Need some retail therapy? Follow our Geneva shopping guide to some of the best boutiques, department stores and more.
We want to show you just how creative your shopping in Geneva can get – once you know where to go. The block around Place du Molard may be well stocked with designer boutique options and department stores, but the surrounding side streets and downtown villages like Eaux Vives, Carouge and Quartier des Bains have a wealth of interesting and creative one-offs. How about a unique mechanical art gallery complete with flying structures? Or a world-renowned vintage clothing collection? One of a kind jewels? Retro home design at affordable prices? Book-stores where you can buy art and get your hair done? Geneva has so many original outlets to discover on any shopping tour. Plus a big advantage to shopping in the city is its bijoux size: you can cover most of it on foot and the remainder via the super efficient tram system.
Le Bal des Créateurs is a concept store devised by Geneva’s most famous hairdresser, Christophe Durand. Housed in an old art gallery, it features a bookshop, beauty room, hairdresser's and 150m2 gallery area, making it a favourite with local designers and the fashion press.
Part design workshop, part vintage emporium and part café bar, Les Enfants Terribles pulls off a feat of multi-tasking to be one of the coolest spaces in Geneva.
MAD in this case doesn’t stand for crazy, although there is something of the weird and wonderful about this place. It stands for Mechanical Art Devices, and it's a gallery and shop that shows unconventional pieces from leading international artists in kinetic (movable) art.
Turn your back on the lake and hike up the hill towards Geneva’s upmarket Florissant quarter for hippy-dippy interior design shop Ozone. Inspired by 1960s London, it offers an affordable range of retro goodies – think bright Perspex vases, Warhol prints and quirky Quadrophenia-inspired mirrors.
The intriguing and busy bazaar window display at interiors shop Le Panapé de Caméla catches the imagination of passing students from nearby Geneva University as much as local big-spenders.
Tucked away in Place des Augustins, this shop is known for its selection of unique pieces by Swiss and international independent designers.
Any shopping trip to Geneva should, and inevitably will, feature this busy department store at some point. Fashionwise, the selection has become more adventurous in recent years and now includes edgy, contemporary brands from the likes of hipster favourite Maje and Sandro, while the vast lingerie department stocks every “it” brand from Elle Macpherson to Hanky Panky.
An antidote to big-name chain cafés and a pocket of calm amid the bustle of Rue de Carouge, Les Recyclables is a delight. Half café, half second-hand bookshop, it lures you in for a drink or lunch and tempts you with a selection of new reading material.
A welcome addition to the designer fashion scene in Geneva, La Muse offers an edgy and eclectic mix of brands passionately sold to you by its owner, Viola. Her creative mix of labels includes established British and international names such as Vivienne Westwood and Hudson, and newly emerging homegrown talent.
Poetry and art inspire the décor of this uptown multibrand store. The tone is set by the words to the French poem L’Apollinaire printed across swathes of linen, and specially commissioned pieces of Italian designer furniture fixed to the floor.
It’s a funny old place, but get under its skin and you’ll discover an interesting array of things to do in Geneva, from the international to the strictly local.
Discover some of the best restaurant's and café's in the city, from budget friendly to luxury dining experiences.
Discover Time Out original video
