Visit Bastions Park to enjoy peaceful environmentand historic significance in equal measures. This popular parkland is decoratedwith over 50 varieties of rare trees, spread out through open lawn areas. Watchthe crowds pass from a park bench, read a book under a tree or share some finelocal chocolate with a friend. Look out for statues throughout the park that memorialisethe city’s rich history.
Walk Bastions Park’s wide pathways andenjoy the shade of trees that run alongside. When this park was founded in1817, it was designed to be a botanical garden. Its walkways feature manymonuments, fountains and statues that have been built over two centuries.Today, this is a popular meeting place for students and locals.
Bastions Park is otherwise known asReformation Park, owing to its striking Reformation Wall Monument. Pay yourrespects to the founders of the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century asyou walk its stone promenade. Figures like John Calvin and his contemporariesare carved into the dramatic stone. Keep an eye out for the engraved name of MartinLuther, the man who sparked the Reformation in 1517.
At the northern end of the park, find alife-sized chess board where you can play with friends or challenge a localenthusiast. Let the kids play in the park’s playgrounds nearby.
For lunch, bring a picnic and find aspot in the sun on the expansive lawns. Otherwise, find a meal with a panoramicview of Bastions Park’s beauty at its kiosk, where traditional meals are servedunder a glass rotunda. This building’s architecture is a pleasing example ofGeneva’s old-fashioned style and is well worth a visit if not just for aphotograph.
Find Bastions Park on the southern sideof Lake Geneva, just a short walk south of Geneva Old Town. Get there using thecity’s frequent bus or tram routes.
