The free animal park
Goats, sheep, ponies and a blue peacock, with no ticket.
Babsy — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Guilhem Vellut from Annecy, France — CC BY 2.0 · Guilhem Vellut from Annecy, France — CC BY 2.0 · Guilhem Vellut from Annecy, France — CC BY 2.0
With children: yes, without hesitation — one or two entirely free hours, approachable animals, a playground and trees, which is rare in a city priced like Geneva. Without children and on a short trip: no. Geneva's short list is the lake, the old town and the international museums, and this is a pleasant neighbourhood park that will not make that cut. Add it on a third or fourth day.
No, and do not arrive expecting lions or giraffes. It is a **park of local animals**, meant to introduce the region's breeds and help conserve the threatened ones: goats, sheep, ponies, farmyard birds, pheasants and a peacock. For small children that is better than a big zoo — the animals are close, the site is small enough not to exhaust anyone, and it costs nothing. For teenagers, or anyone hoping for large animals, it will disappoint.
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The Bois de la Bâtie is a wooded hill on the west bank above the point where the cloudy green **Arve** meets the clear blue **Rhône** — Geneva's best-known river junction. The Turrettini brothers gave the wood to the City of Geneva in 1869, on condition that it remain a public promenade for ever, and it holds oak woodland, gravel paths, benches and a large playground. It is the nearest real forest to the city centre, and entirely free. For families its main draw is the small **animal park** at the top of the hill: about two and a half hectares with some three hundred animals — and pointedly not exotic or predatory ones. These are native Swiss breeds, several of them endangered and kept within a conservation programme, such as the peacock goat and the mirror sheep, alongside ponies, chickens, brightly coloured pheasants and a blue peacock. Entry is **free every day**, with no ticket and no booking. Practically: bus 2 or 19 to the Clair-Vue stop, or walk up from the Jonction quarter at the confluence — the climb is a little demanding. And honestly: this is a local people's park, not a tourist sight. With children, or if you want an hour of trees and air away from the crowds, it is excellent and costs nothing; but if you have a single day in Geneva, spend it on the lake and the old town.
Goats, sheep, ponies and a blue peacock, with no ticket.
The nearest real forest to central Geneva, with paths and benches.
The green Arve pouring into the blue Rhône below the hill.
Chemin du Bois-de-la-Bâtie, 1205 Geneva