780 dual-aspect flats and two towers, one of them 91 metres high, on just 8% of its ground.

A drone aerial view of the village of Dardagny taken in late afternoon: the Genevan château, with its slate roof and central turret, occupies the center of the image, surrounded by the church tower and the village's tiled roofs; all around stretch rows of vines, cultivated fields and copses, under a low, raking light that lengthens the shadows.

Wine-growing village · Geneva

Dardagny

The largest château in the canton of Geneva, rebuilt by the banker Jean Vasserot in 1723, holds the centre of the village; in 1978 the Wakker Prize honoured the conservation of the site, a member since 2021 of the Most Beautiful Villages of Switzerland.

The Geneva Water Fountain seen from the shore in winter: the white column of water rises very high into a cloudless blue sky and curves slightly to the right. In the background, the row of light-colored buildings along the quay is lit by low sunlight; behind them rises the limestone cliff of the Salève. The foreground is filled with the rippled water of the lake, reflecting the column of the fountain.

City · Canton of Geneva

Geneva

The commune covers 15.93 km² and counted 203,856 inhabitants; the cross-border conurbation around it holds 1,053,436. Since 1891 the Jet d'Eau has thrown its column 140 metres above the bay.

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Related collections

Best Swiss Villages members · “The 50 most beautiful sites” (Switzerland Tourism)

Cité du LignonDardagnyGenevaHermanceLake Geneva
Interactive map — schematic view of Switzerland.
From a tree-lined concrete esplanade, the long Lignon housing block, its facade a light-and-dark checkerboard, tiers away on the left, while a tower in the same checkerboard pattern rises on the right against a blue summer sky.

Modernist estate · Geneva

Cité du Lignon

Built between 1962 and 1971 on former farmland in Vernier, the estate holds 2,780 dual-aspect flats and two towers, one of them 91 metres high, on just 8% of its ground.

A drone aerial view of the village of Dardagny taken in late afternoon: the Genevan château, with its slate roof and central turret, occupies the center of the image, surrounded by the church tower and the village's tiled roofs; all around stretch rows of vines, cultivated fields and copses, under a low, raking light that lengthens the shadows.

Wine-growing village · Geneva

Dardagny

The largest château in the canton of Geneva, rebuilt by the banker Jean Vasserot in 1723, holds the centre of the village; in 1978 the Wakker Prize honoured the conservation of the site, a member since 2021 of the Most Beautiful Villages of Switzerland.

The Geneva Water Fountain seen from the shore in winter: the white column of water rises very high into a cloudless blue sky and curves slightly to the right. In the background, the row of light-colored buildings along the quay is lit by low sunlight; behind them rises the limestone cliff of the Salève. The foreground is filled with the rippled water of the lake, reflecting the column of the fountain.

City · Canton of Geneva

Geneva

The commune covers 15.93 km² and counted 203,856 inhabitants; the cross-border conurbation around it holds 1,053,436. Since 1891 the Jet d'Eau has thrown its column 140 metres above the bay.

View from the heights of the town of Hermance, over tiled roofs and a weeping willow, with an antenna rising above neighboring roofs, toward calm Lake Geneva and the opposite shore lined with hills, under a clear sky.

Medieval town · Geneva

Hermance

A new town laid out by the lords of Faucigny, Hermance still has its ring wall, the round keep raised around 1337-1338 and a harbour of 159 berths. Savoyard until the Treaty of Turin of 1816, it covers just 1.44 km².

High-angle view over the upper lake from the heights of the north shore: in the foreground, wooded ridges and alpine meadows descend toward the shoreline, Lake Geneva's expanse stretches toward the horizon, growing lighter in the backlight, and the Prealps chain closes off the far shore in a blue haze, under a summer sky heavy with cumulus clouds.

Glacial lake · Vaud, Geneva, Valais

Lake Geneva

72.8 km long and 309.7 m deep, Lake Geneva draws 75% of its inflow from the Rhône. The northern shore is Swiss, the southern shore French, and the border runs through the water.