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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Good to know about the passes in case I get back down there. Hope to but there always seems to be somewhere else to go.
With free passes I would have expected to see the boats somewhat busier .. perhaps you were there at a non peak time.
Great photos!
In India, we don’t have one card to access all transport. But it will soon be launched in the coming years. Nice for the people in Geneva.
Many years ago, I crossed the lake Geneva with the „La Perle du Lac“ for work every day :)……by the way the time saving compared to a fast walk as an alternative was little, but it was for a daily ceremony, it was fun!