I decided this was the year of the city break – and fell in love with Geneva

AFTER almost 20 years of family holidays I’ve entered new territory — trips without the kids!

Not wanting to leave two party-loving teenage boys home alone for too long, I decided this would be the year of the city break.

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With only ourselves to please, myself and hubby Iain decided we’d try somewhere a bit different and opted for Geneva in Switzerland.

Famous for being home to some of the world’s biggest organisations, it’s a mecca for millionaires, but you don’t need to be super-rich to afford a break in this beautiful city.

We bagged cheap early morning flights with easyJet from Edinburgh.
At just over two hours it’s a really quick flight, so we landed in Geneva with the whole day ahead of us.

The half-hour journey from the airport was easy and cost just a fiver each.

The key to making it an affordable break is choosing the right accommodation. We stayed in The Ibis Styles hotel, situated in Carouge, a stylish little town just ten minutes form Geneva’s city centre.

Ibis are well known for great value and their Styles hotel combine this with cool décor and extras, like breakfast included in the room rate.

Each hotel is unique, with a distinctive theme. Ours had a fun comic book-themed design, with each room featuring a different artist.

This wasn’t a gimmick, famous Genevan artists worked with the hotel to design the amazing rooms and there are nice touches like a comic book library in the lobby.

The hotel also works with the community to bring art-inspired events to the town. We were lucky enough to catch a graffiti festival, with local artists spraying amazing designs on a walled area behind the hotel. The staff were really friendly and helpful and a great source of information about how to get the most out of your stay. My French is pretty rusty so it was a relief that they all spoke good English.

Amenities in the hotel were great. The breakfast area was bright and clean and there was also an outside area for sunnier days.

Food choice was really varied with nice extras like a fresh pan-cake maker and lovely freshly-squeezed juices.

My favourite thing about the hotel was its location. With a tram stop directly outside the hotel you can be in Geneva in just ten minutes and, even better, when we arrived at the hotel we were given free travel cards for the duration of our stay.

This brilliant initiative from the Geneva Tourist Board allows you to travel by bus, tram, water taxi and train absolutely free and the transport network is second to none — we never waited longer than a few minutes for a tram.

GO: GENEVA

GETTING THERE: EasyJet flies direct to Geneva from Edinburgh with fares out from £29.99pp and the return flights from £27.43pp. See easyjet.com

STAYING THERE: Rooms at the 3H Ibis Styles Geneve Carouge hotel start from approx £137 for a double room, including breakfast. See all.accor.com

MORE INFO: For more on visiting Geneva see geneve.com

The centre of Carouge with its restaurants, shops and bars is only a five to ten minute walk from the hotel but if you’d rather not walk you can catch a tram. The town has been nicknamed Geneva’s Greenwich Village due to its stylish eateries and shops, and laid-back atmosphere.

The food isn’t cheap, but if you’re not bothered about fine dining, there are great options like a focaccia and pasta bar, where a deliciously fresh focaccia sandwich was 7 Swiss francs (about £6.50).

If you enjoy sightseeing and shopping, it’s well worth a trip into Geneva city centre.

With designer shops on every corner, we could only afford to window shop, but still enjoyed seeing how the other half live.

The Old Town is quaint with cobbled streets and beautiful buildings. This is the place to shop for souvenirs with lovely little boutiques dotted around.

The city is fairly compact, making it easy to take in the sights.

We loved the Jet d’Eau — the famous water fountain — and the beautiful Bastion Park but there was lots more to see including numerous museums and St Pierre’s Cathedral.

Doing it all without kids in tow made Geneva one pretty special city break for us. We will be back, kid-free again.

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