Peter Clayburn (1985)

Gay and lesbian visitors to Geneva would do well to include Le Phare on their itinerary; this is a key stop-off on the city’s night-time to-do list, and continues to serve as a hub for lesbians, gays and as many friends as they care to bring along.

The bar has achieved year-round success by managing to follow the spirit of the seasons: in winter it is warm and cosy, with a cushion-filled nook and a toasty feel to it, but with the onset of summer it expands on to the pavement outside, with plenty of chairs and tables against Rue Lissignol’s backdrop of brightly coloured shutters and plenty of standing room too on busier nights.

If you arrive on an empty stomach, Le Phare offers various sweet and savoury nibbles, but another option is to head next door to the St-Gervais branch of Chez Ma Cousine (check out the Chez Ma Cousine article here) and then come back for the rest of the evening. The copious spread of leaflets in the bar room are as informative as the guys behind the bar; if you’re looking to make a night of it, they’ll point you in the direction of whatever’s going on in the city.

Pâquis boasts a number of worthwhile lunch spots, with many eateries offering thoughtfully prepared and (relatively) good-value plats du jour; each restaurant normally features just one such daily special. Café des Arts is a prime example, and well worth a visit (check the Café des Arts article); wander round the corner, meanwhile, and you’ll soon stumble across Les Cinq Portes, which offers similarly tasty treats.

I enjoy coming here in search of down-to-earth but reliable food and a quiet chat: the layout is airy and leaves room between tables for privacy, the service hovers gently in the background, affording all the required breathing space, and the food is consistently tasty and well presented without venturing into the fussy. When I come here I tend to let the chef make the decision for me, but if the daily special doesn’t grab your attention, the salads are interesting too-in a good way. There is a large terrace in warmer months.

Charles d’Este-Guelph, Duke of Brunswick, arrived in Geneva some three years prior to his death in 1873. He had invested wisely and accumulated a significant fortune after having fled to Paris from his native Britain in 1830.

On his death, he made a handsome bequest to the city of Geneva. The Duke was an eccentric man, however, and the gift was not without conditions, one of which was the construction of this mausoleum. In line with the benefactor’s wishes, the monument stands in an outstanding lakeside location on the leafy Place des Alpes, between the Quai du Mont-Blanc and the Cottage Café, and is an exact replica of the 14th-century Scaglieri Tombs in Verona.

If the rumors are to be believed, the Duke also asked that he be placed facing the lake, but was made to pay for his ostentatious request by being made to look in the opposite direction. I therefore come here to remind myself how long-lasting the consequences of hubris can be, and to entertain visitors on the way to the nearby statue of the Empress of Austria on the other side of the road a little further down.

There are many cafés selling books and bookshops serving coffee in Geneva, particularly in the Plainpalais area, but I find that this specimen, perhaps less widely talked about than some of its counterparts and more focused on the books than the coffee, is a particularly intriguing place to while away some time.

Don’t come with a specific title in mind, for exhaustive is not the most adequate description here; the collection is random in both its nature and its distribution. At my last assessment, a six-volume edition of Guy de Maupassant’s short stories shared a shelf with a biography of Nicolas Sarkozy, and a mushroom encyclopaedia rubbed spines with a eulogy to 15th- and 16th-century Swiss art.

But if you’re the sort of person who enjoys a few minutes of esoterica every once in a while, you’ll love it. The new, second-hand and antique tomes on sale here cover a variety of subjects, but the section markers are for guidance only; the real name of the game is gentle, open-minded browsing followed by a hassle-free rest in one of the shop’s comfy chairs. The cheerful owner will be pleased to stick the kettle on while you dive into your selection or use the free wifi.

Public bicycles are catching on around Europe, with many major cities now offering their inhabitants and, in some cases, visitors access to bikes which can be collected and deposited at various points around the city for a reasonable fee (look what’s going on in Milan, Paris and Dublin, to name but three examples). Geneva’s answer to all of this may be relatively low-tech and small in scale, but it is friendly and open to all and, at least in the summer months, the first four hours are completely free of charge.

Pitch up to the couldn’t-be-more-central Rue de Montbrillant and take your pick from the selection of bikes and related paraphernalia available for rental, or, if you’re after a bog-standard bike with no need for other frills, there are six pick-up and drop-off spots around the city. You’ll need Swiss ID or a national passport and a small cash deposit; you should check the opening times carefully, too, as they vary from one location to the next. The Genève Roule website even features a graph indicating how many bikes are still available at each location.

I enjoy jumping on a bike in Carouge and heading into the nearby countryside, or simply riding around the lake. The tourist office dishes out maps of the many routes worth considering. For non-tourists, Genève Roule can also be a handy way to travel, though: cycling is a relatively efficient way to go about your business here. Just remember to tuck your suit trousers into your socks.