Geneva Girl’s Guide

I feel like I’ve been promising this post for an absolute age as it’s been more than a fortnight since I took this trip so I’m delighted to finally share our Swiss excursion! As anyone who follows me on Instagram cannot have missed, last month I packed far more than was strictly necessary for two days into a suitcase and jetted off to Geneva. Like many people, I’d only ever paid it the briefest of visits en route to skiing in the Alps. This perception of Geneva as a business trip destination or pre ski pitstop is something the tourist board have been working hard to change. And with its beautiful lake and umpteen spas, bars, restaurants and shops, the city is in fact a delicious destination for girl’s getaways, as we’d be discovering during a thoroughly over indulgent few days…

After an eye wateringly early start, Millie, Carrie, Lucy and I landed in Geneva armed with an enormous amount of luggage and a burning desire for mulled wine. Ok, so that second part was just me, but swapping England’s warm and drizzly October weather for bright skies and brisk temperatures made me feel all festive. A quick and free train + tram ride later (all public transport in free for tourists in Geneva, a concept that London should seriously get on board with) we arrived at Hotel N’vY, a new arty opening right in the city center and mere metres from the lake. I feel as though I’ve been thoroughly spoiled over the past few years, getting to stay in so many lovely hotels and this one was definitely a goodie. Modern and impeccably designed with large bedrooms, fantastic service and crucially, great WiFi. Relaxed in the face of us losing our keys multiple times, unpretentious and definitely somewhere I’d stay again.

L’hotel N’vY reception

My boudoir, this bed was so comfy!

Chilling area number 1

Chilling area number 2

Me, chilling

With an hour or so to go until we kicked off our walking tour of the city, I made a fairly ineffectual attempt to work while guzzling some room service before shoving on a furry hat and heading downstairs to reception. The fact that this particular activity had been dubbed an “instagram promenade” on our itinerary made me chuckle but was an absolutely accurate description of what went down. Word of advice, never take bloggers anywhere. Unless you like stopping every two minutes to photograph anything remotely attractive on multiple devices and the constant battery life related panic that comes of using an iPhone incessantly. Then again, Lake Geneva is truly spectacular so we couldn’t exactly be blamed for wanting to take a million pictures of it. Apparently in the Summer everyone gathers beside it after work to have outdoor drinks before trying to find a (sober) friend with a boat to take them cruising around on the water. I love this idea a lot. Obviously it was October on this occasion so the al fresco session wasn’t happening and instead we hopped in a water taxi for a whizz across to the other bank which thoroughly excited us all and, naturally, meant lots more pictures.

Palais Wilson

Bains Des Paquis

The most adorable boats on Lake Geneva, I really wanted to “borrow” one

Lake views from our water taxi

So many swans! We got a little obsessed with taking pictures of them, not sure why

A wander through the shopping district – which, FYI, plays home to the second biggest Cartier store in the world – led us to the winding streets of Geneva old town where we ooohed and ahhhed over cobble stones, antique shops and spectacular cityscape views while taking, you guessed it, more pictures. Then we decided it was time for a carafe of wine before realising it was in fact time to get our arses into gear as we were running very, very late for that evening’s celebrations.

The prettiest flower shop!

Me & Millie

Strolling the streets of Geneva Old Town

Back in the water taxi!

One high speed dash back to the hotel and world’s quickest outfit change later, we found ourselves at Bal des Créateurs, top hair salon-cum-trendy concept space, bar and creative hub. There we would be getting expertly primed and preened – while drinking champagne – before the main event of the trip, the launch of the Geneva Girl’s Guide. The Geneva Girl’s Guide is basically what it says on the tin, a carefully edited selection of the most stylish shops, spas, brunch spots, restaurants, clubs, bars, parties and assorted other activities the city has to offer. With the foreword written by Cosmopolitan Travel Editor, Amanda Statham who obviously knows her stuff, it contains some real gems you might not otherwise find plus discounts at over thirty of the spots featured. The Geneva tourism board are also offering a special “Girl’s Getaway” package which includes a hotel room, breakfast, free transport and cocktails. You can find out more about that here.

Bal des Créateurs

Grooming in progress…

And pose

Once the guide had been presented, we got to mingling with bloggers from all over Europe before trotting off for drinks and dinner at Verre à Monique restaurant. Given that I knew literally nothing about Geneva, but associated it with old fashion luxury, big hotels, chocolate and cheese, I was surprised and delighted to find myself in a very chic place with more than a hint of art deco fabulousness about it, offering elegant fusion cuisine, relaxed mismatched antique sofa seating and experimental Earl Grey cocktails served from teapots. When we got around to ordering I went for the Salmon tartare, obviously, which was delicious and I hoovered up in seconds, suddenly having realised how starving I was. I also “tasted” (read: took a tasting bite then decided to just eat the whole thing) someone else’s tacos which were also absolutely awesome.

The only shot from the night that wasn’t upside down and/or blurry/span>

Many cocktails later, everyone I had the urge to tear up a dancefloor. We found ourselves at Silencio, Geneva’s answer to the iconic and notoriously wild Parisian nightspot. Admittedly its Swiss counterpart wasn’t exactly up there in the glam stakes but we still managed to have a night of partying that resulted in a few sore heads the next morning.

Part II coming soon!

Love Ella. X