Geneva City Walks - Vessy

This is possibly one of Luka’s favourite local walks, it’s a huge off-leash zone with parts which are along the river, through the woods and also a big open field. The main area between the pitches and the tennis club is fenced off, so also safe for your dogs and children to play!

The walk can be a short one by doing a loop around the big field which takes around 30 minutes, or you can make it as long as a 1.5 hour hike if you take your child in a carrier by walking both sides of the Arve.

Total walking time: up to 1.5/2 hours

This walk is also possible to do from town by doing the Piscine de Carouge walk. If you are doing this, then you walk as far along the Arve to the Pont du Val D’Arve, take a left and go across the bridge, walk past the Bout du Monde athletics track and across a second bridge. You will then be able to join the walking path from either side of the bridge where you will find stairs leading down to the river.

There are a number of places to park depending on where you are coming from.

I normally park at the football pitch car park on Route de Vessy and pick up the walking path which runs along the Arve from there. This would also be easily accessible via TPG on bus lines 11 or 21 by getting off at the Bout du Monde stop.

If you are coming from Champel side, you could also park in the small car park in the back streets of Conches down a small private road. You will just do the walk from the opposite direction.

Coming from Veyrier, there is also a car park by the logs just by the traffic lights on Route de Stand-de-Verier. Although if you park here, the route would not be pram-friendly as there is one set of very steep stairs to get down to the big field by the Arve.

It’s also fun for the kids as they can bring their ball and practise some football. There is also access to the water from its many beaches so they can stack stones or Kai likes to throw stones into the river.

If you want to make a hike out of it, it’s possible to walk both side of the Arve by walking as far as Route de Florissant and back again. For a GPS map of the route, click here.

For this big loop though, you will need to carry your child as parts of the walk would be along narrow single tracks with some short sharp inclines/descents and there is also one set of fairly steep steps.

A great spot for a family walk, especially in the summer!

Fun factor for child: 4/5

Fun factor for dog: 5/5

Pram-friendly: Yes if you stay along the Arve and the big field coming from the Football pitch car park.

Water access for dogs: Yes

Potable Water: Yes there is a fountain by the Berges de Vessy.

Baby changing facilities: No, but there are some benches dotted along the route.

Other notes: Since it is all off-road, it does get extremely muddy here during the wet/winter months. Wellies/hiking boots are well advised. It would also be recommended to bring a running pram.

Please review the Disclaimer before attempting any walk or activity mentioned on this website.