Geneva After Hours

After Hours is the Planned vs Rogue series where Katie brings you their favourite things the team did when the cameras weren’t rolling.

Check Out the Flower Clock

L'horloge fleurie, or the flower clock in English, is exactly what it sounds like. Originally created in 1955 and situated on the outer corner of the Jardin Anglais, this botanical timepiece is impossible to miss when exploring Geneva. It contains approximately 12,000 seasonal flowers and plants, which means you can expect to see it change throughout the year. The flower clock is as useful as it is pretty too - this thing actually does tell the time! Even more impressively, this clock boasts the world’s longest seconds-hand at 2.5M long. It really shouldn’t come as a surprise that a country known for making the finest of watches has a giant floral timepiece proudly on display at one of the capital’s busiest pedestrian thoroughfares!

Get Some Sweet Treats from Luxemburgerli

Yes, that is a macaron pyramid. Bongenie is a luxury department store in the heart of Geneva that sells high end fashion, beauty, homeware and more. So of course we had no reason to be in there, had we not seen this impressive display of sweets through the window as we were passing by.

We stopped in and perused the Luxemburgerli counter for a good while, drooling over the range of macarons and chocolates until we settled on getting a bit of both - you know, so we could do a fair comparison of their products. Strictly business.

All of the sweets we picked out were delicious and despite the location, had a reasonable price tag attached. And if you are anything like us and find the idea of entering a luxury department store in one of the richest cities in the world a very unappetising idea, fear not as the Luxemburgerli counter is at the very front of the shop so you can zip in and out within moments!

Take an Alpine Dip in the Lake

Okay so I’m a bit of a fraud on this front, as I did not personally take a dip in the crisp alpine waters of Lac Léman (aka Lake Geneva). While the weather was very pleasant, I’m not a keen enough swimmer to brave the cool water temperature on this particular occasion. However, Benny certainly was keen enough, and spent a long time splashing about with the locals (humans and swans alike).

I’d recommend this more as a ‘cool to say you’ve done it’ activity more than anything else. It is a visually captivating place to lay back on the sand, and its not every day that you have the chance to cool off in alp water whilst looking up at those very alps. It is also kind of cool/interesting/scary to have massive swans waddling and swimming around you like its nothing.

Take in the Dreamy Architecture

If you’re a sucker for aesthetic European architecture like me, Geneva will definitely tickle your fancy on that front. With styles such as Italian Villa, Gothic, Greek and more, the streetscape can be a real feast for the eyes.

By now it is very apparent that exploring a city on foot is one of our favourite activities when travelling, and Geneva was no exception to this. In the centre of the city you can find narrow cobblestone streets lined with hundreds-year-old buildings, and further out you can enjoy wider streets with rows of multi story buildings that look like they have come straight from Paris.

If you’re interested in learning more specific details of the architectural style and history of Geneva, I highly recommend Historic Geneva’s Tour Highlights of Geneva - you can even use this to create your own walking tour of the city!

Have Tea & Cake at Celine & Sebastien

Celine et Sebastien is an unassuming patisserie just outside the historic centre of Geneva that caught my eye when I saw rows and rows of decadent cakes through the window. All handmade and in classic French style, the sweets in this cafe are simply fantastic. The strawberries and cream cake (pictured) was exactly how you imagine something like that should taste, and the lemon meringue tart (also pictured) was the perfect balance of sweet and sour.

We actually enjoyed this cafe so much that we chose to return there to film the judging of our Geneva episode. Both times we had great experiences with both the staff and food, and so we went back one final time to grab some sandwiches for our journey to France at the end of our stay. While the sandwiches were good (but did not stick in my memory particularly well), I recommend getting anything sweet from here with a pot of tea for a little treat!