Accrobranche in Parc des Evaux - Geneva
It’s been a while since I’ve been here! How is it a third of the way through 2024 already?! The weather so far this spring hasn’t helped…there aren’t too many activities in Geneva that are indoors that are both child and dog-friendly….but we did manage to get to Parc des Evaux on a sunny bank holiday and it was a fun way to spend the day with the children and Luka!
We divided and conquered in order to satisfy Luka’s need to walk and sniff and frolic in nature and the children’s lack on interest in walking miles just to get to a place, so I walked from home (central Geneva, Rive Gauche) to Parc des Evaux which took around 1.5 hours and my husband cycled there, only a 20minute bike ride. You have to love Geneva for being so accessible by foot or by bike.
Myself and Luka enjoyed the walk along the Arve, then along the Rhone after Jonction and then started walking up the hill towards the park. Starting from Bois de la Bâtie, this section along the Rhone is one of the longest uninterrupted leash-free zones in Geneva year-round (provided your dogs are under verbal control at all times). It is easy to stay on this track as you simply need to stick to the Rhone and there are plenty of signposts at any splits in the footpath.
Parc des Evaux itself is not a leash-free zone, so Luka is on a lead whilst we make our way to the Accrobranche, which is just the other side of the tennis courts as you come up from the Rhone. There is a leash-free zone within the park, but we didn’t visit this area while we were at Accrobranche.
Once we arrived, we saw the big tower which is the starting point for all of the bigger parcours. There is a separate kiddies area for smaller children.
The Accrobranche is payable per 2 or 3 hour visits. For children on the mini-course, it is CHF17 for 3 year olds, or CHF19 for 4-6 year olds for a 2 hour tranche.
For older children, 5 years+, it is CHF27+ and over per child/accompanying adult depending on the level of parcours you/your children are doing for a 3 hour tranche.
You can reserve online or pay when you arrive.
Luka at this point wasn’t very happy as he’s not the kind of dog that just likes sitting around! But he was very happy to find the other half of the family when we got there.
I got myself signed in when I arrived and had a pretty comprehensive safety and instruction talk, which included a person strapping you into your harness and watching a instruction video on one of their TV screens. We then did a practice zipline in order to get acquainted with the pulley and safety system.
This whole process took around 20-25 minutes so do count a good amount of time before you can actually do the courses.
Whilst the children were doing Accrobranche, it did mean that one adult stayed below with Luka. But this worked pretty well and the person staying below had fun following those doing the accrobranche through the course.
There are plenty of courses of varying difficulty for everyone to enjoy. Kai being 7 years old, was able to do the first 4 courses of the aerial courses. This was plenty to keep him (and the parent following behind him!) occupied for 2 hours easily.
Once we had satisfied our thirst for aerial obstable courses, we made our way to the restaurant situated just next door, Restaurant des Evaux. On a weekend or sunny Bank Holiday, I would highly recommend reserving a table, particularly if you want a table on the terrace.
The staff there are very friendly, service at rush hour is slightly slow but not pain-stakingly so. We were able to get a booking on the terrace, and the main advantage of having a table there is that it is within eye-shot of the playground right next to it. So Kai did manage to spend the time before his food arrived playing in the playground and we were able to enjoy our glass of wine while waiting for the food to arrive. The bonus was that they were very amenable to getting Luka a bowl of water when we asked for it. I have to say, I don’t love restaurants that accept dogs, but don’t want to provide a bowl of water for our four-legged companions!
I did also notice a small train track on the other side of the playground. We didn’t take advantage of this, but this would also be a nice activity for the children if you are planning to spend the whole day here.
We very much enjoyed our meal, they had a very reasonable selection for adults and children, and everyone finished their dishes.
All in all, it was a great itinerary for a sunny day within Geneva, which I highly recommend for active families !
Fun factor for child: 5/5 - A very well organised Accrobranche and park with many other activities!
Fun factor for dog: 2/5 - unless you decide to go for a walk, whilst the kids are doing accrobranche or to walk there, not amazing fun for dogs. However you can visit the leash-free zone within Parc des Evaux
Pram-friendly: The park itself is flat and completely accessible by pram/wheelchair. The walk along the Rhone is not pram-friendly.
Water Access for dogs: No, however the Rhone and some beaches are about a 15 minute walk away from Accrobranche.
Potable water: No, however water bottles are on sale at the reception of Parc Aventure Geneve.
Baby changing facilities: Not that I saw.
Please review the Disclaimer before attempting any walk or activity mentioned on this website.
