Since 2007, all visitors staying at a hotel, youth hostel or campground in Geneva have the option of getting a “Geneva Transport Card” at no additional cost.

This is a personal and non-transferable pass that you can get when you check in at your accommodation, and it lets you use the entire public transportation network (buses, trains, trams and boats) without restriction for the entire duration of your stay including the departure day.

As a cyclist I didn’t ride the buses or trams, but I did use my free Geneva Transport Card to try out two of the four boat lines run by Les Mouettes genevoises on the lake and the Rhône River.

Dock at Pâquis for route M1

Boats on the M1 route go from Pâquis to Molard and back every ten minutes during the daytime.

M1 Approaching the dock at Molard on the left bank of the Rhône River

Boats on the M2 route also run every ten minutes during the daytime (as of 2018). The M2 line goes straight across the harbor from Pâquis on the north shore to Eaux-Vives on the south.

Dock at Pâquis for route M2

Our skipper getting ready to cast off on the M2

Here she is steering the M2 across the harbor

Yellow boat among the sailboats

The Jet d’eau from one of the yellow boats

View from one of the yellow boats

My photos in this post are from 2008. I revised the text in 2018.

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