Geneva's public parks

Believe it or not, but no less than a quarter of the city is covered by public parks. Many of these parks are on the banks of Lake Geneva. Three of them are particularly great. Parc des Bastions gets its name from the bastions that were part of the fortifications of the city. Parc des Bastions was the first botanical garden in Geneva (1817). Nowadays there are not only botanical gardens, rock gardens, the arboratorum and 50 different tree species, all kinds of monuments, fountains and sculptures. Close to a terrace there is also a big checkers and chess board. The piece the resistance of the park is the Reformation Wall (Mur de la Réformation), a huge monument and tribute to the founders of protestantism, including sculptures of John Calvin and John Knox. 

According to locals the Jardin Anglais (English Garden, 1854), on the left bank of Lake Geneva, is the most lively park in the city. Here you can admire the large bronze mermaid fountain from 1862, andd the immense horloge fleurie (flower clock), the world-famous symbol of the city's watchmaking industry.

La Grange is a 12.000 m2 large rose garden where you'll find an average of one rose-tree per square meter. The park dates from 1945 and holds 200 different rose species.