Open-Top Sightseeing Bus Tour with UN Photo Stop Geneva

The United Nations and the Place des Nations

The Palais des Nations was built between the late 1920s and 1938 for the League of Nations, and since 1946 it has been the United Nations Office at Geneva, the largest UN centre outside New York. Its long pale-stone facade, set in a park with views of the lake and the Alps, faces the Place des Nations, where a row of national flags lines the approach. Many visitors searching for a United Nations Geneva tour want exactly this view.

The bus stops here so you can walk the square and take photos of the flags and the building. Guided visits inside the Palais are run separately, need advance booking and an ID, and are not part of this ticket. Around the square lies the International District, with the headquarters of many global and humanitarian organisations, which your commentary introduces as you drive through.

The Broken Chair Monument

On the Place des Nations stands the Broken Chair, a 12-metre wooden sculpture of a chair with one leg shattered. It was installed in 1997 by a humanitarian organisation as a call to ban landmines, and later cluster bombs, and was meant to stay only a few months. It became so much a part of the square that it remains today, facing the UN as a silent reminder of the people injured by these weapons.

Made of several tonnes of wood, the chair is far larger than it looks in photos; standing beneath it is the best way to grasp its scale. It is one of the most photographed monuments in Geneva, and the bus stop gives you time to frame it with the Palais des Nations behind. Early-morning and late-afternoon light make the best pictures.

The Jet d'Eau and the lakefront

The Jet d'Eau is Geneva's symbol: a column of water shooting about 140 metres into the air from a stone jetty on the left bank, at roughly 200 kilometres an hour. It began in the 19th century as a simple safety valve for the city's hydraulic network; the residents liked it so much that it was moved to the lake in 1891 and made bigger, and since 1951 it has run on its own pumps.

From the open top deck you see the plume rising above the water, with the white-sailed boats of the harbour and the hills around the lake. On sunny days a rainbow often forms in the spray. The fountain runs most of the year but is switched off in strong wind or freezing weather; if you want to walk out to it later, the jetty is a short stroll from the Jardin Anglais.

Jardin Anglais and the Flower Clock

The Jardin Anglais was laid out in the 1850s on the lakeshore at the foot of the old town. It is a calm park of lawns, old trees and fountains, with the National Monument, two bronze women representing Geneva and Switzerland, recalling the city's entry into the Swiss Confederation in 1815. From its edge you look straight across to the Jet d'Eau.

Its most famous feature is the Flower Clock, created in 1955 as a tribute to Geneva's watchmaking tradition. The clock face is made of thousands of plants, replanted with the seasons, and its second hand is more than two metres long. It keeps real time. It is one of the most visited free sights in the city, and the bus route gives you a good view before you decide to return on foot.

Eaux-Vives Park and the left bank

Beyond the Jardin Anglais, the lakeside road on the left bank leads to the Eaux-Vives Park, a historic estate with sweeping lawns sloping down to the water and huge old trees. Next to it, La Grange Park is known for its rose garden, which blooms in June. Together they form one of the green lungs of Geneva, popular with families and joggers.

From the bus you see the villas and gardens along the shore and the long views towards the Alps and the Salève mountain on clear days. The route then returns along the lake towards the Mont-Blanc bridge and Place Dorcière. Because the ticket is valid all day, you can enjoy a second loop in the afternoon if the weather improves or if you missed a photo.