Why Geneva needs a local guide
Geneva is tiny and international. Half the population is not Swiss. The Pâquis neighborhood near the train station is the grittiest part of town — kebab shops, dive bars, and the best cheap lunch options. Carouge is Geneva's answer to a village — Italian-built, full of artisan shops and Saturday markets. The Old Town is steep, quiet, and has the best view of the lake.
Geneva gets around 3 million visitors a year, and most of them come for the UN, CERN, or a business conference. They see the Jet d'Eau, walk around the lake, maybe visit the Red Cross Museum, and leave having experienced one of the most international cities on earth without ever tasting it. Pâquis, the neighborhood between the train station and the lake, is where Geneva actually lives after hours. Turkish börek for lunch, Ethiopian injera for dinner, a dive bar that has been open since the diplomats started coming in the 1960s. To become a tour guide in Geneva means understanding a city where half the population holds a foreign passport and the other half has been here for generations. Carouge, built by the King of Sardinia in the 18th century, feels like a small Italian town grafted onto the edge of Switzerland. The Saturday market there is where chefs and locals buy the same produce. To become a tour guide in Geneva is to navigate the gap between the CHF 60 lakeside lunch and the CHF 12 kebab plate in Pâquis that is arguably better. Become a tour guide in Geneva and you show visitors the affordable, multilingual, slightly rough-edged city that exists behind the diplomatic facade.