Living in Geneva as an Intern

Geneva is a great place to be for the summer - nice weather, clean city, beautiful geography,fun cultural events, and a really active intern scene.  While it's a relatively expensive place to live, there are ways to save. Below are tips and information about living in Geneva.

Items to Budget For

• Roundtrip airfare
• Local transportation
• Accommodations
• Food
• Entertainment/Travel

Living Expenses

• Local transportation www.tpg.ch: buy a monthly passfor limitless local transport on all buses and trains (less expensive for 25 yrs and younger).
• The public transport system is very ubiquitous, intuitive and efficient.
• Meals: most United Nations organizations have cafeterias where meals are inexpensive. Lunch is a good time to visit other United Nations cafeterias and local restaurants or grab food at a local grocery store and eat in the park with co-workers and fellow interns.
• To eat cheaply go to the supermarkets just across the border in the French villages - you will save over 50%!
• Plan to withdraw cash from you U.S. bank account via local ATMs. Service charges ($1-2) are applied.

Accomodations

There are plenty of options for short-term accommodations in Geneva, but it requires some legwork to find something. Many cheaper places don't have web sites, so definitely call for prices and applications. Most speak English.

United Nations intranet announcement: One option for finding summer lodging is to ask a United Nations supervisor to post an announcement on your behalf on your organization's intranet.
Public classified ad: Put a classified ad (petite annonce) in Geneva's popular weekly newspaper GHI. World Radio Geneva has classified ads in English (https://www.worldradio.ch/).
Residences: The terms “residence” and “foyer” refer to short-term hostels or dorms, where amenities are shared with others in the apartment or floor. These are the cheapest options for short-term accommodations and are a great way to meet a lot of other interns from all over the world. Some are listed below.

Here are some of the same and more:

Hotels:

Wouldn't want to stay in any of these long-term, but could work for short visits.

Activities

• Almost all United Nations organizations have lots of interns during the summer (and year-round). As such, group activities abound, including international dinners, camping trips, going out for drinks, hanging out at the lake, football (soccer) games, and lots more.  Ask around and go o to other organizations to meet other interns.
• Lac Leman (Lake Geneva) has some fun beach areas.
• Take a bus ride to Annecy, France or other nearby French lake and mountain towns for outdoor summer activities.
• Mont Saleve, just outside Geneva, is a fun day hike. The Friends of the Saleve association takes groups up for free every Sunday. It is not difficult to travel there alone. A cable car makes the trip up and down even easier. There are also at least two launch stations for paragliders,  bring a chute if so inclined.

Miscellaneous/Tips

• Stay as long as you can for your internship - min. 10 weeks.
• Swiss francs are the currency throughout Switzerland, but it is recommended to carry euros too, since there may be frequent travels to France
• French is the main language of Geneva, but English is predominant in the international organizations. French, German and Italian are the official Swiss languages, but English is more common than German or Italian.
• Geneva is geographically surrounded by France, where most things, including groceries, are cheaper. Make friends with other interns who have cars (Germans) and go shopping with them. Also, Geneva buses and trams go to the French border all around the city and some stores are within walking distance from these, especially from southeast Geneva.
• Crossing the border Swiss-French border is can be compared to walking across the street. It is possible to cross on foot without being stopped.. Cars are stopped more often, and there are actually some restrictions on the amount of goods you can bring into Switzerland from France. A small amount of groceries is fine.